Malaysia
 

Greetings all. I am a travel specialist in Belize, Central America coming to Malaysia in Aug for a few weeks. Looking for great tips for what to see and do. I have jungle and coral reefs here and more looking for culture, museums, great restaurants, wonderful lodging, places to see and things I should not miss. But also would appreciate tips on which natural wonders and flora/fauna and marine life I should not miss while visiting. Any suggestions for airlines or air route from the US to Malaysia? Also thinking about visiting Vietnam as well for a week. Thanks in advance for your suggestions

Malaysia is large and diverse. You'll need to decide if you want to visit both peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo or just one of the two. How much time do you have? If you take a week for VN, that will be two stops in VN at most.

An area I love is Georgetown, Penang. Stay at the E&O if your budget allows, a marvelous old colonial hotel. Georgetown is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and it has the best hawker food. We spent almost a week there and loved it all.

We've also spent time in Malaysian Borneo. The city of Kuching is very charming, has an excellent ethnographic museum, and excellent food.

Get yourself a good guidebook for Malaysia and see what interests you.

From the US, you can fly Malaysian Air into Kuala Lumpur (just a couple of days is enough for this city). There is excellent food here and wonderful hotels.

Other options are to fly into any Asian gateway (Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong or Tokyo) and then onward to Kuala Lumpur.

Your itinerary seems to be rather open. We were in tha Belize jungle in February and thoroughly enjoyed it. We flew to Kuching via Singapore from the east coast USA. For "natural wonders" this part of Malaysia (Borneo) has the most to offer. We actually did not spend a lot of time here, so I can't offer much, except that Kuching is a wonderful small city.. For museums and restaurants Singapore has much to offer and is right in the center of things. Like Kathie, we enjoyed Georgetown for it's vibe, history and food. Not sure how you'd fit Vietnam in, but if you have just one destination, do Hanoi and an overnight at Halong Bay.

As a starting point browse through my Malaysia galleries (over 3000 images of all parts of Malaysia):
http://www.molon.de/galleries/Malaysia/

You'll find good food everywhere in Malaysia. There isn't a specific spot where food is particularly good, although there are plenty of good restaurants in KL.

Malaysia doesn't have that much to offer in terms of historic sites, temples etc. Compared to other countries Malaysia is rather mediocre. Where Malaysia shines are the beaches, national parks, rainforests, wildlife and tribal culture.

I agree with Kathie. You must know whether you want to go to Peninsular or Borneo. It only take about 2-1/2 hrs to fly in between the airports there.

Peninsular
Suggested flora/fauna is Pahang National Park, Marine is Terengganu where they have beautiful chalets and beaches. Stay east of peninsular

Borneo
Suggested flora/fauna is Danum Valley, Sabah, Marine is Pulau Sipadan and nearby islands where you can dive.

Please google to find more info on these places.

I am from Kuching, Sarawak (Borneo) and the state offers more of national park like Bako, Gading & etc. Sarawak is the largest state in Malaysia, so from one city to another city, it is quite a distance with land transport. Most local people prefer to use budget airlines such as AirAsia to travel domestically as it can be cheaper than the land transport.

Far from the Kuching city will be the Mulu National Park which is the major tourist attraction for Sarawak.
http://www.mulupark.com/htm/getting_there/

I just replied to your other post but I'm curious as to why a travel agent such as yourself cannot find a room within 2 - 3 hours drive from the centre of Kuala Lumpur? Have you tried Agoda, Expedia etc?

Katie, it is local school holidays season (until 18th Aug) and end of Ramadhan. It will be peak season anywhere you go.

You may try this hotel, not in a touristy area www.kl-internationalhotel.com, near the Lake Titiwangsa or simply search hotels in Petaling Jaya or Subang area, you may try Crystal Crown Hotel, Empire Hotel, etc.

Good luck