American travelers seeking an East Asian trip with interesting culture, delicious food and affordable prices often default to Thailand or Vietnam. For a different vibe and a higher price, they may pick Japan or Korea. 

Few even consider Malaysia — but they should. 

We just visited Malaysia for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It’s a comfortable, affordable, friendly place where English is widely spoken, the food is terrific, the nature is stunning, traveling is easy and cultural diversity is the norm. 

Malaysia has about 33 million people and a per capita GDP of about $12,000, making it an upper-middle income country. It’s modern, industrial and comfortable, especially in the urban areas where most people live. We traveled everywhere by Grab — like Uber, for a fraction of the price — paid with credit cards, used our smartphones and stayed in hotels and Airbnbs that were lovely but inexpensive. 

Malaysia is a long way from America and it gets hot. But especially during this tense moment in our own history, it has a lot to teach us with its tolerant blend of religions, regions and ethnicities. Malaysia combines Malay, Chinese and Indian influences into something unique.

We flew from Taipei to Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, a region of nearly 9 million people and some of Asia’s tallest skyscrapers. The photo shows us beside the iconic Petronas Twin Towers renowned for their Islamic-inspired design.

We also visited the famous Batu Caves (see my video), the national museum, art galleries, Taoist temples, mosques and markets.

We then took a bus south to Malacca, which I described in an earlier post, before turning north to Penang. Along the way we stopped for a few days in Ipoh, where we visited cave temples, learned about the local tin industry and wandered night markets offering everything from fried insects to bubble tea. Our hotel was a restored mansion of a wealthy Chinese businessman.

Penang, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, surprised us with its sparkling condominiums, fancy shops and general modernity, which has attracted expats from around the world. We stayed with Singaporean friends who now live there and had dinner with two former Peace Corps Volunteers who served in Malaysia in the past and retired there eight years ago.

We learned about Penang on a free walking tour, rode the funicular to the top of Penang Hill, visited the Kek Lok Si Temple, toured the Pinang Perinakan Mansion and sampled the city’s famously diverse cuisine. 

Finally we flew to East Malaysia on the island of Borneo, for a wildlife tour and two nights in a jungle lodge. We saw orangutans, proboscis monkeys, hornbills, swarming bats and more — even a crocodile that had just started eating a python (Watch my video about our Sabah adventure.)

Americans who skip Malaysia are missing out on all this. If they look beyond the familiar travel brands and give it a try — as we finally did — they’re likely to wonder why they didn’t come sooner.