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Adventures in Malaysia are designed for stout of heart |
By Luaine Lee
SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE
KUALA LUMPUR -- For the traveler weary of well-trodden tourist destinations, there is an adventure waiting in Malaysia.
The nation, which is divided by the South China Sea, offers an exotic, bewitching and challenging land. It's not for the fainthearted, but for those who like their adventure straight with no chaser.
Situated half on the peninsula tipped by Singapore and half on the Island of Borneo, Malaysia still boasts much of what first drew white explorers to the tropics.
A trek to Malaysia should begin in its capital, Kuala Lumpur, because there you suffer almost no culture shock. Men in business suits close deals over portable telephones, traffic snarls at rush hour and construction of the world's tallest building buzzes at a frantic pace.
Because Malaysia was a British colony, 70 percent of the country speaks English, a lifesaver if you're driving or lost. And the food -- a mixture of the three major peoples of the country, Chinese, Malay and Indian -- doesn't mind the intrusion of McDonald's or Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Exploring Kuala Lumpur can be a week's preoccupation, but try not to miss the Central Market, the National Museum, the Malaysia Tourist Information Complex (a well-preserved mansion that served as headquarters for the Japanese invaders in WWII.)
Other sites include the Kuala Lumpur Railway Station, a Moorish-Gothic-Victorian vision built in 1910. Construction was delayed because British regulations required the roof to support one meter of snow, an unheard-of substance in this city.
The city boasts many hotels, including two Hiltons -- the Petaling Jaya and the Kuala Lumpur International (cab drivers call them PJ or KL Hilton) -- the Plaza, the Equatorial, the Federal, ranging in price from $42 to $200.
You don't want to miss Chinatown, where the night market blooms from 6 to 11 p.m. Here you can haggle for some great buys in jewelry, carvings, batiks.
Restaurants recommended by locals include Le Coq d'Or, behind the KL Hilton on Jalan (Road) Ampang, Sri Thavi on Jalan Barat and the Indian Taj at the Crown Princess Hotel.
An hour-and-a-half across the South China Sea from Kuala Lumpur, drops you into Kuching and on the threshold of your journey to the heart of darkness.
Kuching is the capital of Sarawak, which shares the Island of Borneo with its sister state, Sabah, Indonesia and the tiny country of Brunei.
Don't miss the free Sarawak Museum -- considered the best in Southeast Asia -- the oldest Chinese Temple in the country and the main bazaar, which curls around the waterfront like a colorful caterpillar. Vegetables and fruits are hauled in by the tribal people from the nearby jungle, blazing the stalls with intense colors and smells.
Better hotels in Kuching include the Holiday Inn, the Hilton, the Riverside Majestic, ranging from $80 to $140.
There are some good buys in batiks and silks in Kuching's daily Central Market on Gambier Street, and it is air-conditioned.
Recommended restaurants include the Chinese Beijing, Japanese Kikyo-tei on Banfylde Road, and for Malaysian cuisine try the Tam Kereta or Lok Thian-Thai.
From Kuching you can arrange through a travel agent, like Asia Overland Services, a fascinating foray into the rain forest.
Four and a half hours by bus (part of it dirt road) will deposit you in the Batang Ai National Forest. A short boat ride across the new reservoir delivers you to the Batang Ai Longhouse Resort, a remote and squeaky clean lodging smack in the middle of the jungle.
Open for only a year and managed by Hilton, the still-undiscovered Batang Ai offers the comfort and luxury of a tropical resort, but the atavistic thrill of coursing back in time.
From here, there are dozens of low-priced excursions into the interior, including river safaris, a 15-mile jogging journey, lake cruises and treks through the dense forest with a naturalist guide.
You might catch a glimpse of the proboscis monkey (found only in Borneo), or watch carnivorous plants lap up insects, or examine the Bintangor tree (currently being studied as a possible treatment for AIDS) or see them tap a rubber tree for its creamy latex.
A sojourn upriver to a picnic at a cascading waterfall costs $30 each for a party of two (less for larger groups.) A six-hour trek along the ridge once used by smugglers runs $21 per person. A day's fishing, with equipment furnished, sets you back $10 per person.
Once at the resort there are scores of activities: swimming, mountain-biking, kite flying -- they can even arrange a camping trip.
For a real adventure you can skim over the rapids of the Engkari River for 1 1/2 hours to a long house of the Iban Tribe. Thirty-six families live in the 720-foot Stamang Longhouse, an extended bamboo structure on stilts where each family has its own apartment but shares the common thatched veranda.
Here visitors can enjoy a meal for $10. The meal includes the sweetly fleshed tilapia fish, native ferns cooked in garlic (they taste like spinach), rice and fresh fruit.
A three-day, two-night visit to both the long house and Batang Ai Resort from Kuching -- with full board and transportation -- runs about $400 per person for two.
These trips can be arranged through any travel agent in Kuching. The award-winning Asian Overland Services at 011-60-03-4529100 offers the most comprehensive set of tours. Others include Borneo Adventure at 011-60-82-245175 or Pan Asia Travel at 011-60-82-428969.
For information, contact: Malaysian Tourist Office, 818 W. Seventh St., Suite 804, Los Angeles, CA 90017; telephone: (213) 689-9702.
For reservations at the Batang Ai Longhouse Resort, call (800) 445-8667. Be sure to tell them the resort is in the Kuching region.
