Malaysia

Miri, Sarawak's second city, is a thriving town that is vibrant and modern. Thanks to the offshore oil, there are plenty of service industries and money sloshing around, so the eating is good, the broad avenues are brightly lit, and there’s plenty to do when it’s raining.

For travellers’ purposes, there are essentially two facets to Kedah: the tropical island of Langkawi and its surrounding islets, and the rural, little-visited mainland, known as Malaysia’s ‘rice bowl’.

Whenever you enjoy a sunset off KK, the view tends to be improved by the five jungly humps of Manukan, Gaya, Sapi, Mamutik and Sulug islands. These swaths of sand, plus the reefs and cerulean waters in between them, make up Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park, covering a total area of just over 49 sq km (two-thirds of which is water). Only a short boat ride from KK, the islands are individually quite pretty, but in an effort to accommodate the ever-increasing tourist flow (especially large numbers of Chinese), barbecue stalls and restaurants now crowd the beaches. On weekends the islands can get very crowded, but on weekdays you can easily find some serenity. Snorkelling and diving are the islands' big draws.

If you linger in Lahad Datu, and hook up with Bike & Tours, you can learn to cook the Borneo way, dive and snorkel the local reef and shipwreck without the Semporna/Mabul crowds, or go mountain biking up and down Mt Silam for scenic views of Darvel Bay. It's a far cry from the first glance of this little coastal town, which appears to have a lively produce market, dry-goods market, sun-scorched buildings and very little else. Travelers who breeze through en route to Tabin Wildlife Park and Danum Valley, arriving on early morning flights from KK and spirited away immediately, are missing out. Lahad Datu's location, roughly halfway between Semporna and Sungai Kinabatangan, makes it an ideal place to fly into from KK if you're looking to commune both with sea creatures and orangutans.

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.

For many visitors, a journey to Peninsular Malaysia's largest state begins and ends on the enchanted isle of Tioman. Between its exhilarating diving, brilliant beaches, vegetation-choked jungle treks and spirited villages, its tropical-island allure is impossible to resist.

In busy Kota Kinabalu (KK) you’ll soon notice the breathtaking fiery sunsets, blossoming arts-and-music scene and a rich culinary spectrum spanning street food to high-end dining. Alongside swanky new malls and expensive condos, old KK happily endures, through markets brimming with sea creatures and fresh produce, and busy fishers shuttling about the waterfront. This may be a city on the move with the 21st century, but its old-world charm and history are very much alive.

Malaysia’s northeast coast is simply beautiful. Picturesque palm-fringed beaches and bucolic kampung (villages) abound, but what brings folks back to the region time and again are the tantalising tropical islands offshore. ‘Paradise’ barely does these gems justice, though that’ll likely be the word that comes to mind when you first lay eyes on the white sands and azure waters of Pulau Perhentian, Pulau Redang or Pulau Kapas. Snorkellers and divers revel in these crystal-clear waters featuring colorful coral gardens and myriads of fishes.

The peacock of Malaysian cities, Melaka City preens with its wealth of colorful trishaws, home-grown galleries and crimson colonial buildings. The city’s historic center achieved Unesco World Heritage status in 2008 and since then Melaka City’s tourism industry has developed at breakneck pace. Old shophouses and mansions have enjoyed makeovers as galleries and hotels and Melaka City’s kaleidoscope of architectural styles – spanning Peranakan, Portuguese, Dutch and British elements – is well preserved. Tourism has boomed, particularly on weekends when the vibrant Jonker Walk Night Market provides music, shopping and street-food galore, but you’ll share the experience elbow-to-elbow with other travelers.

Johor’s capital city of Johor Bahru (JB for short) has been repaved and replanted and is well on the way to rebranding itself, after years of being habitually criticised as a dirty, chaotic border town.