December Driving Vacation - Time to Plan

[Siewss]

Was planning an exotic family vacation this coming december but was thwarted by mis-timing. So it's back to our good old Northern neighbour.

 

The unavoidable monsoon means beaches are off-limit. That leaves mountains, fabulous eating haunts and maybe some in-land sightseeing.

 

This has been asked before, but I thought no harm asking again. Any interesting suggestions?

 

 

 

PS: At least I get to drive, which I much prefer to flying.

Edited August 31, 2009 by Siewss

[1fast1]

May be obvious, but try and convoy. Don't take the risk of going solo.

[Maverickchua]

Lake Kenyir

 

http://www.lakekenyir.com/main.htm

 

But must be there either end Nov or early Dec to avoid the monsoon..

[Siewss]

May be obvious, but try and convoy. Don't take the risk of going solo.

 

I intend to invite at least one other family along. So likely to be a 2 car convoy.

 

Not so fun when it comes to the driving - my friend's daughter is proned to motion sickness, while my kids are not. But there's safety in no.s, not to mention companionship.

[Siewss]

Lake Kenyir

 

http://www.lakekenyir.com/main.htm

 

But must be there either end Nov or early Dec to avoid the monsoon..

 

I'm targetting the last week of December, so likely to be rained out if I go.

 

The last time I was there many Decembers ago, I remember the pool was icy cold.

 

Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[Maverickchua]

Looks like you didnt have too many choices. Due to monsoon season, all the east coast is out of bound (mersing all the way to kuala trengganu). You only have to look at the west coast. From Malacca to Penang. The fav places are malacca, genting, CHL. I guess you should have been to all these places. Sunway, Ipoh and KL maybe another options.

 

Recently there is a new theme park near to Kuantan call Bukit gambang resort

 

Check this out.

 

http://www.cuti.com.my/hotel/info.php?id=2...ang+Resort+City

 

http://www.malsingmaps.com/forums/viewtopi...=47&t=17615

 

 

[Ithunk]

i think driving vacations are cool....i saw jeremy clarkson driving his lamborghini with a porsche and an aston martin in the swiss alps

[Siewss]

Looks like you didnt have too many choices. Due to monsoon season, all the east coast is out of bound (mersing all the way to kuala trengganu). You only have to look at the west coast. From Malacca to Penang. The fav places are malacca, genting, CHL. I guess you should have been to all these places. Sunway, Ipoh and KL maybe another options.

 

Recently there is a new theme park near to Kuantan call Bukit gambang resort

 

Check this out.

 

http://www.cuti.com.my/hotel/info.php?id=2...ang+Resort+City

 

http://www.malsingmaps.com/forums/viewtopi...=47&t=17615

 

Actually I'm very keen to try new holiday venues. I've tried many resorts, theme parks, hotels, hills, islands, lakes along both West and East Coast, and boredom has kind of set in. I was toying with the idea of Taman Negara Resort, but again, monsoon in a tropical rainforest doesn't sound too palatable.

 

Actually this afternoon I dropped a mail to my holiday companion and this was my proposed itinerary:

1) Cameron Highland x 2 days (to chill out)

 

2) Ipoh x 2 days (pig out! + castle + cave + day trip to Taiping Lake)

 

3) KL x 1 day (pig out! + indoor theme park @ Time Square + shopping for the ladies)

 

Bukit Gambang Resort looks good - worth considering. Let me sound out to my friend. The only snag is I have to traverse from West Coast to East Coast, and probably give up KL. Oh, another snag is, for sure, being a newly opened resort, it'll be packed with locals.

Edited September 2, 2009 by Siewss

[Siewss]

i think driving vacations are cool....i saw jeremy clarkson driving his lamborghini with a porsche and an aston martin in the swiss alps

 

Yes, it's cool. You get to enjoy flexibility, you're not at the mercy of rogue cabbies, you can explore the more remote resorts, you don't have to confine yourself to hotel meals, you can visit multiple attractions, and make multiples stopovers, not to mention the pleasure of driving, if you're into it.

 

During one phase of my life, we were going up north almost 4 times a year for our family vacation.

 

[Dwoon]

Drive really north lor..... Hatyai, Krabi, Phuket if time permits.

[Icyfreakass]

Drive really north lor..... Hatyai, Krabi, Phuket if time permits.

 

Whoa quite far. How long is the drive to phuket?

[SupperTime]

Whoa quite far. How long is the drive to phuket?

 

2 days, 3 if you wanna go "slow"

 

i hope maybe someone in MCS can organize a proper convoy to bangkok or something, personally would be very keen...

 

[Dwoon]

Adrianli has done it non stop to Phuket. Can't remember how long but I'd figure in the region of 18 hours.

 

I drove to Koh Samui taking 2 days. Takes 7 hours to Penang and stayed overnight. Then another 10 hours or so ( 2 hours ferry time included) the next day to reach Samu.

 

From Penang to Hatyai is a mere 3 hours if the Thai customs is not crowded.

[SupperTime]

Adrianli has done it non stop to Phuket. Can't remember how long but I'd figure in the region of 18 hours.

 

I drove to Koh Samui taking 2 days. Takes 7 hours to Penang and stayed overnight. Then another 10 hours or so ( 2 hours ferry time included) the next day to reach Samu.

 

From Penang to Hatyai is a mere 3 hours if the Thai customs is not crowded.

 

i drove back from samui 2 days as well, exception stayed in hat yai. left 8am the morning arrived in SG about 7:30pm.

penang is still the best i think, as hatyai is really not that good to stay at.

[Kelpie]

May be obvious, but try and convoy. Don't take the risk of going solo.

 

I'd prefer solo as I don't like to spending too much time waiting for each other. Pacing someone behind or leading a group is also stressful too. Being solo can be more flexible in term of schedule too. This explains why I dislike convoy holiday package, expensive and time consuming .

 

Regards,

 

 

[Siewss]

Drive really north lor..... Hatyai, Krabi, Phuket if time permits.

 

Time doesn't permit. In fact my family dislike extended driving trips, thanks in large part to a 10 days round Malaysia driving trip some years back, which triggered a semi-permanent bout of car-phobia.

 

We've been to Krabi, Phuket not too long ago, so unlikely we want to go there anytime soon.

 

[Siewss]

I'd prefer solo as I don't like to spending too much time waiting for each other. Pacing someone behind or leading a group is also stressful too. Being solo can be more flexible in term of schedule too. This explains why I dislike convoy holiday package, expensive and time consuming .

 

Regards,

 

I know what you mean. There are a lot more things to consider. I've done a fair bit of convoying - the real fun starts when you reach your destination. The last time I convoyed to Genting, my battery went flat - out came the jump-cable and we got on our way in no time.

 

Anyway, I thought maybe it's good to revise my itinerary a little bit:

 

1) Cameron Highland x 2 days (to chill out)

 

2) Penang x 2 day (pig out! + beach + kek lok si + Penang Hill + snake temple)

 

3) Ipoh x 1 days (pig out! + castle + cave + day trip to Taiping Lake)

 

4) Bukit Gambang Resort x 1 day (Theme park) [Tentative]

 

[Asdfghjkl]

Hi,

 

Any tips on where the traffic police hid along north south highway ? I understand they only hid along certain stretch and we can drive real slow to avoid paying the 'fine'.