Travelfish correspondent Stuart McDonald

Stuart previously lived in Thailand and Cambodia for around eight years between them, where he worked as an under-paid, under-skilled language teacher, an embassy staffer, a newspaper web-site developer and various other stuff.

Before all those non-travel jobs he authored two travel guides, one to Vietnam and one to Thailand. He still spends a lot of time travelling and can sleep anywhere, anytime - even on the road to Bokor.

His favourite read is The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton.

He spends most of his time in Bali, Indonesia.
Website: http://www.travelfish.org

Posts by Stuart McDonald:

• Is Cherating worth going to?

  First published: 29 Nov 2012
  

  Cherating Beach, set to the north of Kuantan and about three hours south of Kuala Terengganu, has long been heralded in guidebooks and the travel press as some kind of fabled East coast Malaysia backpacker beach hangout. The first I heard about it though was from another backpacker during our trek in Taman Negara National … read the full post

• Teluk Chempedak, Kuantan

  First published: 25 Nov 2012
  

  It’s not till you reach Teluk Chempedak, a 15-minute bus ride out of Kuantan, that you realise this is actually Kuantan’s main attraction. Sure, as we did, you may need to walk through a McDonalds drive-thru to reach the beach, and there may well be a combined education and mobile phone festival going on, but … read the full post

• Meet Kuantan

  First published: 14 Nov 2012
  

  I’m not 24 hours into my stay in Kuantan yet and I’ve gone from being indifferent to it to loathing it to finding it just okay to just loving it — and I’ve not been here for breakfast yet! All those emotions over a Malaysian state capital that really isn’t overwhelmed with attractions — what … read the full post

• A short walking tour in Kuala Lumpur

  First published: 08 Nov 2012
  

  Kuala Lumpur isn’t the most pedestrian friendly city in the region, but that’s not to say you should spend your entire time in taxis, buses and elevated trains. Bukit Bintang is our favourite area for flashpacker digs in Kuala Lumpur and while it isn’t home to much in the way of tourist sights itself (unless … read the full post

• Great places to stay in Georgetown, Penang

  First published: 12 Sep 2012
  

  Georgetown, Penang, offers a great array of places to stay, from cheap backpacker haunts through to charming heritage hotels. Here are a few guesthouses and hotels in Georgetown that struck us as outstanding value for money. Under 50 ringgit If you’re visiting Georgetown on a budget, dorms are the way to go. Most of the … read the full post

• The Langkawi cable car

  First published: 28 Aug 2012
  

  Well-informed me didn’t even know Langkawi had a cable car till I started riding around the island and saw the signs for it — and with it climbing almost 700 metres, oh what a cable car it is. Opened in 2003, the Langkawi cable car has three “stations” which you pass through on your way … read the full post

• Batu Caves’ Dark Cave

  First published: 22 Aug 2012
  

  The almost 43-metre tall statue of Lord Murugan stands by the entrance to the Batu Caves and is one of Malaysia’s iconic images. The epicentre of the annual Thaipusam procession, Batu Caves is famous for the festival, statue and main cavern behind it, but a far lesser known and arguably more interesting point of interest … read the full post

• Where to stay at Taman Negara National Park

  First published: 17 Aug 2012
  

  Malaysia’s most famous national park, Taman Negara is just a few hours from Kuala Lumpur by bus and/or boat and while there’s only one place to stay within the park, there are a bunch of places to stay across the river in Kuala Tahan. But which is the best for you? Stay in the park … read the full post

• Langkawi: Photo essay

  First published: 13 Aug 2012
  

  After four action-packed days in Langkawi on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia I’ve had my assumptions about the island shattered — in a good way. I’d always written it off as a tourist trap, but what I found was far more interesting — and far less touristed — than I expected. Admittedly I visited … read the full post

• Photo: The old and new in Kuala Lumpur

  First published: 05 Dec 2011
  

  Architecturally speaking, there’s little respect for the old in Kuala Lumpur, but one neighbourhood has managed to resist the onslaught of silver steel and gleaming glass: Kampung Baru, located spitting distance from the KLCC’s Petronas Towers.