on the northern third of the island of Borneo. West (peninsular) Malaysia shares a border with Thailand, is connected by a causeway and a bridge (the 'second link') to the island state of Singapore, and has coastlines on the South China Sea and the Straits of Malacca. East Malaysia (Borneo) shares borders with Brunei and Indonesia. Peninsular Malaysia occupies most of the Malayan Peninsula between Thailand and Singapore, and is also known as West Malaysia. It is home to the bulk of Malaysia's population, its capital and largest city Kuala Lumpur, and is generally more economically developed. Some 800 kilometres to the east is East Malaysia which occupies the northern third of the island of Borneo, shared with Indonesia and tiny Brunei. Partly covered in impenetrable jungle, East Malaysia is rich in natural resources but very much Malaysia's hinterland for industry and tourism.
Beside the main cities, there other town and places in Malaysia that offer special attractions. Some examples are Taiping, Perak for its landscape and local attraction, Teluk Intan for its Leaning tower, Muar in Johor, famous for its food, Miri, the official tourism-city and resort city of Sarawak and Sibu in Sarawak, famous for its landscape and parks.Some of the most stunningly beautiful things about Malaysia are its tropical islands. And there's more to them than sun, sand and surf: particularly on the East Coast and Borneo's Sipadan there are coral reefs and hence excellent diving. There are many beautiful national parks in Malaysia with many different types of expeditions available, ranging from those where you hardly lose sight of the hotel to those were you are fully immersed in the jungle with only the guide and yourself. Tours vary from about 4 days to 2 weeks or more.
