Kuala Lumpur, Cameron Highlands & Pangkor, 6 Nights

A driver meets you at KLIA for the hour into the city, past oil-palm plantations and the new administrative capital at Putrajaya. Hotel rooms are usually ready from mid-afternoon, so the first hours are for a rest after the flight. In the evening, walk the park at the foot of the Petronas Towers, where a musical fountain plays on the lake after dark, or eat at the food stalls of Jalan Alor in Bukit Bintang. Indian restaurants and pure-vegetarian thali places are easy to find in Brickfields, the city's Little India.

Batu Caves first, before the heat and the coach parties: a limestone hill on the northern edge of the city, with a golden statue of Lord Murugan more than forty metres tall beside a stairway of 272 rainbow-painted steps up to the temple cave. Coconut water at the bottom afterwards is a local habit. Back in town, the tour passes the gates of Istana Negara, the National Mosque with its folded-umbrella roof and the National Monument, then walks Merdeka Square and the River of Life, where the Klang and Gombak rivers meet. It finishes among the murals of Kwai Chai Hong in Chinatown.

North on the expressway and then up a long, winding road through rainforest into the Titiwangsa range. The temperature falls steadily; at about 1,500 metres the Cameron Highlands rarely climb much above the mid-twenties, and evenings call for a light jacket. The British laid the area out as a hill station in the 1930s, and the mock-Tudor buildings of Tanah Rata still show it. Arrival is in the afternoon, which leaves time for a walk around Tanah Rata and scones or a pot of local tea. Anyone prone to travel sickness should take something before the climb.

A full circuit of the highlands with entry fees covered. Coral Hill comes first for the view across the ridges while the air is still clear. The Sungai Palas tea estate follows: a guided walk through the factory, where leaf is withered, rolled and dried, and then a cup on the terrace above slopes of clipped bushes. Later the butterfly farm and the market near Brinchang, piled with strawberries, cabbages and flowers grown on the hillsides, and an orchid garden. The day closes at Sam Poh, the oldest Buddhist temple in the highlands, calm and gilded on its hillside.

An early start down from the hills, west across the plains of Perak to Marina Island near Lumut, the jetty for the islands off this coast. Boats to the island run at set times around the middle of the day, so the departure from the highlands is timed to meet one. The crossing is short. Pangkor Laut is a small island of old rainforest just off Pangkor's west coast, given over entirely to one resort, with no traffic and no town. Check-in is from mid-afternoon; the rest of the day is for the beach and the sunset over the Strait of Malacca.

Nothing is scheduled, which is the point of ending the trip here. Mornings are the best time for the water, before the afternoon clouds build; hornbills are often heard, and sometimes seen, in the forest behind the bays. Walking trails cross the island's hill, the resort runs its own water sports and spa at extra cost, and there are quiet stretches of sand to read on. Meals are taken at the resort's own restaurants, as there is nowhere else on the island to eat, so it is worth asking about vegetarian and Indian options when you arrive.

Breakfast, then the scheduled boat back to Marina Island, where the driver is waiting for the long run south to Kuala Lumpur International Airport, about four hours on the expressway with a stop on the way. The timing means this route suits an afternoon or evening flight home; for a morning departure we would add a final night in Kuala Lumpur, which is easy to arrange at booking.