It has been a while since my last article, but I was on a holiday and thought of writing about my trip. This is my first travel blog and I hope you enjoy the article. My husband and I travel to at least one new place every year and since this year marked our 5th wedding anniversary, we decided to choose a place where we can relax and have a little bit of adventure. We chose Malaysia as the visa is very easily available for Indians and a one-week holiday would be enough time for this mini vacation. As our objective was to enjoy a relaxed and pampered anniversary, we first visited Langkawi and then Kuala Lumpur.
Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA)
We found the immigration officers very rude at the airport unlike Oman. In fact, we have never experienced such rude people at any other airport from the 10 countries that we have visited so far. It appears that Malaysians (in general) cannot communicate in English and aren’t so friendly, which was a surprise for us.
Langkawi - Taj Vivanta
We stayed at Vivanta Resort (on Rebak Island) for 3-nights. The resort is beautiful and has an amazing nature walk and a herbs garden. However, the downside is that it is far from the Langkawi mainland and we had to travel each day by ferry (which was offered free of cost by the resort) to get to the mainland. The ferry operates between 7.30am-7pm, thereby limits our activities and excursions on mainland. My suggestion is that if you choose Langkawi as a relaxation destination or for honeymoon then this resort is the ideal choice. However, if you are on a family holiday or want to explore Langkawi, then you should choose a hotel or resort in the mainland so as to save time. As we didn’t have sufficient time to explore the island, we picked the following experiences:
1. Sunset cruise with Boom Swimming
To celebrate our wedding anniversary, we first went for a Spa at the resort, which was not so great. The Spa was expensive and honestly, I don’t think it was worth the money spent. After lunch, we went on a sunset cruise. Unfortunately, due to rains, we were unable to see the sunset but the staff on the cruise was really nice to everyone and tried to make the experience worth the time. They also arranged for Boom Swimming where they spread a net in the middle of the sea and one could jump on the net and swim. The water was cold but it was fun as we had never tried something like this before. We also sailed-through the Eagle Square where we took some photos with the Eagle in the background. Overall the sunset cruise experience was nice and the locals on the cruise were polite and helpful.
2. Wildlife Park (Recommended)
If you’re on a family holiday or love bird watching, then this is a highly recommended activity for you. We loved this park and spent almost 3 hours at this park. This is a closed park with 2,500 exotic birds and has a man-made waterfall. They have an amazing variety of animals and birds, such as saltwater crocodile, python, peacock, eagle, meercat, hornbill, flamingo, swans (white and black), parrot, deer, pelican, ostrich, love birds, etc. There was a section where you could hold some mullet seeds on your palm and small colorful Love Birds (Budgerigars) will come and sit on your palm and feed directly from your palm. It was an amazing experience. You could also hold an eagle and click a picture. I held a 5-year old eagle who weighed around 8 kilos!! As a souvenir, we bought a wax mould of our hands, a perfect gift for an anniversary.
3. Mangrove Tour and Kilim Karst Geoforest Park (Recommended)
As we were pressed for time, we chose a one-hour tour to visit the Kilim Karst Geoforest Park (UNESCO Geopark) to see the mangroves. Upto 4-hour tour is also available, which gives you opportunity to visit many moe attractions within the mangroves. The tour was via a small boat to a fish feeding farm, where you can feed a sting ray and other varieties of fish. The fisher-boy glued some fish food on my husband’s finger and lowered his hand close to water surface, where a peculiar type of fish was kept. These fish would spit on the finger and take their feed.
We then proceeded to see the eagle feeding amidst the beautiful green forest. We could spot some red winged eagles here.
In the end we visited the Bat Cave & Mangroves of Langkawi. There are different species of bats in these caves and they have some wonderful Stalactite & Stalagmite formations too. We also saw a perfect Column (approx 5000 years old) and Cycad (The Living Fossil). I recommend a trip to the mangroves as we really enjoyed this experience.
4. Durian Perangin
This is a waterfall place. We were there for a short visit and it is okay to skip this place. If you are looking for a spot to relax for some time then one can visit this waterfall as it is not overcrowded and has some nice views.
5. Sky Adventure Park (Recommended)
This park has numerous things to do and if you visit this park, you should set aside half day for this park. Unfortunately, due to strong winds we were unable to visit the sky bridge which is a popular attraction in Langkawi. If you get a chance, you must visit the sky bridge which is at the top of the mountain and the ride through a cable car at such a steep slope appears quite interesting.
We visited the Sky Dome which is a 3D experience without wearing glasses and you see the film on the ceiling of the dome.
We then visited the Sky Rex which is a 3D Stimulated Dinosaur Park. This was a waste of money and time and I do not recommend you visit this place at all.
Lastly we went to the 3D Art Museum. This was a fun place and you can click loads of pictures which look 3D. I loved this museum which is one of its kind and a must visit.
At the resort, we were offered complimentary cake and pastries on all three nights by the restaurant for our special anniversary celebration. Being vegetarian, we didn’t have to struggle for food options as the resort has a lot of vegetarian options too. A must have food item for all vegetarians visiting Malaysia is Roti Canai - a local Malaysian dish.
Kuala Lumpur - the city of towers and lights
We stayed at Hotel Impiana for 4 nights, in Kuala Lumpur. This hotel is at a walking distance from the Petronas Towers, shopping malls and restaurants. We had booked a room facing Petronas Towers yet we were given a room on the other side. On our request, the manager (Mr. Hanifa) gave us an upgrade and moved us to a deluxe room facing the Petronas Towers. At the Impiana Hotel, we swam in the Infinity Swimming Pool and also enjoyed a relaxing spa.
Our trip to Kuala Lumpur consisted of the following:
1. Aquaria KLCC (Recommended)
A visit to Kuala Lumpur without visiting the Aquaria would be incomplete. This aquarium was near our Hotel so we just went to check out the place. It is beautiful, educational & very well organized. They have varied species of aquatic creatures under one roof. At every step there is clear description of what you are looking at. They have an enclosed section where you can see the fish such as sharks, sting rays, etc. swimming above you and by your side in a glass enclosure as you pass by. I even touched a baby shark. A daredevil could actually hold it in their hand. Overall it is definitely worth a visit.
2. The KL Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour (Recommended)
We decided to tour the city by getting on the KL Hop-On Hop-Off Bus, which is similar to the famous Big Bus Tours. The weather was amazing, so we sat in the open deck of the bus and enjoyed the tour. There are a lot of attractions to see in this city, so it is advisable to take a 48-hour pass of the bus. We visited the famous markets of Chinatown and the Central Market, where we bought lot of clothes, bags, souveniors, etc. (bargaining is a must). Chinatown has a beautiful Chinese temple, which you must visit. Being vegetarians, we did not get any decent food in Chinatown. We then visited Bukit Bintang, famous for street-shopping & malls; where you get good quality clothes for less price. We also passed by the National Museum, Little India, the Palace. We visited the Kuala Lumpur Orchid Garden. The bus operators did not make clear announcements and thus we were unable to visit the Butterfly Park.
3. The Kuala Lumpur Tower (Recommended)
We visited the KL Tower & Atmosphere 360 Restaurant (which is the only revolving restaurant in Malaysia at a height of 282 meter above ground level). This restaurant is situated in the Tower itself. Having dinner in a revolving restaurant was a unique experience. We then went further above at the Sky Box, located 300 meters above ground level and one can enjoy the panoramic view of the entire city from here. The Sky Box has a glass bottom and you can take wonderful pictures here.
4. Batu Caves (Recommended)
This is my favorite place in Malaysia. Batu Caves is a limestone hill that comprises of four major caves (including the Dark Cave and the Ramayana Cave). This is a 200-year old temple featuring Hindu Gods Murugan, Vishnu, Laxmi Mata, Shiva, Parvati Mata, Ganpati and Hanuman. We had to climb 282 steps to reach the main temple, where one can also feed monkeys. The caves are open and huge and the temperature is very pleasant here. While climbing up, the temple authorities request the visitors to carry a bucket of sand or a brick alongwith, to help them complete further construction. I think this was a very noble thought by temple authorities. The Dark Cave (entrance is not free) is a cave where you can find rare species of insects and bats. They take you on a one hour tour to see this cave. I highly recommend you visit this place as the structure is beautiful and worth a visit. The highlight of the caves is the golden statue of Lord Murugan at a height of 43 meters. This statue is the second tallest statue of a Hindu deity in the world.
5. Genting Highlands
Our half day trip to Genting Highlands was a waste of time and money. The only highlights of this trip were the cable car ride through the mountains and the cool temperature at the top. They have two casinos and some shopping malls. The theme park was closed for renovation, hopefully it’ll reopen by December 2018 - please check their website for details.
6. Petronas Tower (Recommended)
A trip to Malaysia cannot be complete if you don’t visit the Petronas Twin Towers. The towers are 452 meters tall, a guiness world record for Tallest Twin Towers in the world. They have a very organized tour where they first take you to the Sky Bridge, which is a bridge that connects the towers, then they take you to level 83 and from level 83 you take a lift to level 86. The highest level is 88 where only the maintenance team can visit. We had a very good time here and took some amazing pictures. This is a must do thing in your to do list while visiting Kuala Lumpur.
7. Shopping and night life
Whenever you go to Malaysia, you must shop. We went to Pavillion Mall and Bukit Bintang street to shop for clothes, shoes and green tea chocolates. We went to Low Yat Plaza for buying IT stuff (Camera, Laptops, Mobile phones, accessories, etc.) as there was an IT sale going on. Though the restaurants close by 10.30 pm, Kuala Lumpur has lot of clubs where you can see lot of people hanging out till wee hours on Jalan P. Ramlee Street. We went to the two Indian restaurants for dinner - Bombay Palace Restaurant was horrible food & worst service & the Olive Tree Restaurant was fine.
Overall, we found the locals very unfriendly and unhelpful. Most of the locals barely knew English, despite being a favourable tourism destination, the hospitality is so-so in Malaysia. We had some trouble with food at Kuala Lumpur as we are vegetarians. However, we had a very good experience with our driver Mama Aziza while visiting Batu Caves and Genting Highlands and to and from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. We enjoyed our stay at Malaysia and would recommend you visit the country with your family as they have lot of activities for children.
