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Published: December 10th 2011
Malaysia - Langkawi and Penang – A great way to end the family get together!
Our next destination was a small island called near the border with Thailand called Langkawi but in order to get there we needed to hop on board another bus from the Highlands to an island called Penang and then catch a ferry the following morning to Langkawi. So another 24 hours of travelling between locations was in store.
I think Mum and Dad were starting to realise what some of my travelling life was like, not easy at times but don't get me wrong I'm not complaining.
The bus journey to Panang was painless although not a VIP bus that dad had enjoyed previously but he made it without any issues, travelling result number two, back of the net! I might even try him on a local bus next or is that pushing things too far?
Although Penang was just a one day/night stay for us I think we were all quite happy with that. The accommodation was poor to the point where mum didn't even want to use the private toilet in her room and we just found very little to
do there. We did go to Penang Hill which was very nice and I even got Mum and Dad onto a public local bus to get there! I realise we didn't give the city much of a chance but by the following morning we were all happy to get on the ferry or as it turned out the blast freezer to Langkawi!
The ferry ride was three hours and was the equivalent of being in a cold store, everyone on board ended up wearing jackets, gloves, hats and basically anything warm they had in their bags, it was ridiculous especially when outside it was about 35 degrees! Although just by chance I’m sure, the crew had a make shift table selling hot drinks and pot noodles and seemed to be doing a very good trade, I’m probably just being cynical and distrusting but I’m pretty sure the air-con could easily have been turned off.
Once on the island it was clear to see it was going to be beautiful, we wasted no time in hiring a lovely little Proton Saga, it seemed such a fitting name for the Saga holiday crew I was travelling with. I was designated
the chauffer, I mean driver for the four days and we set off towards our hotel.
The Island was perfect, we were tucked away at one end of the island in a secluded resort and to say the hotel was an upgrade from my normal standards would be the understatement of the year, I was in heaven! As you will see from the photos everything was amazing and dare I say it even the company.
Whilst on the island we utilised the car to full effect and visited many tourist hotspots as well as random beaches and restaurants. The highlights of these were the sky bridge and the island hoping tour. The sky bridge entailed a cable car ride to the top of the mountain and then a small walk to the bridge that offered superb views of the surrounding islands and mountains. Coming from a maintenance background I would suggest visiting in the next five years because they clearly aren’t interested in maintenance and I don’t think I would want to trust it in five years if they haven’t re-secured a few of the concrete floor beams or painted the main support tower which is beginning to
rust heavily. Planned preventative maintenance lecture over, but it was an amazing bit of engineering and I hope they look after it.
We spent a lot of time chilling out and relaxing whilst here, I think we ate our own body weights several times over and became very accustomed to Tiger beer along with numerous games of sh*t head for the high stakes of skittles and chocolates.
The final day we opted for some island hoping on a tour boat, we visited an area containing a fresh water lake and loads of horrible looking fish but we still jumped in for a swim all the same. The monkey’s here were so vicious, if you had a carrier bag in your hands you could be pretty sure you no longer had it after getting 100 yards away from the boat. It was a bit scary at times but thankfully we had no such items but the other poor families who suffered at their fate did not find it amusing. Along with visiting a beautiful beach where we all try to hide from the sun because it was just too intense, we also watched the mountain and sea eagles feeding
from the sea, it became a game of who could get the best photo and I think Dad and I settled on a draw.
Sadly this brought about the end of a special time with my parents, it was a fantastic ten days and a part of my travelling I will never forget, I know for sure the following days will seem very lonely and almost be like starting my travelling all over again but I wouldn’t change it for the world. A massive thank you to my Mum and Dad for taking the time to come and see me so far away from home, it means the world to me and I look forward to our next re-union back in good old Norwich and having one of Mum’s tasty roast dinners.
As I dropped Mum and Dad at the airport it was time for normal service to resume on my front, I headed back to the ferry terminal and returned the car and boarded the boat to my next destination still dreaming of the 4* luxury I had experienced for the past few days…..bring on the next hostel and undersized bed that my feet sail over the
end off, can’t wait!
On a slightly different note but still family related I would like to send my love and congratulations to James, Anna and Oliver who celebrated the birth of Jack and Callum on Tuesday 6
th December. I’m one very proud Uncle who promises to help out with the baby sitting when I get home, I can’t wait to meet my new nephews. Love to you all.
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