Southeast Asia
Three cuisines, rainforest and skyscrapers in one easy country.
Malaysia is Southeast Asia's great melting pot — Malay, Chinese and Indian cultures layered into one country, which means some of the best and most varied eating on earth, from hawker noodles to banana-leaf curries to nasi lemak. It runs from the futuristic towers of Kuala Lumpur to old colonial trading ports, tea-covered highlands, and some of the oldest rainforest and finest islands in the region. Easy to travel, widely English-speaking and superb value, with the Petronas Towers of KL as its glittering front door.
What things cost: Malaysia is excellent value — a hawker meal costs a couple of euros, transport is cheap, and even smart hotels are affordable. Alcohol is the one pricey exception (heavily taxed). The street food is the great cheap pleasure; when a zone below says 'low', that means genuinely low.
Sometimes the event picks the city for you.
One of the most extraordinary religious spectacles in Asia — a Hindu festival when huge crowds process through the night from the city to Batu Caves, many carrying ornate kavadi frames pierced into their skin as acts of devotion, up the 272 steps. Intense, overwhelming and unforgettable; go respectfully and early to beat the vast crowds.
Kuala Lumpur · Sri Mahamariamman Temple to Batu Caves
KL's large Chinese community fills Chinatown and the temples with red lanterns, lion dances, firecrackers and reunion feasts, and the Thean Hou Temple is spectacularly lit with thousands of lanterns. A vivid, festive time to be in the city, with open houses and markets, though some shops close for the holiday itself.
Kuala Lumpur · Chinatown & Thean Hou Temple
The Hindu Festival of Lights transforms Little India (Brickfields) into a blaze of colour — oil lamps and fairy lights, giant kolam floor designs, market stalls and open houses serving sweets and banana-leaf feasts. A warm, welcoming celebration and a delicious window into Indian Malaysia; Brickfields is the place to be.
Kuala Lumpur · Brickfields (Little India)
