Kuala Lumpur to Kuala Selangor

Head out on the Guthrie Corridor and the LATAR expressway. It is a fast, mostly empty forty minutes through palm oil and new townships. Come off at Kuala Selangor and the pace immediately drops to village speed — expect bumps, motorbikes and the occasional monitor lizard.

Drive up Bukit Melawati first. It is a small hill in the middle of town with a Dutch-era fort, a lighthouse, cannons pointing at the Straits and a resident troop of silver-leaf monkeys that will absolutely get in your car if you leave a window down. The road up is single-track with passing places and there is a small parking area at the top.

Eat at Pasir Penambang, the row of seafood restaurants along the river on the north side of the bridge. Order the crab. Sit outside. Watch the fishing boats come in on the tide.

Then, after dark, drive fifteen minutes to Kampung Kuantan for the fireflies — thousands of them in the mangroves along the Selangor river, viewed from a rowed sampan. It is quiet, it is not touristy in the way you fear, and it is genuinely one of the better things to do near Kuala Lumpur. If you have more time, continue another forty minutes north to Sekinchan for the rice paddies at golden hour.