11 Exciting Places to Visit in Malaysia

Even by all the pockets of cultures, beliefs, landscapes and the sometimes-great expanses between them, the loveliness of Malaysia lies in the blending of it all, into a nation that is one of the safest, most established and convenient in Southeast Asia. On our list are 11 places to check out in Malaysia.

Turtle Islands    

Turtle Islands is made up of three islands in the Sulu Sea off the coast of Sabah's East Coast and near the maritime border with the Philippines. The Park is noted for its green turtles and hawksbill turtles which lay their eggs on the beaches of the islands. The Park covers an area of 17.4 km². Overnight visitors to Selingan Island are given the opportunity to view a mother turtle laying her eggs, see the Ranger's bury the eggs in the Hatchery, hold a hatchling and witness the hatchlings being released into the sea.

Sipadan Island  

Sipadan Island lies off the east coast of Malaysian Borneo. It was formed by living corals growing on top of an extinct volcanic cone that took thousands of years to develop. Sipadan is located at the heart of the Indo-Pacific basin, the centre of one of the richest marine habitats in the world. More than 3,000 species of fish and hundreds of coral species have been classified in this ecosystem. Sipadan has been rated by many dive journals as one of the top destinations for diving in the world. Sipandan is made famous by its beautiful sandy beaches and the coral reef with its rich marine life. On the island there are large monitor lizards (more than 1m in length) which sometimes come out onto the beach or even into the water.

Cherating Beach              

Cherating Beach is a popular beach resort area in Pahang. It is located about 30 km north of Kuantan on Peninsular Malaysia's East Coast. Cherating also houses a cultural village and a turtle sanctuary. The turtles lay their eggs between July and August. Visit the nearby turtle sanctuary. Register with your guesthouse or tour agent on the main road and they will inform you when there is a turtle landing.

Kuala Lumpur   

Kuala Lumpur is the capital of Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur has its origins in the 1850s, when the Malay Chief of Klang, Raja Abdullah, hired some Chinese labourers to open new and larger tin mines for tin prospectors. The miners landed at the confluence of Sungai Gombak (previously known as Sungai Lumpur, meaning "Muddy River") and Sungai Klang (Klang River) to open mines at Ampang, Pudu and Batu.  Kuala Lumpur and its surrounding urban areas form the most industrialized and economically, the fastest growing region in Malaysia. Despite the relocation of federal government administration to Putrajaya, certain government institutions such as Bank Negara Malaysia (National Bank of Malaysia), Companies Commission of Malaysia and Securities Commission as well as most embassies and diplomatic missions have remained in the city. Northern suburbs of Kuala Lumpur, are located in a limestone outcrop and are the focal point of the fascinating annual Thaipusam festival, usually held in February. The caves are easily accessible by KTM's kommuter mass transit rail service (Batu Caves stn) or RapidKL bus U6 from Chow Kit area, though ask the driver to let you know the correct stop as the caves are not immediately obvious.

Gunung Mulu National Park Miri

Gunung Mulu National Park Miri is in Sarawak on the island Borneo, near the border with Brunei. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that encompasses caves and karst formations in a mountainous equatorial rainforest setting. Most visitors come to Mulu for the caves, but there are also good jungle and mountain trekking options in the area. Guides are obligatory for all cave visits and most treks.

Genting Highlands          

Genting Highlands is in Pahang, Peninsular Malaysia. The idea of creating a hill resort located in proximity to Kuala Lumpur came up in the late Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong's mind during a business trip to the Cameron Highlands in 1964. He mooted this idea while enjoying the fresh and crisp air from the balcony at his hotel room. The famous Monte Carlo Casino, Genting/Highlands Hotel is situated here. This is easily the largest of the casinos and you'll probably find your vice of choice in here somewhere, they even have a few video poker machines. Visitors with foreign passports are allowed to enter the "International Room" VIP zone if they agree to sign up to WorldCard.

Kuala Kangsar   

Kuala Kangsar is the royal town of Perak. This place must have had a strange effect on Sultan Yusuf Sharifuddin Mudzaffar Shah of Perak who ruled from 1877 to 1887. Unlike many rulers who protected their royal palaces and strongholds by selecting their vantage points carefully where they could detect enemy approach from afar, the Sultan had his first royal palace built beside the riverbank. He then named it 'Istana Sri Sayong'. Most travellers would go here to see the Ubudiah Mosque. The beautiful Ubudiah mosque was designed by Arthur Benison Hubback, a government architect who is notably credited for the design of the Ipoh railway station and the Kuala Lumpur railway station. Construction began in 1910 but it was abandoned during World War I. It was also delayed when the then crown prince's elephant walked over and cracked the imported Italian marble floor. The mosque was finally completed in 1919.

Kota Kinabalu National Park & Mount Kinabalu  

Kota Kinabalu National Park & Mount Kinabalu The capital of Sabah, Borneo. This Malaysian city is a growing resort destination due to its proximity to tropical islands, lush rain forest and Mount Kinabalu. In the late 1800s, the British North Borneo Company (BNBC) began to establish colonies throughout North Borneo (now Sabah). In 1882, the Company founded a small settlement in the area known as Gaya Bay which was already inhabited by the Bajau people. The first settlement was on Gaya Island (Pulau Gaya). In 1897, this first settlement was burned and destroyed by the indigenous Bajau freedom fighter led by Mat Salleh. A favourite tourist spot here is the Atkinson Clock Tower Built in 1902 in memory of Francis George Atkinson, the first district officer of Jesselton, as Kota Kinabalu was then called. He died of a tropical disease in the same year at the young age of only 28. The tower is on a hill beside Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman, just a few min away from the city centre.

Pangkor Island 

Pangkor Island is in Perak, on the west coast of peninsular Malaysia. Historically, Pangkor was a refuge for local fishermen, merchants and pirates. In the 17th century, the Dutch built a fort in an effort to control the Perak tin trade. In 1874, it was the location of a historic treaty between the British government and a contender for the Perak throne (The Pangkor Treaty), which began the British colonial domination of the Malay Peninsula. Today it is heavily promoted as a low-key tourist destination by the Malaysian government, but fishing and fish products remain major industries.

               

Fraser Hill           

Fraser Hill is a colonial-era hill station in Pahang state, Peninsular Malaysia. Fraser's Hill derives its name from Louis James Fraser, a solitary Scottish pioneer, who set up a tin-ore trading post in the 1890s. The British army had not explored the Titiwangsa Range, so Fraser recruited guides and coolies for an expedition to the upper ridges, prospecting for gold or other valuable metals. At the top he found an ancient forest of moss-draped trees and ferns with a prehistoric appearance, kept constantly moist in the cloud layer.

               

Penang & Langkawi        

Penang & Langkawi is an island off the northwestern coast of Peninsular Malaysia.  The island was, since colonial times, a free port until its sudden revocation by the federal government in 1969. Despite this abrupt setback, from the 1970s to the late 1990s the state under the administration of Chief Minister Lim Chong Eu built up one of the largest electronics manufacturing bases in Asia, the Free Trade Zone in Bayan Lepas located at the southeastern part of the island. What made famous to Penang and Langkawi is the Kek Lok Si-Temple of Supreme Bliss  a sprawling hillside structure that is reputed to be the largest Buddhist temple in South-East Asia, with the khmer/thai/chinese style Ban Po Thar (Ten Thousand Buddhas Tower) (RM4 to top via stairs) and various Buddha images in the main temple complex. Furthermore, a mini-funicular train (RM4) connects to the summit of the hill featuring a giant 36.5m high statue of Kuan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy.