Select: Kuala Lumpur & Langkawi

Founded at the head of the Klang Valley in the mid-nineteenth century, Kuala Lumpur – widely known as KL – has never had a coherent style. The earliest grand buildings around Merdeka Square, dating from the 1890s, are eccentric fusings of influences from across the British Empire, now overshadowed by soaring modern landmarks (notably the Petronas Towers) that wouldn’t be out of place in Hong Kong or New York. This melange extends to the people too; attractions aside, you could spend a visit simply soaking up KL’s excitingly diverse Malay, Chinese and Indian cultures: the conversations heard on the street, the huge range of food, and the profusion of mosques, Buddhist temples and Hindu shrines. A stay of a few days is enough to appreciate the best of KL’s attractions, including the colonial core around Merdeka Square and the adjacent enclaves of Chinatown and Little India, plus, to the east, the restaurants, shops and nightlife of the so-called Golden Triangle, the modern heart of downtown KL. It can be equally rewarding just to take in KL’s street life, in particular its boisterous markets, ranging from fish and produce markets stuffed into alleyways, to stalls selling cooked food of every shape and description, or inexpensive clothes and accessories.

Off the coast of Kedah, an archipelago of 99 islands offers the best of many different worlds: Langkawi. Beautiful beaches, world-class infrastructure, mangrove forests rich in flora and fauna, cheap and duty-free shopping, and fascinating legends. Ask the islanders about the tragic story of a young woman named Mahsuri and they will tell you a tale of love and jealousy, and the curse she cast upon the island for seven generations. Today, the seventh generation of Langkawi's inhabitants has long passed, but those who live on the island still believe that the prosperity and blessings the island currently enjoys, and the end of the curse, are not just a mere coincidence. The mysticism of this legend is still alive in many parts of the island, especially at the Makam Mahsuri (Mahsuri's Mausoleum), where it is said that Mahsuri is buried. Langkawi also offers an underwater world, with an underground tunnel that passes through a gigantic aquarium that has received extraordinary reviews.