Malaysia Trip Report

It was a shade past dark as our little motorboat planed along the inky Klias River in northeastern Borneo. Abruptly, the driver throttled back and pointed to a great tree cradling the riverbank.

Fireflies. Gazillions of them, frantically flashing their bioluminescent love notes from every leaf. It was so insanely magical my wife Gail and I forgot it was a planned event, executed so flawlessly it seemed spontaneous.

These are the "ah" moments that separate the great vacations from the pretenders.

Our Cox & Kings private tour of Malaysia in September offered us a wealth of such calculated serendipity. Dianna Upton of Cox & Kings USA had steered us towards Malaysia after pointing out that Laos, our initial target, would be at the height of its rainy season.

Dianna flexed her creative muscles in putting together a customized Malaysian itinerary that satisfied our demands for adventure, culture and nature, plus pampering and shopping. She mapped a route leading from the urban jungle of Kuala Lumpur to the rainforests of Borneo, ending up at the beach on luxurious Langkawi.

Our guides were superlative, but the best was Selvam, who handled the Sarawak leg of our journey. A naturalist, trained survivalist and expert on local tribes, he regaled us with tales of headhunters and jungle medicine. Selvam also proved a keen client observer. He noticed our Hilton Honors status in Kuching and surprised us with an upgrade at our next stop, the Hilton Batang Ai Longhouse Resort.

The best cultural experience was a visit to a native Iban longhouse. We spent a leisurely morning playing with the children, trying some native dance steps and testing out the blowgun. The highlight was watching the children carefully divide the armloads of snacks we brought into 37 piles, one for each family. Folks still in the rice fields got their share when they returned. Greed, apparently, is a sin foreign to these parts.

Travel blogs on Malaysia pontificate over the "authentic" way to see wildlife, particularly the orangutan. Undoubtedly, spotting the icon of the Borneo jungle in the wild is a singular experience, but I wanted a guaranteed sighting. Dianna sent us to the Semenggoh Wildlife Center, a Sarawak sanctuary that "repatriates" rescued orangs. The morning feeding drew eight of the fuzzy orange apes, including two babies. So instead of an unrequited slog through a remote habitat, I got extended eye-to-lens contact with the doleful elder statesmen of Semenggoh.

We got our safari-fix later, tracking troops of proboscis monkeys through the Klias River mangroves in Sabah. Gail scored the first sighting of these Jimmy Durantes of the jungle. By nightfall, we had seen so many we lost count.

Lawrence, our Sabah guide, really came through when I asked to see a Rafflesia, the world's largest flower. He made a few calls and, soon, his cell phone whooped with its hilarious ring tone of a mynah bird doing a wolf-whistle. A fresh bloom the size of a car tire was just a short hike away.

I regret missing my chance to go diving. I had decided to forego Sipadan—one of the Top Five in any diver's logbook—figuring it too much of a schlep. Instead I opted for Pulau Payer off Langkawi. Sure enough, visibility there was only three meters—not worth getting wet.

But if you can't go diving, what better place to be topside than the magnificent Four Seasons Langkawi? The resort provided plenty of aqueous distractions: kayaking to a nearby deserted island to see Langkawi's namesake eagle, solving the conundrum of the "infinity lap pool," or just lounging on a strand of private beach wide enough to have its own horizon.

And what a jaw-droppingly gorgeous room! Cathedral ceilings high as the rack rate, two lanais edged with pillow-piled benches, and an emperor-size bed so big it spanned two time zones. We were tempted never to leave our suite.

Lest we go completely native, though, Dianna arranged a dinner excursion to Bon Ton Village. Built on the grounds of a 100-year old coconut plantation, at times it sounded as if part of the village had been ceded to Langkawi's airport. Still, we enjoyed the dreamy setting of traditional Malay houses—think gingerbread cookies on sticks—and playful, but well-mannered, rescued cats.

It was a well-orchestrated vacation. The only note that fell flat was a mix-up over luggage and food service at the Nexus Karambunai Resort near Kota Kinabalu. But even that miscue turned out for the better when Dianna secured a gracious apology and one-night refund from the general manager.

Now we're ready to talk to Cox & Kings about Laos again...