Malaysia

The first 5 weeks of our first visit to SE Asia were spent in M'sia.

M'sia gained independence from the British in 1957, has a population of about 26 million, and is a melting pot of ethnicity, including indigenous peoples (over 50+ tribes speaking different languages, particularly in Borneo), Malay, Chinese, Nonnya (mixed Chinese-Malay decent), and Indian, all of which contribute to a vibrant community feeling.

M'sia has a goal to be a 'developed' country before 2020. This includes:

• Strict regulations about puplic toilets (most of which are already cleaner than in NZ)
• An attempt to bulldoze Kampung (traditional stilt villages which tend to be the bottom rung of the housing ladder) and build sky rises everywhere. 
  
• The introduction of cumpolsory taxi meters, though we've yet to find one that works and our inquiries into why drivers have them if they don't work (usully after less-successful attempts to haggle down the fare price) are met with the comment "I don't speak that much English sorry!"
  
• Most of the time, you forget you're in a developing  country but there are glimpses now and again, for example buses with loos that empty straight onto the road, and the open-greywater systems outside main city centers (which you get used to). But by and large, M'sia appears to be doing OK.

Transport is semi-organized, semi-unorganized. We still managed to find buses leaving to most places with a more regular occurrences than you'd find in NZ. There are however more touts and your taxi driver will take a cut for your delivery to a particular bus counter at the bus station. Taxi fares are still comparatively inexpensive, as is the price of fuel in coastal areas

While the NZ exchange rate is about $2.3NZD to the Malay Ringitt (RM), your purchasing is much improved on many things such as food and accommodation. For example:

• Hostel dorm bed 20NZD/15RM
• Meal for two at an in-expensive restaurant (including non-alcoholic bevvies) 30NZD/20RM
• Takeaways for two 15NZD/10RM
• Mid-range hotel (with room service) 100NZD/75RM
  

We're pleased to have got out of expensive Singapore. I'd be getting a wriggle on if you want to go here though - M'sia seems to have cottoned on to the 'tourists have money and will pay comparatively exorbitant prices' concept promoted in S'pore (a permit to climb G. Kinabalu costs 100RM for a tourist, 20RM for a malay, and a hostel bed costs 42RM compared with 15RM in the cities). The difference between S'pore and M'sia is that if it looks good in M'sia, it's probably broken - you may not get what you pay for. There are of course some exceptions, in particular, the great hostels we've stayed in. The prize so far goes to Highlands Lodge (Miri, Sarawak). We also loved our stay at Nora Chalet, Salang, Pilau Tioman.

All-up, the scenery, friendly locals, scrummy food and the relative ease of travel makes M'sia a friendly and reasonably inexpensive first port of call in Asia.