Singapore and Malaysia Flythrough
On leaving Sydney, we were both excited to go to a new continent as well as a bit nervous: New Zealand and Australia had been so easy, could we still hack it as proper 'backpackers'?
As expected, Singapore did not require us to answer that question. It is hyper-organised and as we took advantage of the excellent hotel deals on offer in the quiet period just after New Year, we did not really get close to backpacking and instead admired the great views of Singapore's harbour from a comfortable hotel room. We had been to Singapore six years ago, but it still continues to surprise. Much of it feels like a much larger version of Canary Wharf: shiny, everything in its place, squeaky clean and a little bit sterile at times. 
Yet when you go to Chinatown or little India, you enter a different world that feels quite far removed from the high-rises that dominate the cityscape. 
We spent our days visiting parts of Singapore we had not been to on our previous visit and got confused when some landmarks turned out to have been moved as the city reclaims land from the sea (see photo).
We left Singapore by train to try our luck at visiting Taman Negara, one of the country's oldest National Parks located in central Malaysia, hoping that the unusually heavy rains would allow us to get there and see something.
After a two-hour boat ride by sampan, admiring monkeys and water buffaloes along the way, we arrived in a soggy Teman Negara, and spent a couple of days doing a few day walks (and a night walk). Unfortunately the canopy walkway that runs through the treetops was closed due to the rain and as it did not look like it would change any time soon, we moved on to the Cameron Highlands for a nice cup of tea. 
Cameron Highlands is Malaysia's largest agricultural region and the hills are alive with terraced plots growing all sorts of fruits and vegetables at very steep angles. We joined a jeep tour of the region visiting a stunning tea plantation as well as an Orang Asli village where the "original people" of Malaysia still live in simple bamboo houses on stilts.
From the Cameron Highlands, we cut through to the west coast, hoping to escape the rain and spend some time on the beach. By now we were well and truly back on the backpackers trail and yes, we're still able to hack it.
On the west coast we started in George Town on the island of Penang. We stayed in an old Chinese mansion turned into a basic hotel by three ancient Chinese guys and did several self-guided walking tours through the city to take in old colonial buildings, stunning Chinese houses and visited allegedly the largest temple in South-East Asia. On to the island of Pulau Pangkor we went for a few days relaxing on the beach before finishing our tour of the west coast in Melaka, a town with links to the Dutch VOC and a windmill to prove it. At night, China town came to life with a night market aimed more at locals than at tourists, which made for great people watching. 
Our final days in Malaysia were spent in Kuala Lumpur, admiring the beautiful Petronas Towers and trying to find places to cross the road to get from one landmark to another - KL is not for the faint-hearted pedestrian. Some final tastes of Malaysian food, and on to Hong Kong for our final few days.
As expected, Singapore did not require us to answer that question. It is hyper-organised and as we took advantage of the excellent hotel deals on offer in the quiet period just after New Year, we did not really get close to backpacking and instead admired the great views of Singapore's harbour from a comfortable hotel room. We had been to Singapore six years ago, but it still continues to surprise. Much of it feels like a much larger version of Canary Wharf: shiny, everything in its place, squeaky clean and a little bit sterile at times. Yet when you go to Chinatown or little India, you enter a different world that feels quite far removed from the high-rises that dominate the cityscape. We spent our days visiting parts of Singapore we had not been to on our previous visit and got confused when some landmarks turned out to have been moved as the city reclaims land from the sea (see photo). We left Singapore by train to try our luck at visiting Taman Negara, one of the country's oldest National Parks located in central Malaysia, hoping that the unusually heavy rains would allow us to get there and see something.
After a two-hour boat ride by sampan, admiring monkeys and water buffaloes along the way, we arrived in a soggy Teman Negara, and spent a couple of days doing a few day walks (and a night walk). Unfortunately the canopy walkway that runs through the treetops was closed due to the rain and as it did not look like it would change any time soon, we moved on to the Cameron Highlands for a nice cup of tea. Cameron Highlands is Malaysia's largest agricultural region and the hills are alive with terraced plots growing all sorts of fruits and vegetables at very steep angles. We joined a jeep tour of the region visiting a stunning tea plantation as well as an Orang Asli village where the "original people" of Malaysia still live in simple bamboo houses on stilts. From the Cameron Highlands, we cut through to the west coast, hoping to escape the rain and spend some time on the beach. By now we were well and truly back on the backpackers trail and yes, we're still able to hack it.
On the west coast we started in George Town on the island of Penang. We stayed in an old Chinese mansion turned into a basic hotel by three ancient Chinese guys and did several self-guided walking tours through the city to take in old colonial buildings, stunning Chinese houses and visited allegedly the largest temple in South-East Asia. On to the island of Pulau Pangkor we went for a few days relaxing on the beach before finishing our tour of the west coast in Melaka, a town with links to the Dutch VOC and a windmill to prove it. At night, China town came to life with a night market aimed more at locals than at tourists, which made for great people watching. Our final days in Malaysia were spent in Kuala Lumpur, admiring the beautiful Petronas Towers and trying to find places to cross the road to get from one landmark to another - KL is not for the faint-hearted pedestrian. Some final tastes of Malaysian food, and on to Hong Kong for our final few days.
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