Langkawi

Trip Start Sep 19, 2010

Trip End Sep 19, 2011

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Where I stayed

Lagenda Chalets and Trillion hotel

Flag of Malaysia Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia
Monday, November 1, 2010

On the flight over to Langkawi Cathy read that car hire was cheap on the Island so we decided if that was the case we would partake. So when we landed and picked up our cases we headed to the car rental desks. After telling the girl I wanted the cheapest car they had and no I only need a small car and no I only need a manual and no I don't want alloys and no I dont need go-faster stripes,,..you get the picture, right? We settled on a great little car with air con for just �10 per day. So car loaded we headed to Pantai ? I'm embarresed to say I forgot it's name. This is the tourist spot on the Island. We found a little place called Lagender Chalets on the so called strip that could only put us up for 3 nights, which we were happy enough with. As the name suggests we got a chalet. It was a little rundown but it was fine for us and it was in a nice quiet spot. Great for �15 a night.
The next day we headed out for a drive and ended up at the Langkawi Cable cars, so we headed on up and had a great afternoon

Me taking it easy on the porch of chalet

. From the top you have a bird's eye view of the Islands and on the horizon you could make out the coast of Thailand, beautiful. We also spent a great deal of time just cruising the country roads. The Island is about 40 miles across I would say and about 30 miles from top to bottem.
Back at the chalet we found we were sharing the bathroom with two and a half inch Cockroach. He just sat on top of the toilet cistern with no intension of moving. On day three I caught him off guard. He was sat next to the plug hole so I seized my chance and swilled him down with a bucket of water. Strange, but I missed the ugly bugger when he was gone.
We could sit out on an Evening and enjoy a few beers. Langkawi is a Dutyfree Island and we could afford a beer for a change after the crazy prices on Borneo. A six pack of Carlesberg and 20 fags = �3. Nice.
We had been toying with the idea of getting backpacks for a couple of weeks and we finally did so. I really splashed out and got the best one money could buy on the Island, a Deuter, It has to do me the whole year, I keep telling myself after spending �160 on the bloody thing. By comparison Cathy's cost �50. It will be interesting to see who's fares best.
After our third night we packed our bags and headed into the Capital of the Island called Kuah. We found another cheapy hotel called Trillions. It was a big room with air con and TV for �10 per night.
It was about then that Cathy suggested that we see if the Visa on arrival for Myanmar was still OK and you guessed it, it wasen't !!! It had been suspended for the up coming elections. Oh crap. We didn't have time to apply in KL for a visa so a drastic change in our schedule was called for

A random picture of a beach

. In the end we elected to go to Cambodia,so we quikely booked the flights costing us �200 and losing our flights to Myanmar. Do the Maths, �210 on backpacks and �200 on flights all in one week !! Not good at all. Anyway disaster averted thanks to Cathy getting me to look up the Visa situation.
We spent our last few days on the Island just driving around the Island finding lovely little coves with beautiful beaches. Another thing about Langkawi we noticed was the amount of Monkeys you see on every drive.The Island must be full of Monkeys.
This rounded off a six week tour of Malaysia and I have to say we both have loved Malaysia.
The Malaysian tourist board are running an ad at the moment and the slogan reads ; MALAYSIA TRULY ASIA and I for one couldn't agree more.. Its a safe country a clean country and a beautiful country and I will be back.
I sit writing this late on Monday night in Phnom penh after getting here late this afternoon and I can't wait to get out there in the Morning !!

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