Smart Traveller

The Malaysian Grand Prix is the third Grand Prix of the 2010 Formula 1 World Championship season and is due to take place on the weekend of the 2nd to the 4th of April 2010 at the Sepang International Circuit in Sepang. If you’re planning to head off to Sepang to see the race, here is some information about Malaysia and some of the other things that you can see and do while you are there.

Malaysia Overview

The Federation of Malaysia is situated in South-East Asia and is comprised of two main areas: Peninsular Malaysia (or West Malaysia), which lies to the south of Thailand on the Malay Peninisula; and Malaysian Borneo (or East Malaysia), which is located on the island of Borneo and consists of two states, Sabah and Sarawak. The island of Labuan, which lies just off the coast of Borneo, is also part of Eastern Malaysia.

The capital of Malaysia is Kuala Lumpur, which is situated in the state of  Selangor, on Peninsular Malaysia’s west coast.

Getting to Malaysia

The easiest way to get to Malaysia is to fly to the country’s main airport, Kuala Lumpur International Airport, which is situated about 50km from the centre of the capital. A number of airlines offer flights to Kuala Lumpur from the U.K. and other destinations.

Sepang International Circuit

Sepang International Circuit is situated in the district of Sepang, about 10 minutes’ drive from Kuala Lumpur International Airport. There are parking spaces at the circuit, but these are limited, so the best way to travel is by public transport.

The Sepang International Circuit, which was designed by Hermann Tilke, opened in 1999. The main track, which is used for the F1 Malaysian Grand Prix,  is 5.54km long and features 8 straights and 15 turns.

As well as being the venue for the F1 Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang International Circuit plays host to a number of other motorsports events.

Malaysia Hotels

If you’re visiting Malaysia for the F1 Grand Prix, you’ll find plenty of hotels to choose from. One of the closest hotels to the Sepang International Circuit is the Pullman Putrajaya Lakeside Hotel, which is about 18km from the circuit. The Pullman Putrajaya Lakeside Hotel has 283 rooms, a fitness centre, a swimming pool, two restaurants, a deli and several bars.

There are also a number of hotels near to Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The Pan Pacific Kuala Lumpur Airport Hotel, for example, has 441 rooms and suites, a 24-hour restaurant, a lobby lounge and a bar and grill. Other facilities at the hotel include an outdoor swimming pool, a tennis court, a gymnasium and a business centre.

Other airports close to Kuala Lumpur International Airport are the Concorde Inn KLIA Hotel and Tune Hotels KLIA-LCCT Airport.

Attractions in Malaysia

Malaysia is a beautiful country with many attractions, so if you’re travelling there to see the 2010 Formula 1 Malaysian Grand Prix, it’s worth extending your stay to that you can see more of what the country has to offer.

The capital, Kuala Lumpur, is packed with attractions and as it’s close to Sepang International Circuit, it’s the perfect place to base yourself. Kuala Lumpur is a real fusion of the traditional and the contemporary, and it’s highlights include everything from historic mosques, such as Masjid Jamek, to modern shopping centres. Landmarks in Kuala Lumpur include the stunning Petronas Twin Towers, the Thean Hou Temple and the Sultan Abdul Samad Building.

There are many museums and galleries within the city, including the National Museum, the National Art Gallery, the Islamic Arts Museum, the Asian Art Museum and the Performing Arts Costume Gallery. Other attractions worth visiting include the National Planetarium, the Kuala Lumpur Bird Park, Aquaria KLCC (the city’s first aquarium) and the National Science Centre.

Essential Information

Malaysia’s official religion is Islam and although many parts of it, such as the city of Kuala Lumpur, are modern and multi-cultural, it’s still important to be careful to dress and behave appropriately in order to avoid offence.

Kuala Lumpur is 8 hours ahead of the U.K. and its currency is the Malaysian ringgit (MYR).

Manchester Airport is situated in Ringway, in the City of Manchester, in the North West of England. It’s the busiest airport outside of London and acts as a gateway to the north of the country.The airport has two runways, three passenger terminals and a freight terminal, and is used for both domestic and international flights. Many international airlines operate flights to Manchester and you can fly to a wide range of destinations from the airport.

Each terminal has shops, cafes and other food outlets, together with airport lounges, baby changing facilities, wireless hot-spots and internet kiosks. Terminals 2 and 3 also have multi-faith prayer rooms.

If you are departing from Manchester and want to leave your car at the airport, you’ll find two long-stay car parks there, one of which serves Terminals 1 and 3 and one of which serves Terminal 2. There are also two short-stay car parks at the airport.

If you are arriving at Manchester Airport, you can book a hire car and pick it up when you land. The airport also has its own integrated transport hub, known as The Station, and you can catch a train or bus to the centre of Manchester or to another destination from here.

The Manchester Airport complex includes a hotel, the Radisson Blu Hotel Manchester Airport, which is situated between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. It has 360 rooms, including standard rooms, business class rooms and suites, and also has a restaurant, a brasserie and a bar. Other facilities at the Radisson Blu Hotel Manchester Airport include a beauty lounge and a health club with an indoor swimming pool.

The complex also includes Manchester Airport’s Aviation Viewing Park, which features three viewing mounds from which you can watch the planes take off and land, and a collection of four historic planes: the front section of a Monarch Airlines DC-10; a restored BEA Hawker Siddeley Trident 3B; the Avro RJX; and Concorde G-BOAC (also known as Alpha Charlie), the second plane in the British Airways’ supersonic Concorde fleet. The Aviation Viewing Park also has an aviation shop and a restaurant.

Manchester Airport is only about 20 minutes’ drive from the centre of Manchester.

In the next posts in our series about Orlando’s Walt Disney World Resort, we’ll be taking a look at the Epcot theme park.

The name Epcot stands for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow and the theme park, which opened in 1982, was originally designed to showcase the possible future development of technology. Although Epcot doesn’t look particularly futuristic today, it’s still a great place to visit. It covers a huge area and is packed with attractions, so ideally you should plan to spend at least a day, possibly two days there if you want to explore it properly.

Epcot is divided into two main sections: Future World and World Showcase. Future World is the first section of the park that you’ll see if you go into the park using the main entrance, and it is here that you will find the rides and attractions based on technology and science.

The Future World area of the park is divided into a number of “pavilions”, including the Mission: Space Pavilion, the Land Pavilion and the Spaceship Earth Pavilion (the large golf-ball style structure which dominates the park). Popular rides within the Future World section of Epcot include Mission: Space, Test Track, Soarin’ and The Seas with Nemo and Friends.

The second part of Epcot, World Showcase, is set around the huge lake and features eleven “pavilions”, each of which is themed on a different country: the Mexico Pavilion, the Norway Pavilion, the China Pavilion, the Germany Pavilion, the Italy Pavilion, the American Adventure Pavilion, the Japan Pavilion, the Morocco Pavilion, the France Pavilion, the United Kingdom Pavilion and the Canada Pavilion. These pavilions feature restaurants, gift shops and attractions based on the culture of the countries upon which they are themed.

There is a large car park outside of the main entrance to Epcot, so if you are travelling by hire car, you can park there. If you are staying in one of the resort’s hotels, you can take a shuttle bus to the park and Epcot is also accessible by boat from several of the hotels, Disney’s BoardWalk and Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park, and by monorail from the Magic Kingdom. However, Disney transportation can be very busy during peak hours, so travelling by rental car may be the easiest option.

Make sure that you pick up a park map as you enter Epcot, as the theme park is huge and can be disorientating.

In the next post in this series, we will take a closer look at some of the attractions that you can see in the Future World section of Epcot.

Image: Quinn Norton