Malaysia was Mike’s home for ten years. He came for work as a Head of Secondary of an International school and a job that he was passionate about. He soon settled into Malaysian life and it became a very special place. Julia joined in 2019 and the two of us have many fond memories and made friends for life in the time we have spent together in Malaysia. One aspect of Malaysia that has really warmed our souls is that wherever you are you are made to feel part of the family, they are so kind, generous and warm hearted.

What else do we love about Malaysia? The weather! We do love to wake up in the mornings and the sun is shining! Yes it’s tropical, temperatures stay around 30 degrees most days, the humidity can be really high and your skin can leak a lot, and it can rain, oh yes it can rain! But we still love it! There are rainy seasons, but you can normally set your watch by them and after a few hours the rains are finished and blue skies return. We can’t really remember a dull, grey day in Malaysia! We have driven through some torrential downpours where you just can’t see in front of you, which can be scary. And then there can be incredible downpours that are zonal, you could drive through a downpour and see the road ahead is dry…you can see where the rain just ends…!

Both of us love to travel and Mike had already circumnavigated the whole of Malaysia on his BMW F800cc GS. He visited places that even some of the locals hadn’t heard of and he met people who welcomed him into their home with open arms. We then decided once OTW was built that we would take as many opportunities as we could and visit as many places in Malaysia as we could, even if it was just for a day trip and a BBQ!

We have our favourites, Langkawi being one .. so much so that we got married on this island. Langkawi has very special personal memories for us and will always be a place close to our hearts. This place has some magical places to visit. We have enjoyed either kayaking or taking a boat trip amongst the mangroves, exploring the bat caves, feeding and watching the eagles and appreciating the natural beauty of the area. We loved the journey up in the cable car to the sky bridge and stood mesmerized by the beauty of the island.  Watching the sunset from Gunung Raya and enjoying many meals and cocktails in our favorite restaurant “The Hidden Bar” on the beach. If you visit Malaysia we would say make sure you make Langkawi on your list of places to visit, the plane ticket is cheap, taxis are even cheaper and there is accommodation in abundance.

We love to visit Melaka, whether a day trip or a long weekend. We enjoy the history and the vibe of this place. We love to amble down Jonker street and browse in and out of the shops. We will stroll along the water edge, watching the boats go by and enjoy a drink as the world passes us by. We love the day turning into night when the place comes alive with lights, music and of course the amazing street market. This place has a special feel to it and a vibe that makes you want to return and enjoy it time and time again. Another place we would highly recommend you visit if you are planning to visit Malaysia.

We have been lucky to have visited many camping sites across Malaysia; we have toured for long weekends and we have been on three week trips staying a while at different campsites and just relaxing. We have always had the warmest of welcomes. We love meeting new people and with OTW being a little bit out of the ordinary, many of our  camping spots start with a little tour of OTW for our fellow campers and of course a getting to know you session, which we love! We think our favourite place to camp has been anywhere along the east coast! With Julia loving the water and the coast, the east is stunning with some beautiful blue waters and many an ocean dip has been had! 

Fraser’s Hill is also a place we love to visit, we’ve never stayed over, but again the journey up is spectacular and the views are just breathtaking with plenty of walking treks to be done. We have enjoyed relaxing at The Old Smokehouse .. it’s a little bit of England on the Malaysia hillside! The furniture and ambience is typical of an English country home and you can even indulge in an afternoon tea of scones, jam and cream .. so if we were feeling the need for a little bit of home it was the perfect place to visit!

One area worth a visit in our opinion are the islands off the east coast. We had a trip out to the Perhentian islands not far from Terengganu. There are two main islands here which are allegedly the fifth most beautiful diving areas in the world .. and although we only did some snorkeling, the crystal blue waters enabled us to see beautiful coral reefs, swim with the sea turtles and be blown away by the most colourful fish we had ever seen. It was very much a lasting memory for us. There are islands further south including Tioman which is very popular with tourists and again an amazing place to dive and well worth a visit.

There are numerous islands around Malaysia but one of the famous ones has to be Penang on the western coast of Malaysia. It is famous for the city of GeorgeTown, the capital of Penang which is known for its UNESCO World Heritage-listed historic centre, with amazing street art and beautiful architecture and the cultural attractions that are held throughout the year. We loved exploring George Town and experiencing the vibe of the city.

Of course we must not forget KL, the capital of Malaysia. We were only a 30 minute train journey from the city centre and with the development and improvements being made to the rail network the train and metro was certainly the way to travel to see the city. We had the pleasure of taking many a visitor around the sights of the city and we loved visiting the Petronas Twin Towers, the parks, Batu caves, Central market, Little India, Chinatown .. to name just a few, there is so much more to this city and having it on the doorstep to our home was perfect.

We lived in a place called Cyberjaya and we loved it here. We made some fabulous memories and lasting friendships with locals and expats. We loved the convenience of being able to walk to a local supermarket, chemist, opticians and a huge range of restaurants. We loved that we were only fifteen minutes from the stunning Wetlands at Putrajaya where we did many early morning walks or bike rides. We loved the fact that we could be on a train in ten minutes from our front door and be in the city within 40 minutes. It was also really easy for Mike to get to work from here with the commute only being about 20 minutes .. of course depending on the traffic! Traffic can be challenging in Malaysia as in any city. There are a large number of toll roads which are quick and easy too and very useful for getting to places reasonably quickly, unless of course you are heading to or from the city at particular times of the day, or even locally when school’s have just finished, the roads can be extremely busy and you can be sat for quite a while trying to get to your destination, no different to anywhere else in the world, and you just plan your journey accordingly! But there are a lot of cars in Malaysia …. and even more motorbikes!

We finally left Malaysia on the 1st February, it was a bittersweet moment; we had made some beautiful memories, made friends for life but now we were on the road back to Wales and leaving what had been home to us for ten years and travelling the world, experiencing new cultures, foods and meeting new people. We had loved our time in Malaysia but we were ready to see what the rest of the world had to offer.