After Laos we flew in to Malaysia. Britt has already been here for a couple of days. For me it was the first time. I had zero expectations. For me it was just a cheap flight and gateway to Sumatra (our next stop). Still it turned out to be again a great venue.
We decided to spend a couple of days in Kuala Lumpur (KUL) and a couple of days on an island. After some research we picked Pulau Kapas because it was small, easy to get to from KUL, less touristy (because of its size) than some neighbours and still affordable for budget travellers. In this post we have summarized our experiences in both Kuala Lumpur and Pulau Kapas. Do not underestimate Malaysia as I did, it was far better than we expected.
After having not seen the ocean for about two months (after our visit to India) we could not wait to get to Pulau Kapas (our carefully desk researched paradise), an island at the east coast of Malaysia. We landed in Kuala Lumpur, which is basically a giant mall, even the airport is a mall, but more about that later. So we landed in Kuala Lumpur, took a shuttle bus downtown, just to leave asap towards the state of Terengganu. After our 18 hour journey from Vientiene, Laos to Terengganu, Malaysia we had to take a break to sleep. The next morning we took a speedboat to Pulau Kapas. And here we were, another paradise on earth.
Pulau Kapas is a small island just few kilometers away from the mainland. Being so close to the mainland there are no local settlements. Instead you will find just beautiful beaches, some accommodations along the beaches and jungle. There are no streets and no cars or scooters. Everything is along the beaches. The few beaches are connected with little stairways and walkways. There were some days where I did not even bother to wear flip flops because you just walk on sand. Nice!
We arrived on Friday, just towards the end of ramadan and the school vacation. The island was packed with locals from the mainland enjoying their holidays. You can tell because the day tourists from the mainland all wore red life jackets for snorkeling and the women were traditionally covered in headscarves or burkas. By the way, in the state of Terengganu, Friday has the same status as Sunday (for Germans). That means most business were closed or had shorter operating hours and it is a day for family outings. We still had no issues finding a place to sleep: Captain Longhouse, just at the end of a beach was simple, cheap, remote and had a large ground with sand and hammocks hanging between the palm trees.
The next days the school holidays ended and the locals from the mainland retreated. The island fell back into dizzy mode. Being situated in a marine park, snorkeling is the main activity here. Fishing is prohibited. It has been really a while since we have seen such vivid colours in corals, such a huge variety of weird looking fish and even two sharks while snorkeling. Also, Kapas and the state of Terengganu were extremely clean and tidy, over and under the sea! Once we witnessed a tourist trying to take a giant seashell as a souvenir. One of the local bar keepers came right after him, reminding him to leave everything in place. As mentioned before, this effort in preserving the nature on the island paid of. Maybe during this trip Pulau Kapas was the best snorkeling site for us, even better than the snorkeling with giant sea turtles in Sri Lanka or our snorkelling adventures on the Andamans.
Apart from excellent snorkelling and just chillaxing in the hammocks or playing volleyball on the beach, there was also one short jungle walk leading through an uninhabited part of the island and back. Well, let’s say the jungle was a bit harsh on my back:
One day after the 35 mosquito bites in 35 minutes during the jungle trek I had a fever. Being worried that it could be anything (malaria or dengue) we decided to go to the mainland the next day. Our host in the accommodation agreed that it was the best thing to do but also informed us that the island was officially malaria and dengue free. BUT on the same day also some officials appeared who inspected the property for mosquito breeding grounds. If there were unnecessary puddles or water containers where mosquitoes could breed the accommodation would be fined. Mosquito inspectors! We visited a physician the next day on the mainland who confirmed that Alex would be fine and that this was nothing to worry about. Indeed, he recovered fast. But being already on the mainland we headed back to Kuala Lumpur to spend our last days in Malaysia in the urban jungle.
In Kuala Lumpur we explored some local sights like the Petronas Towers, went up the TV Tower and of course there was no way around the malls. Everywhere we went there were malls! So we could not help doing a little shopping.
One thing one should not do in Kuala Lumpur: Do not explore the city walking. There are train lines everywhere. We had good weather and wanted to see more so we just started walking from sight to sight. That was a bad idea since there were sometimes no obvious connections or walks for pedestrians and we sometimes found ourselves in the middle of highways. So take the train.
Apart of that KUL is quiet a mega city; huge, modern with lots of skyscrapers and lots of things to discover. Maybe a little bit like Bangkok just quieter.
Our highlight of Malaysia was the little paradise of Pulau Kapas. Definitely worth a trip.
Next stop Sumatra.
Thanks for reading guys, for more photos of Malaysia see below:
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