The Other Malaysia - Ipoh & Kota Kinabalu

 We also visited Ipoh and Kota Kinabalu. Once you leave KL, you do find a completely different Malaysia. The pace of life is slow, the streets are less crowded and people speak with you. One of the guys told us: "If you want to retire, come to Ipoh, nothing happens here!". We did find things to do and few happenings. 

Ipoh has lots of street murals. 

Kids from different cultures skipping the rope.

Boys being boys..

2025 - year of snake. Happy Chinese New Year!

Indian lady playing the sitar.

Coffee Shops..

Malaysian Chinese Soup restaurants. 

Grandma and the child.

The high jumpers.

Ipoh also has a Little India. Most of the Indians in Malaysia speak Tamil.

We went to a coffee shop called Dekori. The served us coffee with a "Dekori" print. 

Taufufa desert at Dekori was delicious. We had never tasted this before and found that this was made from Soya Beans. Que Rico! 

We also visited couple of Cave Temples in Ipoh. Perak Cave temple and Dong Hua Cave temple. 

After Ipoh we went to Eastern Malaysia. Borneo was very relaxing and more greener than Western Malaysia. We stayed in Kota Kinabalu, this was on the foothills of Kinabalu National Park. We could see the Kinabalu mountain hidden in the clouds.

They had recent floods and we were discouraged to climb the mountain, however we did plan a organised one day trip to the National Park.

Mountains, greenery & clouds.

On the 20 RM Malaysian note, we can see the Rafflesia flower. When in the national park, we got a chance to visit the green patch where this flower was currently blooming. It's more like a mushroom but blooms like a massive Red Rose.

The diameter of this one was around 40-50 cms. The flower blooms for 9-10 days and then dies. 

We hope to visit Kinabalu Geopark sometime in the future, when it would rain less and we would be able to climb it.

In the Malaysian rainforest, it does rain a lot in the forest. And when it rains, it does come down buckets. We did a nice canopy walk in the forest and later it started raining in the evening.  

View from our resort. Malaysian has maintained their greenery in the Borneo! Well done!

KL - Is it the best metropolis in South East Asia?

Kuala Lampur being so close to the equator is blessed with daily rain, 12 hours of daily sunshine and 12 thousand sky scrappers! How did a city that was once only a rubber plantation centre become a modern metropolis? 

You can walk around the Independence Square...

...to the River of Life in the evening. 

I was awestruck with the infrastructure, cleanliness, security, public transport and the budget-friendliness of the city. 

The city also has the largest bird park in South East Asia. We initially thought, do we really need to go here? However it was worth the time we spent there and the birds we saw. This place is about 10 minute drive from KLCC and the Grab would cost you around £4.

Website: https://www.klbirdpark.com/

Location:  https://maps.app.goo.gl/hE4VLko9LwonkkRW7 

Price: £15/ adult

We saw loads of wise owls...

...some really tall birds

....and some showoff birds too.

With this peacock showing off it's feathers, it was worth the visit. I had never seen a peacock in all it's glory ever! 

And there were 100s of peacocks sitting all over the park. 

We also visited Batu Caves. It's a Hindu Temple for Lord Murugan. It's been built recently, as Hinduism spread in South East Asia and a cave was found near KL. 

I would recommend taking a Grab from KLCC and that would cost you around £5. But they also have trains running between Batu Caves & KL Sentral, and that would cost £1.5/per person. 

Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Ymn6oZiUYNEH4Ftd7

They have a huge statue of Lord Murugan. He is Ganesha's brother and son of Shiv & Parvati.

The cave is massive and has 2 Hindu temples. 

KL also has the highest Sikh population in South East Asia. We got a chance to visit a Gurudwara too.

It was the Chinese New Year Month and we visited the Thean Hou Temple. 

Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/GYQUuMU6YJCTHCgp8

The lighting was lovely...

...and they switch it on around 6:30 PM every evening.

This is the God of Marriage & Love- Yea Lao (old Man Under the Moon). He is known as the matchmaker in the heaven. 

KL also boasts of many forests and Eco Parks within the city. We visited the Taman Eco Park, this is at a walking distance from KLCC (or rather is in KLCC). 

Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/QLio3BTA7JfvQA6h8

It was a lovely day with lots of trees and shade, until I saw this monster spider!!! 

One does look quite small, near these giants!

The canopy walk was lovely though.

Old Town KL also has a lovely vibe. You can see Indian, Malay & Chinese influence in every street.

Murals on the walls were lovely.

Malaysia is also very vocal about Isreal's atrocities on the Palestine people...

... some of the murals were pretty decent.

Kampang Baru in KLCC is a small village and has a rural vibe to the traditional Malay wooden stilt houses here. You can walk from KLCC to Kampang Baru via a bridge. Once you reach here, the feeling is extremely different.

Bridge: Saloma Link Bridge

They have a lively weekend market too. 

This is a view of the Saloma Link Bridge.

Now the Petronas Twin Towers are visible from almost everywhere in KL, however there are other skyscrapers that shine on their sky line.

Walking about.... and there they are!

At the traffic lights, and there they are.

Menara KL is also visible from almost anywhere. 

Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/PzUm1cBB9tFtCHsj6

Merdeka 118 - is the 2nd tallest building in the world. We didn't get very close to it, probably because they have a really crappy website: https://merdeka-118.com/

The roads and infrastructure is absolutely world class.

You can find culture & paintings across the streets. 

Mono Rail and Metro very affordable.

Greenery make you feel like you are in the forest.

With so much happening in KL, I personally think it's the best metropolis I have been in South East Asia. 

My reasons are:

1. Excellent infrastructure & public transportation
2. Green & Eco friendly
3. Affordable food
4. Cheap transportation
5. Parks and cycling paths for everyone
6. Luxury hotels for those who want to spend their £s
7. Buildings that look out of the world
8. Maintaining a culture & also bringing other cultures together
9. Felt very safe when walking about the streets of KLCC
10. Lots of multinational companies have offices in KLCC

Tam Coc & HaNoi

 After travelling all the streets of DaNang, we went to TamCoc & HaNoi. The bus journey from DaNang was on one of the finest buses I have ever have a seat in. This looked like a spaceship! IF one ever travels to South East Asia, do try their busses! 

TamCoc has one for finest lakes and mountains of Vietnam. The sun was shining and the breeze was perfect for the time we were there.

Our homestay gave us bikes to go around the village.

The Heritage Path ride was wonderful 

...and the sunset was beautiful!

The lake and the river goes all along the ride path.

We biked to the Bich Dong Pagoda. 

Location: Bich Dong Pagoda

There was an old temple at the top of the hill.

It was indeed picturesque. 

We took our customary picture on the bridge.

We took our customary picture on the bridge.

We then went to the Bird Park.

Location: EcoTourism Park, Thung Nham.

This place had amazing gardens, hills and flower beds.

Flower gardens...

Lake & the hills, also allow the birds to nest here. We saw lots of cranes, herons and ducks. 

We then explored the caves in the bird park.

The lights don't do justice how scary the caves were. 

The evening lanterns made a lovely ending to the day.

I have made a small video about that day.

The next morning we went to The Lying Dragon Mountain. 

Location: Nui Ngoa Long

The mountains and rivers looked scary from the top.

...and if someone is scared of heights, they should try to take it slow.

The rice fields here do turn absolutely green, however we went there during the dry season.

Here it was: The Lying Dragon Mountain!

Sunshine...

Not sure I would sit like that lady in the background.

The mountains went on and on for miles and miles...

...and the stairs went on and on for miles and miles.

TamCoc Lily Homestay was wonderful. We then went to HaNoi during the Chinese New Year. The year of Snake awaited us. 

The HaNoi town was empty. But, we did get a chance to visit lots of temples. 

They were chalk-a-block with people. We really didn't know how big the new years festival is, until we were in HaNoi. Everything got expensive and people spent time with families, rather than partying outside. 

We did manage to click some more photos.

Chuc Mung Nam Moi - 2025 everyone!

The temples and streets were very beautifully decorated. They put up a plum tree in the temple. 

....and the incense sticks makes the whole thing is very relaxing.

We went to the Temple of Literature. And, they encourage you to write on the wall: "I would like the new year to....."

We also found people a board game in real life! Anyone knows what's this called?

It was not warm, and we had to carry a sweatshirt with us all along, everyday in HaNoi.

Lovely decked up streets... 

really beautifully decorated hotel... 

We also visited the Ho Chi Minh Museum and Mausoleum. 

Two bearded men in one picture? WOW!

Temple on a pillar!

The Boss's Mausoleum!

The coffee culture in HaNoi was unbelievable. They drink the blackest & the most intense coffee ever!

Some of these coffee shops had very picturesque setting!

They drink coffee, hot & cold. Then they give you a pallet cleanser tea along with the coffee!

There are chairs on the pavements at 8:00 AM and till 12:00 midnight!

...and every pavement has these small chairs looking into the lake.

Our street had 5-6 coffee shops!

People sat on small stools and had breakfast & coffeeeeeee! Coffee all day long in ever nook and corner of the town!

HaNoi also has bus number 90, going from the City Centre to the Airport for £0.50/pp. 

We took the flight and said goodbye to VietNam.