The islands of Langkawi, Penang and Borneo have a well-developed tourist infrastructure. Penang Island – called the historical capital of the country, the largest temples are located here: the Goddess of Mercy (Kek Lok Si) Thai, Burmese, Chinese and also the snake temple. Malaysia has some of the best dive sites in the world, notably the islands of Sipadan, Mabul, Kapalai and Langkayan and Layang-Layang off the southeast coast of Borneo. The highlands of Cameroon (3 hours drive from the capital) is the only place in Southeast Asia where strawberries are grown, there are also tea plantations and colonial-style hotels where wealthy Malays rest to escape the heat.
Malaysia invites its guests to plunge into the wonderful world of art and architecture of the great civilizations of antiquity – Indian and Chinese. The Malay civilization took the best from them and brought them its own unique flavor. Nowhere else in the world can you find such an amazing neighborhood as in Malaysia: once the tallest building in the world, the Petronas Towers coexists perfectly with the largest Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia.
But Malaysia is not only thousands of ancient monuments and mysterious structures. Malaysia is also millions of kilometers of impenetrable jungle. The most visited place in the Malaysian jungle is the Taman Negara Reserve, located in a mountainous area on the territory of three Malaysian states. Taman Negara is the first place for those who want to visit the real jungle. The jungles of Taman Negara are estimated to be 130 million years old.
In the park there is a cave Gua-Teling. After making your way through a narrow passage, you can get into a large underground chamber, on the ceiling of which thousands of bats hang.
In Malaysia, you can visit the Penang Bridge, officially recognized as the third longest in the world, Mount Penang, from which you can see a breathtaking view of the island lying below, as well as the largest temple in Southeast Asia, Kek Lok Si.
On the island of Penang, off the west coast of the Malaysian Peninsula, are the most beautiful Chinese temples. The richness and subtlety of the wooden carving stands out for the Temple of the Dragon Mountains in the very center of the old part of the city of Georgetown. In Penang, there is the only snake temple in Malaysia, where on the altars, among the bronze censers, dozens of poisonous snakes lie in balls. They can be picked up – they will not bite, as they are full and intoxicated with incense.
Famous Buddhist temples in Penang. Temple Air Hitam (“black water”), in other words – the temple of Ten Thousand Buddhas: that is how many images of the Buddha are stored in a high white pagoda and adjacent premises. The altars of the temple are guarded by giant figures of the gods and heroes of China. In the Siamese temple, the 12-meter stone Buddha lying in the room is guarded by 10-meter giants with the faces of monsters and dragons. Festivities are held near the temples. The most colorful of them is the festival of the Nine Gods of the Emperor.
In Kuching, the capital of the island of Sarawak, there is a palace of the White Rajas – the descendants of the Englishman Brook, who ruled this pirate land in the last century.
In the northwest of Malaysia, in the warm waters of the Andaman Sea, the islands of Langkawi are located. Its southwest coast is a continuous strip of white sandy beaches. Tropical rainforests have been preserved in the northwest of the island. Telaga Tudzhukh – this is the name of 7 lakes located one above the other on a gentle mountain slope. Cold water flows from one lake to another, and, according to local legend, it is here that fairies descend from the mountains to bathe and wash their long hair. Telaga Air Panas – hot lakes in the central part of the island. Not far from this place, the Durian Perangin waterfall falls onto the rocks.
Dayang – Bunting – an island located near the islands of Langkawi. Of interest is the Lake of a pregnant woman, separated from the sea by a narrow isthmus. Women suffering from infertility make a pilgrimage here, who drink water from the lake in the hope of being cured of their illness.
About 13 km north of Kuala Lumpur are the Batu Caves. These caves, formed about 400 million years ago in limestone rocks, were discovered by accident in 1878 by the American naturalist William Hornaday. Today, Buddhists annually celebrate the Thaipusam holiday here, arranged in honor of the god Murugan. On this day, believers, reading prayers, bring a statue of their deity into a special Temple cave, for which they have to overcome 272 steps. The procession, cheered by the incessant beat of drums and shouts, makes a strong impression.
In Kedah, in the jungle along the banks of the Bujang River in the north-west of the peninsula, traces of ancient civilizations were found in the last century – the remains of the square foundations of temples, which sometimes served as tombs. This area was called the Valley of the Tombs. Here was the center of the Hindu civilization of the 1st millennium AD, which existed long before the Malacca Sultanate. Kedah Peak, visible from here, served as a landmark for Hindu navigators and was the place where their gods lived. The country’s first national historical park is being created here.
Most of Malaysia is covered with evergreen rainforests dominated by palm trees, tree ferns, pandanus, and bamboo. Epiphytes are widespread. Many species are endemic, not found anywhere else. Among them, it is worth mentioning the famous predatory plant of Southeast Asia, the nepenthes (or pitcher), which feeds on insects, as well as the largest flower in the world (up to 9 kg in weight and up to 1 m in diameter) – Rafflesia Arnold, which, having no roots, leaves and stems, is a classic example of parasitic plants. Mangrove forests grow on the coast of Malaysia, and oak and coniferous forests grow in the mountains, which in the upper tier are replaced by high-mountain meadows. The fauna of Malaysia is also extremely rich (elephants, two-horned rhinos, tigers, panthers, black-backed tapirs, crocodiles, huge pythons). Lots of monkeys (incl. anthropoid orangutans and gibbons, as well as living only on about. Kalimantan (Borneo) proboscis), for the protection of which the Kinabalu and Sepilok National Parks were established (the latter is the largest orangutan habitat in the world).
