Malaysia Re-cap: KL, Malacca, and Penang

Finally, several weeks after the fact, here is a quick summary of my trip to Malaysia and my impressions, thoughts, feelings, ramblings on my trip:

1. Kuala Lumpur:

Batu Caves

Iconic KL building, Petronas Twin Towers

I started the trip with the flight from Phnom Penh to Kuala Lumpur, which was the first time I had left Cambodia since arriving about nine months before. Luckily, a fellow PCV had a long layover in Kuala Lumpur before heading to Australia, so I had a travel partner for my first day in country. We went to the Batu caves which turned out to be a great way to start the trip. After a quick stop at McDonald's, we caught a commuter train out to the caves. The golden statue towered over the small plaza in the front where we stood, making me feel quite small. As we walked up all those steps, I quickly rethought any claims fitness I had made before. Inside the caves were several shrines and statues, but the area was undergoing renovation at the time and so most things were closed. After that, we explored more of the city, quickly realizing that it was a city made for cars as opposed to walking. I imagine this is what it is like trying to get around most US cities without a car. Towards the end the day, I sent my travel partner on his way, and I went to my hostel in Chinatown. 

One of the most famous buildings in KL,
originally a British administration building

Malaysia's national religion is Islam.
Above, the National Mosque

The next day I started my explorations of Kuala Lumpur, mostly using a hop-on, hop-off bus to get around to the different sites. All in all, I was very impressed with Kuala Lumpur. I hadn't known what to expect; I didn't know much about the city before coming, but I really liked its mixture of new and old. The city is clean, well organized, and has cheap mass transit. Walking out onto the streets, it felt like any major Western city.I hadn't quite realized how used to Cambodia and Phnom Penh I had become until I strolled around Kuala Lumpur. 



2. Malacca

DELICIOUS!!

For the next part of my trip, I took a quick bus to Malacca. Malacca is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a great example of a preserved port city. I recognize the look from my trip to Valparaiso, Chile and my explorations in the older parts of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The hostel I stayed at was wonderful. It did a great job of fostering a sense of community, particularly by holding bicycle tours of the city. Several ladies staying at my hostel and I followed the owner as we peddled out to the Malacca Straits Mosque, rocking out to music played on portable speakers. It felt like we were in our own parade! Watching the mosque floating over the water as the sunset in the background was… lovely, relaxing and (dare I say it) magical. After rolling back into town, we headed over to a delicious Indian food shack set up on the sidewalk. IT WAS DELICIOUS. Small and unassuming, but full of flavorful food at a great price. I ordered Tandoori chicken, nan, and the biggest fresh squeezed apple juice I've ever seen. Surrounded by people I had just met, full to bursting from eating so much, I had a "this is travel" moment; a reminder of why I choose to travel to new places, explore new cultures, and experience new things.

The next day my new British friend wanted to eat her way through Malacca. Needless to say, I was all about that and joined her We walked around Malacca taking pictures, stopping in random shops, and eating anything and everything we could. I'm going to do an entire post on the food of Malaysia, so I'll save those descriptions for another time. After a day of fun I prepared to catch the night bus from Malacca to Penang. I left around 10:30 PM and get into Penang around 7:30 AM the next morning. 

Malacca Straits Mosque

3. Penang 

Penang has many Chinese clan houses,
which were used as community centers and schools
for newly arrived Chinese immigrants

Some of the street art of Penang

After a long night fitful bus sleep, I made it to Penang Island and took a local bus to Georgetown, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I found my way to my hostel and luckily they let me leave my stuff there while I went in search of breakfast. They also promised me a bed when I returned, despite check-in time being several hours away. Either they were saints or I just looked that tired after a night on the bus, but I was happy to sink into my bed and rest. Once I had recovered a bit, I headed out to explore the town, eating some more delicious food and confirming the time for the free city tour the next morning. That night I went to my first CouchSurfing event and met some lovely people including a guy from Buenos Aires that was staying at my hostel. A local we met offered to take us to the Penang National Park, the smallest national park in the world, on the weekend, and we readily accepted the offer. The next day my new Argentine friend and I did the city tour, walked around and ate some delicious food. All in all, a good day!

However the best was yet to come. I honestly think my trip to Penang National Park was one of the highlights of my trip. As I mentioned, we got a lift to the park with a local, and we all hiked our way up and down slightly hazardous trails for two hours until we came out of the jungle into… this. 

The beach was beautiful and very quiet when we got there. We brought our lunch and ate it sitting on the beach talking about this, that, and the other. It was a another of those wonderful "travel moments" that highlighted the beauties of traveling alone. After hiking back out, we headed to a large Chinese Buddhist temple perched on a hill overlooking the city. The view was quite lovely! You could see a little slice of the ocean, the tall buildings, and the jungle enveloping the hills. After having dinner together and saying our goodbyes, I headed back to the hostel to pack up and get ready for my flight back the next day. 

Quite a lovely beach and well worth the hike!

The view from one of the temples

So, that was the quick and dirty on my trip. My first completely solo trip went well despite my father's worries. It was fun and exciting; I also learned a lot. A lot about Malaysia and a little about myself... about what I need, how I like to travel, and how to be alone with myself.


And as I said I learned a lot about Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur as well as the other cities I visited had great tours that were usually free in addition to many great museums; I learned a lot about the history, culture, and customs of the country. One thing that specifically stuck out to me was the diversity; Malaysia is known for being quite diverse. It is made up of three major ethnic groups (Malay, Chinese, and Indian), and each group speaks their own language and practices a their own religion but there has been a long tradition of unity in Malaysia and working together despite these differences. They kind of embrace those differences from what I can see and celebrate them rather than trying to make everyone the same. I can tell Kuala Lumpur especially, but also Malaysia as a whole, is doing its best to develop itself and make itself into a world-class city, destination, country. I look forward to seeing what the future has in store for Malaysia.

That's it for now. 

Until next time, 
Carissa