Know before you go : Malaysia Edition

In this article, I’ll make an overview of everything useful to know before going to Malaysia, including some travel tips.

You’ll find : 

Malaysia is located in Southeast Asia and made up of two major landmasses separated by water—Peninsular Malaysia to the west and East Malaysia to the east—and many smaller islands. It shares borders with Brunei, Indonesia and Thailand and shared maritime boundaries with Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.

Kuala Lumpur is Malaysia’s capital and largest city. The city is located in west-central Peninsular Malaysia (see picture 2 below).

The country covers 330 803 km² and Malaysia’s population is around 35 millions.

The best time to visit Malaysia will depend on the places you want to see but basically :

• The rainy season in Malaysia is overall from October to March
• The peak season is in July and August, so it will be more crowded.

With all that said, the best months to come would be in April, May, June and September.

We went in April and I would totally recommend it because there weren’t that many tourists and the weather was very hot but perfect to enjoy the different places.

Although, if you are coming to Kuala Lumpur, best thing you can do is book a hotel with a pool, because between the heat and humidity you will so grateful to take a refreshing dip in between your visits !

The currency in Malaysia is the Malaysian Ringgit, and 1€ equals 4,2 MYR or RM (on average you can get a lunch for 10-20 RM or 2-4 euros). In Kuala Lumpur, you can pay with card almost everywhere, but on other areas such as Langkawi or Tioman it’s best to withdraw cash. The best ATMs in the country are Maybank, there are no fees plus you can find them everywhere.

The prices for restaurants vary depending if you go to touristy areas or more local places, but overall it’s very cheap : we tried different types of restaurant and cuisine and the most expensive was around 8€ per person for good food and an awesome view of Kuala Lumpur’s skyline at the 37th floor. But if you want to spend less you will definitely have a nice meal for 2€ or less.

Regarding the places to visit such as the various temples or sightseeings, the entrance fees were free or not expensive at all. We used a lot Grab (Asia’s version of Uber) in Kuala Lumpur and it was also very cheap (for example it was 5€ to go from downtown to Batu Caves, 14€ to go the airport from the city center).

Regarding accommodations, you can find most great Airbnb / hotels, for 15€ per night per person. More basic ones will be half that, you can even find accommodations for 5€ per day if you plan in advance.

Clothing : I would suggest packing something light clothes because temperatures are around 30 degrees all year round.

Of course, bring a hat, sunglasses and sunscreen because the sun in no joke here.

A light rain jacket in the backpack can come in handy in case there’s some unexpected heavy rain.

Medication : Bring some insect repellent, there are some mosquitoes in the most humid areas.

Pack a safety kit with disinfectant, bandaids, pills in case you do not tolerate the local food well, the basic survival tools !

Adapter: Malaysia uses Type G power outlets, so bring a plug adapter, it will come in handy. A power bank is also handy for keeping your devices charged during a long day of exploration !

There’s a lot to bring back from Malaysia !

Traditional items : First of all, traditional textile and fabrics like the Batik (fabric printed using beeswax and natural colours from plant leaves and flowers) or Songket (fabric with gold or silver threads).

Traditional souvenirs include pewter products, hand-woven crafts, bamboo crafts, sabah pearls and much more !

Food : Food-wise, you can bring traditional sweets such as Kuih (local cakes), dodol (sticky toffee-like sweet), and dried fruits, but also tea or white coffee. For spices, curry powders, rendang paste, laksa paste and sambal (chili paste) are staples of Malaysian cuisine.

Malay is the official language in Malaysia.

Most people will understand and speak english or otherwise they will use a translator to communicate. But here are a few words in Malay that you can use :

Hello : Selamat pagi (good morning) or Selamat Petang (good afternoon/evening) [suh-lah-mat pag-ee/puh-tong]

Thank you : Terima kasih [Teh-ree-mah kah-seeh]

You’re welcome : Sama-sama [Sah-mah sah-mah]

I (don’t) understand : Saya (tidak) faham [Sah-yah (Tee-dahk) Fah-hahm]

Sorry : Maaf [Mah-ahf]

My name is… : Nama saya… [Nah-mah sah-yah]

Yes / No : Ya/Tidak [Yah/Tee-dahk]

First off, you need to have minimum 6-month passport validity.

Then, all travellers are required to submit the Malaysian Digital Arrival Card within 3 days (including the day of arrival) before arriving in Malaysia, except:

• Citizens of Singapore
• Diplomatic and official passport holders
• Malaysia permanent residents and long-term pass holders
• General certificate of identity (GCI) Brunei Darussalam holders
• Brunei Malaysia frequent traveler facility holders
• Thailand border pass holders
• Indonesia cross-border travel document (PLB) holders.

The MDAC Arrival card is Free and takes less than 5 minutes to fill out.

And lastly, visas. Being French, you don’t need to apply for a visa if you will stay in Malaysia for less than 3 months, but for other nationalities, check out the list in this page to know if you are exempt of Visa or not when coming to Malaysia. 

If you need to apply, here’s the link of the official Malaysian government website. 

As we came from France, our mobile plan did not include internet and calls in Malaysia, so we bought a CelcomDigi SIM card at Kuala Lumpur airport for around 10€. If you can, try buying the SIM card in a shop outside the airport, it will be way more advantageous. This operator has the best coverage everywhere compared to the other options available.

For hoping from one island to another, there are many fast boats and ferries. Once on the islands, you can rent a scooter at your hotel, this will be the easiest option for you !

If you are staying on the main land, you can rent a car online (either via Skyscanner or Kayak to compare the best options) or directly at the airport.

There’s a lot of things to see in Malaysia ! You can visit many islands, such as the famous Tioman, or Langkawi, Perhentian Islands, Malacca, or hike in the Taman Negara or Cameron Highlands…You won’t be bored a second !

Here’s a list of the best things to do in Kuala Lumpur, the most visited city in Malaysia :

That’s it for my Malaysia travel tips ! To have a lot more information and pictures about these places, you can read my article about the best things to do if you are coming to Kuala Lumpur.