Langkawi (06.05.22 - 12.05.22)
Friday 6th May 2022
Today was a mixed bag, that ended happily – thank god – and it didn’t rain which made my journey quite enjoyable. I was going to get the train to Kuala Perlis, which is where the ferry to Langkawi leaves from, however just as I was on my Google maps informed me that the train station was closed. Luckily I had already worked out the bus route, but not where the bus stop was. However, when I got down onto the main road, there it was, the T11 to Kanger. So that part of the journey went smoothly and I arrived in Kanger in good time. There was supposed to be a 2pm bus, the T12, from Kanger to Kuala Perlis, so I waited at the bus station only to find it was really a 3:30pm bus, which meant I could have gone to find a toilet and get food rather than sit around breathing in bus fumes – they leave the engines running even when they are not in use – I expect it is to with the air conditioning but really they should be thinking air pollution. Anyway, I was not bothered as the ferry was not due to leave until 6pm. I finally arrived at the jetty at 4:30 and almost got on the wrong ferry, mine actually left half an hour late, at 6:30! They are worse here for time keeping than anywhere else I have been. So that all went fairly smoothly and I was over the moon to find that the 7-eleven at Langkawi jetty sold alcohol – yes I was a very happy lady and bought 3 beers and then started the 24 minute walk to the hostel, fuck me it is steamy in Malaysia and by the time I arrived I was soaking wet and really pissed off to find that the hostel had overbooked – no room at the inn lady – they claim they had told Agoda
but Agoda had not informed me and when this had happened before I was informed! And to top it all off I only had 7% battery power on my phone! The two shesha smoking guys pointed me in the direction of the hotel at the other end of the road, less than a minute walk and the guys at that reception let me plug my phone in – how lovely of them. At first I was not going to stay there and instead of try to find something cheaper, but when I realised that 78MYR is £14 I decided to stay – too much drama otherwise and having left Padang Besar at 11am, with it now being almost 9pm and me being drenched in my own sweet – I made the right decision.
I am so glad I took the two buses – it was quite awesome to see the countryside change. It started of looking very English – lol – but with a tropical feel and then ended up more and more tropical and extremely beautiful, I also managed to get some pics of the lake I wanted to stay by but all the hostels were fully booked for my dates. I also started to see more Malaysian style houses than in Padang Besar and to be honest I thought they looked very much similar to the ones in Dallas where my nan used to live, however nearly all of them were one story and, unlike Thailand and Cambodia, they build on the ground rather than on stilts but then put really deep gullies everywhere to accommodate the rain during rainy season, which is now!
Saturday 7th May 2022
So far today has been pretty fab. I woke to the sound of the mosque calling me to pray and then it started to rain so I didn’t go – ha ha. Instead I sat in the smoking area and watched the storm, which was quite amazing, when it rains here I does it in style with amazing thunder and lightning to accompany it. Once it eventually stopped I took my laundry to be cleaned and then found a place to eat. My first Malaysian breakfast – coconut rice with a fried egg and clam sauce and the lady talked me into having garlic bread with a mushroom sauce. I was a bit disappointed with the garlic bread as it was just white sliced bread, but boy was it delicious – the whole breakfast was – no more bloody KFC for me – they seem to love it here – stores everywhere. After breakfast I went for a walk to the jetty, it was dark when I arrived yesterday so I had to wal along the main road, this time I walked through the park, which was lovely but I could see another park, fenced off, next to the one I was in. On the way back I found the entrance to the second park, Legenda Park, which is a ‘beachfront landscaped gardens dotted with sculptures & statues depicting stories from local legends’ and really beautiful. Unfortunately, due to the steamy weather, I once again soaked through with sweet and so did not stay as long as I would have like to to explore all of the sculptures and legend areas, but I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and even being hiss at by the biggest lizard I has seen yet was an experience to savour, I think I must have scared it as much as it scared me.
So now I am just waiting for my phone to fully charge. Glenn had recommended I go to a bar called Cave Bank, which only happens to be a minute walk from a clothes store I want to go to. I really need to buy at least one more top that covers my shoulders, I only have two (lost one in Cambodia) and being a Muslim country, I have noticed that absolutely no-one exposes their shoulders. I could get away with my string shoulder tops in Thailand and Cambodia, but here they will really see me as being disrespectful if I wear them. I have seen a few non-Muslims in shorts, but they have their shoulders covers – not being one to deliberately offend anyone and their religion (regardless of how I feel about their religion) and especially when in their country, clothes shopping I must go 😊
Monday 9th May 2022
So I followed Glenn’s advice the other evening and went to the Cave Bank – what a glorious bar, but really more a shop full of every bottle of alcohol you could imagine. Before I got there I came across a small night market and got 6 pieces of seafood omelette and a chicken roti wrap – so delicious and at the bar I had two gin and tonics which were very strong. I also got talking to guy from Holland called Roy, he said he was travelling but has been in SE Asia for 5 years – I call that more living here!
Yesterday I got a grab cab to Pantai Cenang. It’s a beach resort on Langkawi and I’m 5 minute walk from the sea. The drive was lovely, this island is very beautiful and there are several smaller islands off the coast which makes the view enchanting. However, I can see this place being over-run with tourists during normal times, so once again I am delighted to be travelling now while everywhere is quiet. Although it does mean that I haven’t had what one may call the ‘true’ traveller experience, but I am having my own experience, and loving it, which is the main thing.
I am pretty pissed off with myself this morning, when I checked the money in my purse I realised I was 50 ringgit down and remember paying for my chicken and cheese shawarma wrap with a green note and 2 blue ones, the blues are 1 ringgit and the greens 50 – the wrap was 12 ringgit. No wonder the guy had a smile on his face when I paid him (50 ringgit = £9.29!). So far the most honest people I have come across are the Thais, if you give over too much money they actually tell you, they are so not like that here or in Cambodia, you made the mistake so tough luck. I think the Thais are so honest as they are Buddhist and it is all to do with calmer. Anyway, I am not going to dwell on it any longer and will, as I did in Cambodia, keep the larger notes separate from the smaller ones.
On a happier note, I’m actually really enjoying the rainy season, it’s still hot and steamy and does not rain every day, but when it does it does it in style and, so far, it appears to do it either in the morning or afternoon with
beautiful sunshine before or after. This morning it is raining. I found an umbrella at the bus station at Kangar and it came in handy when I went for breakfast, I had rice, beef and vegetables – yes I’m thinking I have been here far too long as I am now waking thinking about rice or noodles – lol. It was nice, but to be honest I’ve not yet had any Malaysian food as good as the take way in Sutton – perhaps I am just eating at the wrong places – lol, such as KFC! I’m loving this hostel, it’s very basic, I have a fan over the bed and that is it, however there is free hot and cold water on tap and I have a hammock on my patio, which just happens to be my favourite form of seating – I spent so long in it last night that my spotty bum has got worse again, so today, once the rain clears and the sun returns I plan to do a lot of walking and may even go for a swim in the sea 😊
Tuesday 10th May 2022
Well yesterday ended up being lots of fun. I had decided to go to a bar in the evening and do the usual ‘get chatting to people’ thing. I was all ready to go when a lovely lady, Fiona, from Liverpool, arrived back at her room a few doors down and I overheard her saying to Dean (a guy 2 doors down from me) that she would teach him how to ride a moped. I simply couldn’t resist and so asked if she would teach me too. Half an hour later I was riding round and round the grounds of this motel, and on gravel, it was awesome. But I still don’t feel confident enough to go out on the road, but yes, I can now ride a moped and Fiona said I can practice again today – what a buzz. She then invited me to go to for food and to a bar with her, so naturally I went. OMG, I had red snapper in Thai sauce, it was divine and she had sea bass in soya sauce, which was also good, but the snapper was far better and expensive for my budget at 63 ringgit, but still bloody cheap compared to what I would have paid at home, and what is life without a little treat every now and then. I can’t remember the name of the bar we went to, but we had such a good time. Fiona loves pool, so we basically went there so she could play killer pool, and she really is as good as she said she was, if not batter, and of the two games she played she won one – bloody awesome, and then she paid for our drinks, which was bloody awesome, especially after spending so much on dinner. I really enjoyed watching. She has only been on the island 2 days and already knows so many people, including an old guy called Johnny Be Good – lol – I love the names people give themselves, but he did tell me plays the piano which is why he is called that. I am quite in awe of Fiona she is a true, highly seasoned traveller; she does a year at home and then a year away and has been doing this for quite some time – such an awesome plan, but I am not sure I could do a year back at home.
Funny enough we both had planned to go to the sky bridge today, however I was going to get a grab cab – 23 ringgit each way. Before I did my moped motel ground laps Fiona suggested that I should hire a moped and drive along with her, but as I am not ready or confident enough to do that yet, on the way home she said I could jump on the back of hers – such a star. I really have met some lovely people out her and she is definitely one of them 
Before Fiona turned up I think I saw a bit of Muslim prostitution going on. The room between me and Dean was vacated yesterday morning, then this afternoon a young guy turned up on his moped, parked outside and went and got the key for the room. 5 minutes later a woman in a hijab and covid mask turns up in a white car, parks outside the room and goes in. I naturally presumed they much be a couple, however 15 minutes later he comes out, fag in mouth and rides off and then 5 minutes later she comes out jumps in her car and disappears, neither of them had any luggage and neither of them have returned to the room since. This incident has also made me question how many of the women wearing hijabs are actually Muslim, I expect most are but I am now thinking that perhaps some of women here wear hijabs to blend in with the Muslims and make themselves discrete, cause believe me when I say that virtually all the women wear hijabs, I really mean it – the percentage must be near on 90%!
Wednesday 11th May 2022
The sky bridge turned out to be an amazing day. First, we met up with 2 of Fiona’s friend Harvey and Marly and then off we went. It was a lot more expensive than we had anticipated but worth it. The cable car ride to the top was excellent and even though cloudy we had excellent views of the bay where we are staying and surrounding countryside. We hoped off before the top and saw the sky bridge from a distance, which is a magnificently curved suspension structure supported with one upright. It was here that we had coffee and I had to fill my belly, and Fiona told us that she might not go across the dridge due to her fear of heights, she felt secure in the cable car gondola but said bridges were another matter. After that we jumped into another cable car to the very top and were delighted that the clouds had mainly cleared and the sun was out, thus improving our views. Fiona was so funny crossing the bridge, she held onto the railing and kept looking forward, but the main thing was she concurred her fear all be it with wobbly legs. On the way back to the cable car we met a guy who thought he had found a fossil in a stone and told us how the mountain, 550 million years ago had been submerged under the sea. Our sky bridge tickets also gave us entry into a simulator, which was a roller coaster ride, and a museum. The museum was awesome, we had to hand in our shoes as we entered which was strange but soon very understandable as the floor and walls contained lots of amazing artwork that you could pose in and become part of the image. We had so much fun holding giant apples in our hands, stroking elephants and climbing ladders to escape the mouth of a hippo. I would have loved to have had the grandchildren with me, they would have loved it.
Back at the motel an old guy, Nathan, invited us to his friends 70th birthday party, I cannot remember his or his wife’s name, but he is Malay and she is Thai and there were lots of Thai people there. What a blast we had, Aman kept me topped up with gin and coconut water, which was divine, and even though we had eaten a delicious pila rice and tandoori chicken with Harvey and Marly, we were obliged to have a plate of homecooked food which was so delicious, I particularly enjoyed the potato and spinach concoction. Fiona spent most of the evening playing pool while I chatted to a really lovely guy, who I think is from Pakistan, and then Nathan and Aman took us to a bar called Woods where we had even more food, including some rather delicious chicken nuggets. I woke this morning with a foggy head, stayed awake for 3 hours and then had a nap. I don’t feel up for doing too much today, Fiona is suggesting a beach day, which sounds perfect, especially as it is my last day on this island.
Thursday 12th May 2022
Happy birthday Lucas – 10 today
Yesterday turned into another excellent day. Fiona and I went to the beach for a couple of hours, it was nice to have a swim and the sea was surprisingly warm. In the evening Aman picked us up and took us for a Malaysian fish dinner. Fiona has snapper in coconut curry, which was good, Aman had grilled tuna and I had Trevally in a sambal sauce. I was a little disappointed as Aman asked the cooks not to make mine too spicy even though I said I wanted spicey – it was still delicious, but it could have been spicier – why does every think I can’t handle my spice ☹ After the food we went to Bar 33 where they had live music and some awesome artwork. After Aman paying the food bill Fiona and I said we would share the drinks bill, Aman tried to pay but Fiona confiscated his credit card and boy did we have a shock when the bill came. The menu stated that a GnT was 18 ringgit but because they thought Aman was paying they only charged 10 ringgit – so we had 2 beers and 7 GnTs and the bill was just under 90 ringgit! One price for the tourist and another for the locals. After that bar we went to the same one that we went to last night and believe it or I took part in several games of pool and with little bit of help, i.e. – hit the ball here – I managed to get several balls in which I felt very prod about. Thank you Aman for an awesome evening out.
