Malaysia

Touring

1758km

  • +635km (bike)
    • Melaka 400km
    • Kuala 135km
    • Penang 100km
  • +101km (car)
  • +1479km (bus)
  • +0km (train)
  • +136km (boat)
  • +3216km (plane)
  • 4 punctures

Introduction

The first good thing to me is that Malaysian speak kind of the same language as Indonesian. That means I could keep improving myself. Compared to Indonesia, the people in Malaysia are more shy. People come to us (cyclists) but definitely not as much as Indonesian. The country is richer and still evolving as the people behaviours. That’s very clear, more people have money, more selfish they become. When you got nothing to lose you don’t mind talking to anyone. But when you have a bit of money, you become afroad that someone would take it from you. Compared to Indonesia once again, the proportion of cars is much higher here but the pollution feeling is lower. Like Indonesia, Malaysia is covered with palm oil plantations. Most of the places are not really pleasant to cycle through. I’ve been only travelling on the west side of the peninsula and travelled by bus onto the south east of Borneo. There is definitely much more to see there. Borneo has huge rainforest, wild animals to spot, wonderful islands, nationals parks, caves and mountains to climb like Mount Kinabalu.

Visa

Here you’ve got the list of every visa requirement by country. In my case, and I was surprised, I did not have to pay anything and could stay as long as 3 months. That’s pretty good. When I’ve been travelling to Borneo, because we crossed the border by bus to get from the region of Sabah to Sarawak, we had to get through Brunei which is an independent state. That day, we had to cross 9 borders! At the end of the day, our 3 months Malaysian visa was renewed.

Food

Price for food is very cheap, not as Indonesia but still very cheap. You can eat a meal for 2 or 3 ringgit. There is lots of food centres in Melaka (the only big city I’ve visited until now). And there is a large choice too as Melaka is multicultural. Lots of chinese, Indians and Malay (and tourists). As long as you leave those places and go to the shopping mall, the prices have a tendency to grow up quickly. Enjoy the fresh fruit juice! They cost about the same price as a meal but they are so refreshing and delicious.

Accommodation

You can find very cheap accommodation in Malaysia. In Malacca, I’ve been in a very cheap and clean hostel called Victor’s Guest House. One night in a 8 beds dorm cost 15 Ringgit. I’ve never seen cheaper. In places like Penang, the prices were a bit more expensive. Something like 25-35 Ringgit for one night in a dorm.

Transports / traffic

Bus transportations in Malaysia cost about 5 Ringgit per kilometre which is quite cheap. I did not rely on it too much except in Borneo as I did not take my bicycle with me. I feel like the buses are even cheaper in the peninsula compare to Borneo. Some backpackers told me that they paid 10 Ringgit for a one way ticket between Kuala Lumpur and Malacca (there is 15okm). That’s 15 Ringgit per kilometre. Oh oooh, actually, this is more expensive!
Since I’ve been travelling from New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia and then Malaysia, I’ve found that drivers here are the worse. This is not terrible but regularly, drivers cut us the road. Looks like the rule is “I’m bigger, you shut up”. It happens several times when a car wants to turn left: it comes from behind, overtakes us and turns like we don’t exist. That’s very annoying! A part that, no problem at all. The surprising thing is everyone does that to each other but everyone is very peace when driving.

Internet / phone provider

There is three major mobile company in Malaysia: Celcom, Maxis and DiGi plus some more. I personally chose Celcom because it has (apparently) the widest coverage across the country. The first time I’ve signed up I’ve paid 82 Ringgit for 4GB available one month. Then each recharge cost 53 Ringgit. Actually 4GB cost 46 Ringgit (if I remember well) but a recharge cost 50 Ringgit plus 3 Ringgit of GST. You will have a bit of credit to send some text and call which is not too bad. Malaysia is covered with 4G. Most of the time the connection works well. The other way to get internet for free is to go to McDonald’s, KFC or Starbucks. Some other opened WiFi are available if you have a Malaysian number or if you go to certain coffee places. Mainly, there is internet everywhere, even in Borneo :-)

Tips

Well, what kind of tip I could give you?… Hmmm, Malaysia being a muslim country, there is mosque at every corner. There is 6 prayer per day at specific times. These times evolve during the year as they follow the sun. The best way is to follow the sun like they do. That way, you will wake up very early and cycle when the weather is cool. In November, December the temperature can rise up to 40 degrees. That’s hard to cycle with that temperature. It’s not impossible but compared to a fresh morning, something like 23 degrees, it’s nicer :-) So first tip: follow the sun and the prayer :-)

Second tip. Malaysian shops rarely show the price of their products. In tourists cities, they do better but in countryside, if you don’t ask first, sometimes a meal can become more expensive than the average.

Third tip. When you get out of an airport or a long distance bus (if you are not cycling at this time of course) don’t grab the first taxi who come to you. The price can be 10 times more expensive than the local bus. The taxi man would tell you there is no bus stop here but most of the time there is. Just ask locals around, walk a minute or two and you will pay the real and decent price.

Fourth tip. I love Indonesia and Malaysia for their fresh fruit juice and tea. If you don’t like milk, make sure you ask before because tea and carrot juice will be mixed with milk most of the time. When you order a drink they tend to put too much ice which reduce largely the quantity of liquid. If you drink too fast you will end up quickly with only ice in your glass. Or just take your time ;-)

I think that’s it for now. I will come back here if I remember something new :-)

Language
  • Verbs
  • Have : memiliki
  • Be : menjadi
  • Think : berpikir
  • guess : kira
  • know : tahu
  • like : seperti, suka
  • hate : benci
  • Eat : makan
  • drink : minum
  • open : buka
  • close : menutup
  • Pay : membayar
  • spend : menghabiskan
  • buy : membeli
  • sell : menjual
  • keep : menjaga
  • Sleep : tidur
  • Cycling : siklus
  • walk : berjalan
  • run : menjalankan
  • swim : berenang
  • Play : bermain
  • stay : tinggal
  • go : pergi
  • leave : meninggalkan
  • Learn : belajar
  • Speak : berbicara
  • Work : bekerja
  • Give : memberi
  • Need : perlu
  • Pronouns
  • I : aku : saka
  • You : anda
  • He/She : dia
  • It : itu
  • We : kita
  • They : mereka
  • Simple sentences
  • My name is … : Nama saya …
  • Where is …? : Di mana…?
  • Please, … : tolong
  • You are welcome : sama sama
  • Questions
  • What : apa
  • Why : mengapa
  • Who : yang
  • Where : mana
  • When : ketika
  • How : bagaimana
  • How far : seberapa jauh
  • How long : berapa lama
  • How often : deberapa sering
  • How much : berapa banyak
  • How come : bagaimana bisa

  • Food
  • Good : baik
  • Bad : buruk
  • Tasty : lezat
  • Sweet : manis
  • drinks : minuman
  • food : makanan
  • Transport
  • Airplane : pesawat
  • Train : kereta
  • Truck : truk
  • Bus : bus
  • Car : mobil
  • Motorcycle : sepeda motor
  • Bicycle : Sepeda
  • Weather
  • Rain : hujan
  • Wind : angin
  • Sun : matahari
  • Clouds : awan-awan
  • Mountain : gunung
  • Lake : danau
  • Flat : datar
  • Hilly : berbukit
  • Sizes
  • Small : kecil
  • Medium : sedang
  • Big : besar
  • More : lebih
  • Less : kurang
  • Very : sangat

  • Time
  • Second : detik
  • Minute : menit
  • Hour : jam
  • Day : hari
  • Night : malam
  • Week : minggu
  • Month : bulan
  • Year : tahun
  • Before : sebelum
  • after : setelah
  • soon : segera
  • later : kemudian
  • yesterday : kemarin
  • Now : Sekarang
  • Tomorrow : besok
  • Never : jangan
  • Ago : dahulu
  • Coordinating conjunctions
  • But : tetapi
  • Or : atau
  • And : dan
  • Because : karena
  • With : dengan
  • Without : tanpa
  • Between : antara
  • Maybe : mungkin
  • Price
  • Cheap : murah
  • Expensive : mahal
  • Slow : pelan-pelan : lambat
  • Fast : cepat
  • Too : terlalu
  • Enough : cukup

  • Directions
  • From : dari
  • To : untuk
  • In : di, dalam
  • Out : keluar
  • Top : atas
  • Bottom : bawah
  • Right : kanan
  • Left : kiri
  • This : ini
  • That : bahwa
  • Here : di sini
  • There : sana
  • Colours
  • Red : Merah
  • orange : oranye
  • yellow : kuning
  • green : hijau
  • blue : biru
  • purple : ungu
  • pink : pink
  • brown : coklat
  • black : hitam
  • grey : abu-abu
  • white : putih

Step by step

Melaka > Johor, Singapore border (303km, 5 days)

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Pengerang, Malaysia border > Melaka (401km, 6 days)

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Melaka > Kuala Lumpur (225km, 3 days)

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Trip to Borneo (by public transport, 10 days)

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Kuala Lumpur > Penang (628km, 9 days)

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Penang > Satun, Thailand border (201km, 5 days)

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