Planning your trip

Getting Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore is not difficult and even making the trip from kota Bharu at the northern extremity of the east coast, down to Melaka toward the southern end of west coast, need only take a day traveling by road air link between the major towns are clearly faster still. However, many visitors with only a fornight, say, in the arca wonder whether it is possible to combine a trip to Malaysia and Brunei. This requires a little more thought there are regular domestic air connections between the Peninsula and the major cities of East Malaysia and Brunei, and from there with smaller towns, in the Bornean interior. for those intending, for example to flu to kota kinabalu, stay a few days at tanjung Aru beach, and then return, takinq in East and West Malaysia should pose no difficulties. However if tending to do more than this, such as climbing Mount Kinabalu, travelling upriver on the baram. Rejang or Skrang rivers, or hiking through one of the national parks then a little more leeway in terms of times required. A minimum period to scratch the surface would be one week;preperably 10 day, to two weeks Of course some people spend many week in just one area and still profess to have seen only a fraction of what is on offer.

Where to go
Hill stations Fraser's Hill and the Cameron High lands offer a taste of colonial Malaya, and there are good walk around the Cameron highlands. Genting Highlands is more ersatz and kitsch, a favorite haunt of Kuala tumpur's nouveau riche. Maxwell hill is the quiestest of the hili stations.

Wildlife and jungle The national parks of the peninsula do not compare with those of east Malaysia. Nonetheless, Taman Negara aria the Endau Rompin National Park are both well wort visiting. Rantau Abang on The east coast is a stretch of shoreline where turtles come to lay their eggs. In East Malaysia, Sarawak and sabah offer a wealth of park and conservation areas. Some. like the Semonggoh Oranq Utan sanctuary the Bako National Park outside Kuching, and me sepilok Orang Utan centre and the Turtle Islands National Park outside Sandakan are accessible a day trips Other parks, like The Niah and Gununq Mulu national parks for re several days to explore properly.

Natural features The caves at the Niah and Gununq Mulu national parks and Gunung kinabalu, Malaysia’s highest mountain, are stupendous natural features, or themselves There are many islands you can visit off both the west and east of the Peninsula. Penang has a wide selection of hotels and facilities, and some may view it as over-developed Langkawi, though more recently also developed rapidly in recent years. Also off the west coast is Pulau pangkor. Tioman off the Peninula's east coast, is less developed than Langkawi and and penang and there are also numerous other islands which are less touched by the hand of human still. On the Peninsula itself, Kampung Cerating is the best known still has a backpacker-feel to it although it is hardly off the beaten track.there are also other groups of hotels and chalets dotted up and down the east coast.sabah and sarawak do not have beach 'resorts' to compare with those at least In scale of the peninsula. However there are some fine beaches and excellent snorkeling rally in the Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park and at Sipadan Island marine reserve. small resorts include those at Damai, north of Kuching; Tanjung Aru ,kota kinabalu and Labuan

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