6. MALAYSIA

Time for my favorite country so far: Malaysia!

I visited Malaysia 4 times with a total duration of around 4 months on this trip and it kind of always attracted me back every time.

Malaysia is located partly on the Malay Peninsula, as well as on the northern part of the island of Borneo. In the last decades, it became one of Southeast Asia´s strongest economies. The country is an amazing mix of different cultures, the modern world and traditional customs. You can find gorgeous beaches with nearly no visitors, amazing jungle adventures especially on Borneo with wildlife that can only be found there, interesting historic cities such as George Town or Melaka, the best food in the world (my humble opinion) and the amazing capital Kuala Lumpur. Jesus, I even wanted to stop traveling and just stay in Malaysia!

The country is getting a fraction of travelers of what Thailand, Vietnam or even Cambodia are getting and I will never understand why. The main reason is probably that it´s more religious and conservative and (fortunately) you don´t see events like Thailand´s Full Moon Parties there.

Malaysia is a multicultural society which has the big advantage that nearly everyone speaks English. The 3 biggest groups are Malay, Chinese and Indians. The mix of different cultures and religions in everyday life is amazing and a perfect example for the entire world!

I started my trip in the capital Kuala Lumpur, traveled along the west coast visiting cities such as Melaka and Ipoh, spent a month on the amazing island of Penang and took a flight to Borneo to visit the beautiful states Sarawak and Sabah.

Malaysia was also the country where I got kind of stuck when that worldwide COVID situation happened. I guess I was lucky enough to be in the nicest possible country for an outbreak of a worldwide pandemic. Since March 2019 Malaysia is unfortunately still closed for visitors and I hope that will change fast so that I can return to explore more of that amazing country!

10 Highlights:
- Pulau Pinang, an island on the west coast with the jungles, beaches, George Town and the best food I ever had in my life
- Kuala Lumpur, multicultural capital with impressive Petronas Twin Towers
- Taman Negara, the largest National Park in the country with amazing hiking opportunities

- Mount Kinabalu, Malaysia´s highest mountain with beautiful forests around

- Seeing wild Orang-Utans on Borneo, easily a highlight in my life

- Ipoh, the capital of Perak with great Cafes and a beautiful old town

- Kuching, largest city in East Malaysia with great scooter day trips around

- Melaka, historical colonial city with Dutch and Portuguese heritage

- Sepilok, famous Orang-Utan rehabilitation center on Borneo

- Bako National Park. home of the funny Proboscis Monkeys