Long Haul Destination Ideas

slinga

I used to work in Sarawak, also Brunei and Labuan when I was much younger.
Had great times and have great memories of my times there.

Voyager2002

slinga wrote: »

Flight to KL and then coach to Penang . Loads of things to do in Penang. Not keen on KL so much these days.
Malacca is good as well but in opposite direction to Penang.

You could hire a car.
Malaysian drivers are OK, imo.

Sounds good, although I would suggest the train to Penang (it doesn't go on to the island but the railway station and ferry terminal are in the same building. Penang includes the wonderful city of Georgetown, and about an hour away you can find a national park with some great forested mountains for walking and beautiful beaches.

KL has a lot to offer, including a stretch of jungle (with treetop walkway) right in the city centre; a variety of exquisite religious buildings; and some pretty wild nightlife.

Melaka (Malacca) is similar to Georgetown but with a Portuguese layer to the architecture, and the history is a few hundred years older. No beach and no trains (the railway was pulled up by the Japanese during the war) but plenty of seafood. Oddly enough, all three cities have a lot of Chinese history to experience.

slinga

We drive up to Malacca maybe twice a year and know it quite well. You don't need a car or public transport to get around Malacca as it is small and easily accessible.
Lots of art shops and antique shops but you don't have to buy anything just talk to the owners who are really enthusiastic about Malacca.
I was walking around the back street lanes a few years ago and there were all these body parts spread out over the road. Took a while to realise there were parts of a pig that the butcher had chopped up ready for sale the next morning.
Lot of very good museums in Malacca as there are in Penang.
No beaches in Malacca and I wouldn't say the beaches around Batu Feringhi in Penang are top notch.

In Penang drive to the south of the island through Balik Pulau and eat the seafood in one of the seafood restaurants on the south shore. The sunset there is as good as we've seen anywhere. Hai Boey Seafood is the one we've been to twice so far.

Much as we like Malacca for anyone that is first time in Malaysia then Penang would be first choice.

PompeyPete

slinga wrote: »

In Penang drive to the south of the island through Balik Pulau and eat the seafood in one of the seafood restaurants on the south shore. The sunset there is as good as we've seen anywhere.

Tha's not seen the sunset over Morecambe Bay.;)

bigspender1971

We did a 10 day trip-flew to Penang. Stayed one night (amazing curry in Georgetown) then overnight train to Bangkok which was really good fun and cost about £19 each. We had one night in Bangkok then flew to Laos (Luang Prabang) which is just an amazing chilled out place. Then flew back to Penang, had a couple of days then home.
We've also done Ho Chi Minh which was amazing. I'd love to explore more of Vietnam.
Also recommend Borneo-split between KL and Kota Kinabalu. Flew Air Asia I think? It wasn't expensive.
I love holiday planning! That's the most exciting part!

markandkate

We went to Cuba about 8 years ago. Clearly things have changed but the biggest issue for us was getting around. There are buses but they tend to only go once a day so you have to pick a destination and stay there you can't stop off to say look at the Che Guevara museum then get a bus somewhere else you are in that town for the night and may end up in places that you don't want to be or miss something. Hiring a car is very problematic as the roads are not wonderful and there are still major fuel shortages. The rail system was not really working and there are so many locals hitching a ride that this is not an option. We did ot see evidence of people hiring drivers apart from local taxis

markandkate

Over night trains in Malaysia are Ok. We took the train from KL to a town near the ferry to Langkawi, then ferry from Langkawi to Penang then overnight train from Penang to KL. You can book an air con sleeper and save on a nights hotel cost

Doshwaster

markandkate wrote: »

Over night trains in Malaysia are Ok. We took the train from KL to a town near the ferry to Langkawi, then ferry from Langkawi to Penang then overnight train from Penang to KL. You can book an air con sleeper and save on a nights hotel cost

Personally, I'm not a fan of overnight buses and trains. People say you save on a night's hotel cost but it doesn't help if you don't get any sleep and then are dropped at your destination at 6am and unable to check-in to your next hotel until the afternoon.

Having said that, Penang and Langkawi are both really worth doing as they are neighbouring islands but totally different to each other. I would just fly to one from KL, get the ferry from the other and then fly onwards. Internal flights in Malaysia are just so cheap.