Malaysia is a developed, mixed-religion country of great hospitality. Within almost two months, I had the chance to experience its a beautiful seaside, fresh mountains, colonial architecture, delicious food and equatorial climate.
Entering from Thailand and in the north of the Peninsula, I took the route: Penang Island — Cameron Highlands — Kuala Lumpur — Malacca — Batu Pahat — Johor Bahru, which marks the southernmost tip of Mainland Asia, and also the south-easternmost point that can be reached solely overland from Europe. From here, I will continue my journey towards Indonesia, headed to and, for the first time on this trip, cargo-shipping the R to Borneo.
Having finished my tour through Peninsular Malaysia, I would like to share some of the pictures I took.
Night View of Penang Island, which also features George Town and Malaysia’s second biggest city. The view is South towards the airport and one of the connecting bridges to the mainland.Beautiful tea-field sceneries around Cameron Highlands. Thanks to the fresh air, this area is a popular vacation spot for Malaysians.Penetration with cars is quite high, however scooters and small motorbikes remain the most economical and practical means of transport for most families. This shot was taken in George Town, which is considered World Heritage for its colonial architecture.Something like home: Still connected to the Indian motorcyclist scene, I heard of some Indian friends on a Malaysia tour and got invited for some street food. On a rather short vacation themselves, they envied me for not having a time constraint of traveling in Malaysia. Fair enough.Even if Malaysia is rather developed, waste management remains a problem like in many other South-East Asian countries. More often than not, people are simply burning their waste. Christmas day on Langkawi Island. Thanks to the constant high temperatures, I got to take a swim in the sea.Riding in jungle-like sceneries of Cameron Highlands.Having reached the majestic Petronas Towers of Kuala Lumpur, taking a shot was obligatory.New Year’s Eve at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. Fireworks are forbidden in the centre, so people switched to foam spray and seemed to have a lot of fun whilst making an equal mess.A mother tries to cheer up her son on New Year’s Eve, making him pose for what she thinks was a professional photographer. Her success seemed to be partial.Stripping down the R for a rather big service at Sunny’s Cycle in Malaysia. After more than 40 000 kms on this trip, I had to replace some of the gaskets.Night scene with KL Tower.Malaysian motorcycle scene. The owner of this workshop in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur is a BMW enthusiast and has imported numerous BMW airheads from the UK. Thanks to my host in Kuala Lumpur, an engaged teacher, I got to guest-teach English lessons at a Muslim school in Klang.The Windmill Dutch square of history-rich Malacca is always busy.Having come to this abandoned beach outside of Malacca, I found these kids playing and waiting for their father, who is a fisherman. My intention had been to read, which seemed impossible due to the kids’ curiousity in a foreigner. We ended up racing and building sandcastles together.The streets of Malacca got ornamented with innumerable red lanterns for Chinese New Year, while red marks the colour of luck and prosperity.Malacca is my favourite city of Malaysia and walking around its beautiful old town never got boring.Malacca has a high number of Chinese tourists and the local Rickshaw drivers are adopting (or assuming) their taste, each of them with colourful ornaments with kittens and hearts while playing loud music.This private “taxi driver” overcharged me in Port Klang. The ride in his Opel-Manta-like Malaysia-made Proton was still worth it.Curvy roads with good tarmac around Fraser’s Hill.Until here and no further: The southernmost tip of Mainland Asia with Singapore in the background.
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