Malaysia

Emerald tea plantations unfurl across Malaysia's largest hill-station area. Temperatures in these 1300m to 1829m heights rarely top 30°C, inspiring convoys of weekenders to enjoy tea and strawberries in the restorative climate. Though technically in Pahang, the highlands are accessed from Perak.

Dominating an archipelago of more than 100 islands and islets, Pulau Langkawi is synonymous with sandy shores, jungle-cloaked valleys and bargain shopping. Blonde beaches are the biggest draw, but this 478.5-sq-km island has been duty free since 1987, making low-cost kitchenware a close second.

Lyxbungalows på pålar är ju inte direkt förknippat med budgetresande. Men det finns hopp även för den som har en skral reskassa. I Malaysia kan man nämligen checka in i en villa på vattnet för 97 dollar per natt, eller cirka 815 kronor.

Gunung Kinabalu, as it is known in Malay, is the highest mountain on the world's third-largest island. It is also the highest point between the Himalayas and New Guinea. Rising almost twice as high as its Crocker Range neighbours, and culminating in a crown of wild granite spires, it is a sight to behold. March to August (dry season) is considered to be the best time to climb.

Malaysia’s northeasternmost state is often considered to be a waypoint between Thailand and the white-sand beaches of Pulau Perhentian, Redang or Kapas. Those who don’t linger miss out experiencing a stronghold of traditional Malay culture and one of Southeast Asia’s great buffer zones, combining a distinctive blend of Malay, Chinese, Indian and Thai cultures.

From a swaying hammock on Coral Beach, Pulau Pangkor’s turbulent past feels a world away. ‘Beautiful Island’ is a former pirate hideout and bit player in the battle to control the Selat Melaka (Strait of Melaka). In the 17th century the Dutch built a fort here in their bid to monopolise the Perak tin trade, and were swiftly driven out. In 1874 a contender for the Perak throne sought British backing and the Pangkor Treaty was signed, ushering in the colonial period.

På ön Penang utanför Malaysias västkust pågår bygget av världens längsta vattenrutschbana för fullt. Den kommer att bli hela 1 140 meter lång. Om du känner dig sugen på ett åk får du bege dig till Escape Theme Park när vattenrutschbanan öppnar i augusti.

Looking out to distant isles across the Bay of Sandakan, where fishing trawlers dot the teal-blue waters, the former colonialist capital of British Borneo is a buzzing little city used by travelers as a  gateway to the Sungai Kinabatangan and Sepilok. German merchants, Dutch and Chinese planters, Arab and Indian traders, and pearl divers all had their heads turned by Sabah's second city at some point, until it was razed to the ground by the British during WWII in an attempt to shake off the invading Japanese. Today the compact centre is buoyed by the success of the palm-oil industry and those who linger here will find religious relics, colonial mansions and haunting mementoes of WWII dotted across the city.

You don't have to look too hard to find traces of old KL in Chinatown's shophouse-lined streets, which border the confluence of the Klang and Gombak rivers. This is where the city was born, reached its teenage years with the development of Chinatown and celebrated its late 20s with the establishment of the British colonial ensemble around Merdeka Square. The Malay fort that once topped the jungle-clad hill Bukit Nanas has long gone, replaced by one of the city's most recognisable landmarks, the Menara KL telecommunications tower.

Cave temples, drowned forests, a town famous for bean sprouts – Perak's highlights are a motley group. This rugged swathe of Peninsular Malaysia is as rewarding for trekkers as gastronomes. Perak (literally 'silver', a nod to its tin-mining boom times) receives only a modest stream of international travellers, but to Malaysians, its attractions are totemic: white coffee, colonial-era architecture, limestone bluffs.