PICS: On a road trip in Malaysia

Rediff reader Mridula Dwivedi, an academician from Gurgaon who blogs at Travel Tales from India, was part of the Malasia Tourism Hunt recently. She came back with these pictures and truckloads of memories.

Malaysia Tourism organised the first Malaysia Tourism Hunt in 2012 and I was part of it. We covered more than 1000 km on the road in a convoy of 30-odd vehicles visiting many beautiful places on the route. It was a great way to see Malaysia and venture into some smaller places.

---

The journey started at Putrajaya. Putrajaya is 25 kilometers away from Kuala Lumpur (KL) towards the KL International Airport. It is a planned city housing administrative offices and residences. The prime minister's office is here too. We took a night cruise through the city and were impressed by what we saw. This is the bridge Seri Saujana in Putrajaya being clicked by a fellow participant.

Our next stop was the Sepang F1 International Circuit. On the way I spotted this delegate taking a moment's rest and feasting his eyes on the rain. Thankfully by the time we reached Sepang the rain has stopped.

All of us were given a chance to drive our Proton cars at the F1 circuit. I am not much of a driver so I thought I would let it go.

When we made the first pit stop the two designated drivers went for a washroom break. And then the car had to be moved! So in the end I drove the Proton Persona twice around the F1 circuit because I was the only driver left at that point of time!

In the picture you can see the grand stand of Sepang, which I clicked from the passenger seat!

Malaysians love food and they make others eat it too! In this picture you can see Cendol, a cool drink with a lot of ice and mildly sweet flavour that they served us at Kuala Kubu Bharu. It was the perfect drink for the hot weather.

One of our stops was the home stay at Sungai Pasu in the state of Pahang. It was such a peaceful setting and the kids who greeted us just stole my heart. Here you can see one kid with his cool shades and handmade colourful umbrella with which they greeted us.

Even though the tourism hunt was supposed to be competitive we had a lot of fun with each other.

In this picture the gentleman in the orange shirt is Musa Yusof, the director of domestic marketing division of Tourism Malaysia. The picture perfectly captures the spirit of Malaysia Tourism Hunt 2012 where everyone had fun!

We got to enjoy many Malaysian dances at almost every other venue. This beautiful dancer and her troupe performed at Kuala Terengganu.

In Malaysia such dances end in an invitation to the audience to dance alongside!

At Terengganu we had some spare time which I spent in the local indoor market clicking pictures. There was plenty of exotic stuff (to my eyes) and these sweets looked so tempting.

Our last stop was the beautiful Redang Island. This was the private beach of our resort The Taaras.

I have to admit I sometimes make an effort to capture a picture but this was just a 'walking by, no composition intended' picture! The place was really this beautiful.

I do not have underwater casing for my camera but you have to take my word that the snorkelling was out of this world near the Redang Marine Centre. They have made 2km radius just off the beach fishing and activity free and it shows in the corals and the marine life.

On one particular swim it felt as if I was watching scenes from the movie Avatar. Unfortunately I can show you only 'above the water' pictures!

Malaysia Tourism Hunt 2012 has been a really memorable journey for the enthusiastic participants, concerned hosts and outstanding hospitality.

Mridula Dwivedi is an academic from India who is passionate about trekking and travelling, and these days dreaming about going to Antarctica. She blogs at Travel Tales from India.

Also Read
10 AMAZING PICS: Trekking up to the Everest Base Camp!
Photos: The mesmerising Valley of Flowers