Le meilleur de la Malaisie 10 jours

Good variety of sites to see across several different areas of the country. See city and rural life. Strawberry Resort highlight of the trip. Beautiful architecture in Kuala Lampur.

I want to give a balanced review. Pros - Malaysia as a country is absolutely beautiful and the tour takes us to some stunning places. The operator uses freelance drivers, agents, and guides for each leg of the trip and each section eventually delivered - we arrived to Penang safely. Frankie (as a driver and guide) and Khan (as a driver and guide) were both very good and professional in the KL/Melacca and Penang leg respectively - friendly, engaging, and answered our questions. Cons - my biggest complaint was the extremely poor communication throughout - between the operator and us, as well as between the operator and individual freelance drivers. There are too many examples to list, but some standout ones would include: 1. Being left at the roadside for 1 hr waiting for to be picked up by a freelance driver due to a miscommunication between the operator (also Frankie - who is a director of Elephant Shadow as well as driver) and the freelance local driver (William) about pickup time. Frankie is yet to apologize for us for this (he had only claimed it is the driver's 'fault' and absolved himself fully). 2. When we were in Taman Negara National Park no one knew who was in charge of us. Continuously throughout the day, I might be calling or messaging Frankie (operator), the local tour agent he had allocated us to (Taman Negara Pahang), the guide the tour agent subsequently allocated us to (Mr Fizan), and the hotel activity center. We would turn up to the meeting spot given to us by one person, wait for 30 minutes unattended, and be told by someone else to go to a second meeting spot. No one took any responsibility for us during those days or our itinerary. Instead of the operator doing organizing work - he would ask us to directly message second parties who would also pass the buck. That leg of the trip was especially uncomfortable for us. 3. We were issued incorrect tickets to Penang hill by the Operator (electronic tickets instead of printed tickets - a paper copy was required to allow entry, clearly stated on the electronic tickets themselves) - which meant we were not let on the funicular until our local driver helped us take time to print the tickets (entire process wasted approximately 45-60minutes of the day). All I wanted was some acknowledgement or a simple apology from our operator for this mistake. Instead he simply absolved himself of fault and claimed this had never happened previously to his tour. The mistake itself is relatively 'small' - but I think is telling of his attitude. 4. On the last day of the tour (day10), the operator insisted that I had previously requested no driver was needed to drop us off at the jetty (or airport) as stated on the itinerary - this was incorrect, I had never made this statement. I had messaged him 6pm the night prior enquiring about pick up time and driver details but was ignored. On the morning when he finally replied, a driver was no longer available at short notice. Again, all I needed from the operator was a simple apology for a misunderstanding - instead all I received was accusatory messages repeatedly insisting that I had verbally cancelled the driver, and that I should have asked earlier if I wanted a driver (despite this already being on the itinerary, and also despite my reminder messages 6pm the day prior). I am not so much upset about his misunderstanding, and accept mistakes happen. I am however extremely upset by his highly accusatory messages, with some later messages taking on a tone of aggression. This is extremely unprofessional and left a very sour taste. I have a full record of our whatsapp messages which illustrate the above. One of my biggest grievances with the operator is that they have insufficient oversight of the tour. For the price we paid (6851NZD, approx 17426MYR) - I did not expect to have to organize myself, constantly check and recheck my itinerary (and plan alternative activities myself when attractions are closed), negotiate and make multiple calls to freelance agents and drivers. I also expected to be picked up on time. The operator unfortunately have been unprofessional, unhelpful when I have identified problems, and very barely apologetic (they have only said sorry twice - once during a written viator response following a complaint, and on the last day when no driver was available). I am upset by the poor attitude. The itinerary is also very outdated and many items stand completely incorrect (I hope non-intentionally so and not intentionally meant to be misleading). Again, too many to list, but some standout ones being: 1. Day 4 - there was no "3hrs Kuala Trembeling jetty longboat ride" - this was meant to be the main 'activity' of the day. This was apparently a 'typo' (We skipped Kuala Tembeling completely, and the only boat ride was a simple river crossing taking about 2minutes) 2. Day 8 - Kek Lok Toong Cave Temple has been closed from at least December 2024 (itinerary issued June 2025); Bukit Merah Prang Utan (orangutan) Island closed from June 2024 (itinerary issued same month after closure) The same itinerary has been reissued and referred to by the operator many a time throughout the trip. We often only found out about closures on the day of arrival or via prior self-investigation. Clearly if the operator took any effort to update themselves with current touristic activities (or perhaps they knew all along, just couldn't be bothered to inform us) - we would not have encountered so many issues. To summarize - I think this tour has a lot of potential, and with some basic professionalism, making effort to communicate, doing due diligence (eg finding out about attraction closures) - the client might be able to have a great experience. Unfortunately, what should have been a wonderful Malaysia holiday has been ruined by Elephant Shadows - with the way this tour company currently stands, I absolutely will not recommend them.

I want to give a balanced review. Pros - Malaysia as a country is absolutely beautiful and the tour takes us to some stunning places. The operator uses freelance drivers, agents, and guides for each leg of the trip and each section eventually delivered - we arrived to Penang safely. Frankie (as a driver and guide) and Khan (as a driver and guide) were both very good and professional in the KL/Melacca and Penang leg respectively - friendly, engaging, and answered our questions. Cons - my biggest complaint was the extremely poor communication throughout - between the operator and us, as well as between the operator and individual freelance drivers. There are too many examples to list, but some standout ones would include: 1. Being left at the roadside for 1 hr waiting for to be picked up by a freelance driver due to a miscommunication between the operator (also Frankie - who is a director of Elephant Shadow as well as driver) and the freelance local driver (William) about pickup time. Frankie is yet to apologize for us for this (he had only claimed it is the driver's 'fault' and absolved himself fully). 2. When we were in Taman Negara National Park no one knew who was in charge of us. Continuously throughout the day, I might be calling or messaging Frankie (operator), the local tour agent he had allocated us to (Taman Negara Pahang), the guide the tour agent subsequently allocated us to (Mr Fizan), and the hotel activity center. We would turn up to the meeting spot given to us by one person, wait for 30 minutes unattended, and be told by someone else to go to a second meeting spot. No one took any responsibility for us during those days or our itinerary. Instead of the operator doing organizing work - he would ask us to directly message second parties who would also pass the buck. That leg of the trip was especially uncomfortable for us. 3. We were issued incorrect tickets to Penang hill by the Operator (electronic tickets instead of printed tickets - a paper copy was required to allow entry, clearly stated on the electronic tickets themselves) - which meant we were not let on the funicular until our local driver helped us take time to print the tickets (entire process wasted approximately 45-60minutes of the day). All I wanted was some acknowledgement or a simple apology from our operator for this mistake. Instead he simply absolved himself of fault and claimed this had never happened previously to his tour. The mistake itself is relatively 'small' - but I think is telling of his attitude. 4. On the last day of the tour (day10), the operator insisted that I had previously requested no driver was needed to drop us off at the jetty (or airport) as stated on the itinerary - this was incorrect, I had never made this statement. I had messaged him 6pm the night prior enquiring about pick up time and driver details but was ignored. On the morning when he finally replied, a driver was no longer available at short notice. Again, all I needed from the operator was a simple apology for a misunderstanding - instead all I received was accusatory messages repeatedly insisting that I had verbally cancelled the driver, and that I should have asked earlier if I wanted a driver (despite this already being on the itinerary, and also despite my reminder messages 6pm the day prior). I am not so much upset about his misunderstanding, and accept mistakes happen. I am however extremely upset by his highly accusatory messages, with some later messages taking on a tone of aggression. This is extremely unprofessional and left a very sour taste. I have a full record of our whatsapp messages which illustrate the above. One of my biggest grievances with the operator is that they have insufficient oversight of the tour. For the price we paid (6851NZD, approx 17426MYR) - I did not expect to have to organize myself, constantly check and recheck my itinerary (and plan alternative activities myself when attractions are closed), negotiate and make multiple calls to freelance agents and drivers. I also expected to be picked up on time. The operator unfortunately have been unprofessional, unhelpful when I have identified problems, and very barely apologetic (they have only said sorry twice - once during a written viator response following a complaint, and on the last day when no driver was available). I am upset by the poor attitude. The itinerary is also very outdated and many items stand completely incorrect (I hope non-intentionally so and not intentionally meant to be misleading). Again, too many to list, but some standout ones being: 1. Day 4 - there was no "3hrs Kuala Trembeling jetty longboat ride" - this was meant to be the main 'activity' of the day. This was apparently a 'typo' (We skipped Kuala Tembeling completely, and the only boat ride was a simple river crossing taking about 2minutes) 2. Day 8 - Kek Lok Toong Cave Temple has been closed from at least December 2024 (itinerary issued June 2025); Bukit Merah Prang Utan (orangutan) Island closed from June 2024 (itinerary issued same month after closure) The same itinerary has been reissued and referred to by the operator many a time throughout the trip. We often only found out about closures on the day of arrival or via prior self-investigation. Clearly if the operator took any effort to update themselves with current touristic activities (or perhaps they knew all along, just couldn't be bothered to inform us) - we would not have encountered so many issues. To summarize - I think this tour has a lot of potential, and with some basic professionalism, making effort to communicate, doing due diligence (eg finding out about attraction closures) - the client might be able to have a great experience. Unfortunately, what should have been a wonderful Malaysia holiday has been ruined by Elephant Shadows - with the way this tour company currently stands, I absolutely will not recommend them.

I appreciated the individual care by all personnel of Elephant Shadow Tour Company. The itinerary gave me the best overall experience of seeing Malaysia in a relatively short period of time. From the Petronas Towers to the Rainforest, Ramesh and William did a wonderful job providing me with the best experience. Having never experienced a Private Tour before, I was apprehensive as a solo traveler; this was a great, safe and carefree experience. Bravo!