Introduction: The Northwestern Peninsula

This is an area of immense variety, spliced in the middle by a mountainous jungled backbone, the Main Range, or Banjaran Titiwangsa.

Heading north out of Kuala Lumpur is like heading through the country’s so-called first wave of development – this is the land of tin and rubber, and, nearer the Thai border, rice.

Perak’s Kinta river valley was once the tin capital of the world. Now, a daisy-chain of huge mining ponds sit in silence amid deserts of stark, bleached sand and the odd tin dredge made of wood, but life is returning to this seeming desolation. Museums about the tin-mining days have sprouted up in the former mining towns of Gopeng and Ipoh, while the indigenous people, the Orang Asli, guide visitors deep into the forests to see the world’s largest flower in bloom. In the middle of a plantation, visitors wander around a castle wondering what it would have looked like had it been completed.

Strolling on Batu Feringghi beach at sunset.

James Tye/Apa Publications

Further north, the flat tin-mining lands make way for limestone hills. Large outcrops dripping with vegetation dot Perak and Perlis, and make up the entire islands of the Langkawi archipelago. Being Southeast Asia’s first Geopark, Langkawi’s geological formations are a sight to behold – whether it is riding a cable car to the top of a mountain, swimming in a lake or kayaking through the mangrove trees.

The rainforest-covered mountains of this region.

James Tye/Apa Publications

Swathed in mist at dawn, the limestone hills are inspiration for any number of Chinese brush paintings, while the earliest evidence of prehistoric human civilisation in the country can be found among the caves. Caves continue to fascinate modern man; at Chinese and Hindu cave temples, locals seek divine guidance for their everyday lives.

On the west coast of Perak, a unique ecosystem beckons the visitor – huge swathes of mangrove trees, the forest between land and sea, are home to hundreds of bird species, including migratory birds wintering here. Meanwhile, on the isles, it is always holiday time. The World Heritage City of George Town continues to bewitch with its plethora of colonial buildings, temples and cluttered, lively city streets, while beyond the city lie golden beaches, Malay villages and a countryside dotted with nutmeg and durian orchards. More long sandy beaches beckon at Langkawi, a hugely popular resort island, yet still sleepily wrapped in legend.

Painted chick blinds at a workshop.

James Tye/Apa Publications