Langkawi Fever

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Trip Start Mar 18, 2009 Previous
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  Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia
Sunday, November 29, 2009

We got a final (I hope) speed boat from Koh Lipe to the west coast of Langkawi, the crossing took just an hour and the sea was flat as a pond. Paul and I sat on the front, wind in our hair and watched flying fish leap out of the water. When we arrived we braced ourselves for the usual onslaught of taxi drivers and hawkers that we've become so used to over the last 7 months, but there was nothing. We quietly waited with the other passengers to get our passports stamped and then we had to convince a taxi to take us to Kuah town. We had also assumed there would be a swarm of people ready to swap our Thai Baht for Malaysian Ringgits as there has been at every other border crossing. No such luck, we had to go to the ATM.

A long time ago we decided that the best way to cross from Thailand to Malaysia was to hop from Koh Lipe to Langkawi, which would mean we almost avoided the mainland for a month. What we didn't realise was that the day our 3 month Thai visa expired (Friday 26th November) was also slap bang in the middle of the muslim Hari Raya Haji festival, which meant everywhere was closed and everyone was on holiday. All the hotels were full and when we searched online for rooms a few weeks ago Expedia was only showing accomodation for 400 pounds a night !!

We managed to find the Citin Hotel at a reasonable price, which used up our daily budget, and we only stayed 4 nights instead of the week on a beach we had planned. The Citin is in Kuah town, nowhere near a beach, but we figured that after 2 months on Thai beaches and having found the absolute perfect beach on Koh Lipe, it wasn't worth the taxi fare. Plus we both had  stinky colds and the hotel had proper free wifi, so we had a little break from the holiday.

As well as a cold we also had wedding fever, following our engagement on Koh Lipe we got down to some insanely early wedding preparations for our spring 2011 wedding. We've gotten so used to rubbish and expensive internet connections that we went a bit nuts with the googling. Malaysia's internet wasn't the only thing to impress us, we found Langkawi to be a huge step up in terms of development from our past 7 months. The cars are newer, the roads are better, shops are cleaner, there is less bartering. We actually feel a bit shabby, our clothes are getting old and holey and that hasn't mattered until now !

Langkawi is famous for it's duty free alcohol and chocolate (perfect for my cold!) and we stocked up on Pimms and Bombay Saphire Gin ready for xmas and New Year in Singapore, where we won't be able to afford alcohol. We also discovered a restaurant chain we'd never heard of before: 'Kenny Rogers Roasters'. It must be an American chain of 'healthy' roasted chicken dinners. It was the perfect place for us to go on Saturday, which was also my family's traditional Christmas lunch. We shared a whole chicken, baked potatoes, baked beans and macaroni cheese. This may not sound like anything special to anyone back home, but wow - it's just what we were craving. We ate so much that the button popped off Paul's trousers - he had to retrieve it from under another couple's table !

The Citin Hotel's free wifi was only available in the lobby and so it was from there that we announced our engagement to my family and sat at the head of the table for the family xmas party - via Skype on my Uncle Alan's laptop.

We're sure Langkawi is a beautiful island, and we feel we failed a bit in our duties as travellers to get out and explore, but after over 8 months we're sure you'll allow us 4 days of indulgence.

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Arriving in Langkawi   Comments!	Proper chocolate !!   Comments!	Kenny Rogers Roasters   Comments!	Emma's family xmas party - on skype   Comments!
Our Hotel   Comments!	Kuah Town

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