Lang whati? We’re guessing that might be the first reaction for some of you. Langkawi is the largest and one of only two inhabited islands that make up an archipelago of 99 islands on the west coast of Malaysia. It is situated just north of the Strait of Malacca, which runs between Malaysia and Sumatra, Indonesia.
As we made our way around Southeast Asia, we kept running into people who talked up Langkawi’s charms. Good beach, lots of flora and fauna in geoparks, wildlife tours through mangroves, and cable car to its highest peak.
We wanted to return to Penang after our one-day visit there on our Southeast Asia cruise. Since Langkawi is close to Penang, and a ferry connects the two, why not check it out? We also kept hearing about the island of Ko Lipe (aka Koh Lipe and a bunch of similar names) in southern Thailand, which was a little hard to get to from mainland Thailand.
Getting to Langkawi
Our first plan was to take a ferry from Phuket to Ko Lipe in southern Thailand, which was said to have the clearest water in Thailand. Spend a couple of nights, catch the ferry from Ko Lipe to Langkawi. As we did more research, we discovered that we would need to transfer from the ferry to a longtail boat to reach Ko Lipe since it doesn’t have a dock. After our experience with longtail boats in Ao Nang, this plan just didn’t sound like a good idea, considering all the electronics we are carrying.
For the same amount of money as the ferry, turns out we could fly from Phuket to Langkawi, connecting in Kuala Lumpur. Opting to stay dry, and more importantly keeping our electronics dry, we choose this option and had very nice flight on Malaysia Airlines.
Why Spend Time in Malaysia?
About five years ago when we were in Vancouver, Canada, we stumbled across a Malaysian restaurant, Banana Leaf. We had never eaten Malaysian food, ordered our waiter’s recommendations, and the food was exceptionally delicious! Then over the next few years, the big retire overseas publications kept talking up George Town, Malaysia, on the island of Penang, as a place to retire. One of the big draws about Malaysia is that almost everyone speaks English. We can also read the signs, a nice change after Thailand. Since it was right next to Thailand, what better time?
So, we now had a plan, five nights in Langkawi after our beach time in Phuket. Spend some time on the beach, visit the geoparks, maybe a mangrove tour for wildlife. Probably not take the world’s longest cable car to the island’s high point, but it was an option.
Our First Disappointment
The choices on Airbnb were slim, not expensive like Phuket but just not very many. The ones that we did find, we would need a car to get to. So, a hotel again. We really don’t like to do this many days in a row in hotels, but that seemed to be the only viable option.
We booked our hotel which had pretty good reviews, looked fine and was $26 a night, a bargain. When we opened the door, we knew we’d make a mistake. The room’s position (the luck of the draw) on the property made it very dark even at midday, and while clean, it was very basic. Probably our most rustic accommodations since our home stay in Guatemala. At least it had A/C and a small frig.
Second and Third Disappointments
At this point, we were feeling a little down but decided to make the best of it and check out the two beaches. The closest was Pantai (beach) Tengah, which turned out not to be very nice. That is, by our spoiled standards; others had written that they preferred this beach. The water was cloudy, the sand was hard, there was no shade (except on hotel property), and a lot of boats launch from there.
Off to the further beach, Pantai Cenang. It was nicer than Pantai Tengah with soft white sand. Also, the water was clearer than Pantai Tengah, but wasn’t anywhere near as clear as in Phuket. If we were coming straight from New Jersey or even South Carolina, we would have been fine with Pantai Cenang. We know, first world problem, and we’re sure that you are all playing the world’s smallest violin for us right now.
The Situation Starts Looking Up
In addition to its flora and fauna, Langkawi is known for its duty-free shops, particularly in the built-up touristy area near Pantai Cenang. We hit up one of these shops on the way back from the checking out the beach and bought a few beers for the room. Walking back to our hotel, Ann saw a sign for Melayu Malay Cuisine Restaurant that looked promising. Turns out the restaurant was about 100 feet further along the road. We decided to stop. The person out front mentioned that they didn’t serve alcohol, but we were welcome to bring our own. Wasn’t it handy that we had just picked up a couple of beers at the duty-free store? This turned out to be a common theme, as most of the restaurants, unless they had bar in their name, didn’t sell alcohol and didn’t mind patrons bringing their own.
We settled in, perusing the menu with anticipation, and asked for recommendations, which we tried: Beef Rendang and Mee Kari. Delicious, and reminded us of the food we’d enjoyed so much in Vancouver. Ended up eating there three times in five days.
How We Spent Our Days in Langkawi
Remember those grand plans of visiting the geo and nature parks, maybe a boat trip through the mangroves to see wildlife, maybe the cable car? How many did we visit? None.
We don’t know what happened, we’d leave our room first thing in the morning and as the heat and humidity would just hit, we’d feel the energy leave us. We’d stop by a favorite place for breakfast, yogurt, fresh fruit, and granola, and coffee or iced tea. Head to Cenang Beach and rent two chairs, umbrella, and a table for 20 Malaysian Ringgits. A $5 bargain Ann found the first day, as every other place wanted 60 Ringgits.
Sit and read, a wonderful breeze coming off the water, about every hour we’d get wet, then rinse and repeat until about 5 pm, after six or seven hours. Truly not a bad way to spend the day! By the second day, the beach had won us over to its charms, the peacefulness of the whole scene. Turns out we just happened to hit the slowest week (Chinese New Year) during high season. No, the water wasn’t as clear as Phuket but, in the morning, it wasn’t too bad. We had comfortable chairs, the green mountains across the bay reminded us of Kauai, every few minutes we’d watch a parasail go by. As the sun was setting into the horizon, we’d pack up, stop by the duty-free store for beer, head back to the room, shower and head out for dinner.
So, What Happened?
We’re not sure if it was that we were a bit depressed by our hotel room, that the heat had put us into a state of torpor, or that we were just tired of moving around. But for whatever reason, we failed as travelers, but succeeded in enjoying every day. Actually, we may have failed as travelers, at least in the minds of some, but we are succeeding as vagabonds, which is, in fact, our life for now.
We sure did enjoy Malaysian food, and almost every day we’d try new dishes. One day, we changed it up with Indian. And the value of bringing our own beers from the duty-free store without a restaurant markup (at most restaurants) was a nice perk. And can’t complain about relaxing on the beach and getting caught up on reading. Quite the value: in total, we were spending about $50 a day for the two of us including rent, beach chairs, and two meals out each day.
Enriching Our Education About Different Cultures
A bit of what we think was a cultural difference moment happened one night at Melayu. The staff were always being extra helpful, taking our orders, bringing our food, very polite, etc. Sort of like old movies with English army officers in India. On our second night at the restaurant, Ian opened one of the beers (his preferred dark one, wouldn’t you know it) and it just started foaming and running out the top, getting all over the table and the floor. Of course, being that we were in Southeast Asia, paper napkins were pretty much non-existent. A flimsy piece of paper about one-fourth the size of a paper towel is all we had. Ian was trying to figure out what to do, getting more embarrassed by the second.
None of the staff was coming over to ask if he needed help; it was almost as if we weren’t there. After a few minutes when Ian had settled down, he asked one of the staff for a few napkins, and one of the women brought exactly what he’d asked for. No extra help offered and there was still a mess. Getting a little frustrated, Ian asked for a cloth or mop, to clean the table and floor. It was like a switch had been flipped; they were right there cleaning up the mess. After a few minutes of pondering what had just happened, he wondered: Was the staff ignoring what was happening to avoid embarrassing him in the moment? It wasn’t until he asked for help that help was offered.
Langkawi Wrap-up
From what we did see of the island on the way from the airport and on the way to the ferry dock, Langkawi looked to be as lush and picturesque as we’d heard. Even if our time in Langkawi didn’t turn out quite as we had anticipated. We certainly didn’t do what we thought we would do, but we had an enjoyable five days that were easy on the budget.
Next Up: Return to Penang, Malaysia
Ian and Ann