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So....its been a while. Thailand was fantastic and, unfortunately, over now!!!
We started in Langkawi - Friday 7th April. After arriving at 6pm-ish, we shared a taxi to Pantai Cenang (the liveliest beach strip on the island). After walking up and down a bit we managed to find great accomodation. We got a chalet the opposite side to the beach and the landlady was lovely. She gave us a much-needed 'welcome drink' and loads of advice on where to go and what to see.
We settled in and headed out onto the main road to explore (and eat!) It wasn't too busy - its just the busiest area on the island. It was good - we walked for a while and it felt like a complete contrast to the islands that we had left behind in Thailand. It was a lot more modern and, even though we had only travelled an hour from Thailand on the boat, it felt so different!
That first night we got chatting to a lady in the cafe that we ate in and met some really friendly people - everyone was being so nice! We also tried Tea and Coffee Tarik - a
3D Nerds!!!
Underwater World, Langkawi.lovely sweet hot and frothy tea/coffee, really nice! We went to bed very happy!!!
The next day we walked along the beach and then down the road and visited 'Underwater World'. It was cheesy as anything but really good. It felt good to be visiting places/tourist attractions again (so thats partly why we went). There was some great fish and a really funny 3D cinema show. We think they just like making people wear silly glasses because, if you took them off half-way through the show, there wasn't a great deal of difference!!! Everyone just looked good!!! Afterwards we did a 'spot' of shopping! It would have been rude not to shop as Langkawi is a duty free island (so forgive us!!!) We brought perfume and aftershave - very cheap though!!!
In the evening we went to 'Tomato' - a tandoori cafe/hawker food place that was recommended to us. Apparently they do the best tandoori chicken on the island. It was good!!! We also had Butter Chicken Massala (Jenna you would have liked this one - maybe without the chicken!!!) Delicious food!
On the Sunday (our last full day on the island) we were able to borrow
Cable Cars!
View from the summit! the owners' of the guesthouse car - a groovy old Proton with a tiny go-kart style steering wheel! It was great - strange though because it felt like ages ago since either of us had driven. It was an automatic too so that took some getting used to - the first time both of us had driven one - our left legs and arms were being very twitchy!!!
It was a really good day. We headed for Langkawi Cable Car first. It takes you up to the top of Gunung Machinchang - 708m high. After much deliberating (probably an hours worth) Karen 'wimped' out and decided that she wouldn't be able to go up (it was really high!) So she waited at the bottom while I went up. To be honest Karen would have hated it because i'm not usually scared of heights, yet I found it pretty scary!!! They were only tiny little cars that hold about six people - I just kept my head down! It was quite misty up the top but when it cleared there were some wonderful views over the Andaman sea and the island too. Trouble was the weather kept changing and then
Jamie and His New Friend!!!
The lady who be-friended Jamie at the top of the cable car. eventually the heavens did open - so I got drenched! Met some nice friendly people who re-assured me!
After about 40 minutes I was back down and met Karen - she had entertained herself with her new found love - Sweetcorn in a cup!!!
On we went with our road trip of Langkawi - we did a circuit of the island and stopped off in Kuah - the islands capital. We found nothing more than streets full of duty free shops so we headed on to find Summer Palace (where Anna and the King was filmed, starring Jodie Foster). It was closed for renovation so we decided to head back to our chalet. We made another visit to Tomato for dinner and were then lucky enough to be able to watch the Liverpool match in the main guetshouse lounge. The landlady had opened it up especially for us - she was really kind.
Penang - Monday 10th April
The Landlord dropped us at Jetty Point ferry terminal to catch the 2.30pm ferry. They had reassured us that we would get a ticket but the ferry was full so we had to wait until the 5.30pm boat!!!
Proton magic!!!
GROOOOOOOOOOOOOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Our super-duper majestic car for the day! So, 4 hours to kill and nowhere to put our big rucksacks so we couldn't go too far!!! We ate lunch and milled around. The ferry ride was horrendous! It left on time and was comfortable seats etc but poor Jamie had to sit next to a man with the worst body odour that we had ever smelt!!! It was disgusting to me aswell (one seat away) but I couldn't help but laugh at Jamie - he had a strange look on his face the whole journey and kept turning to me for air and burying his head in me!!! The man didn't look dirty at all - he just really stank - any longer on the boat and I think everyone on it may have died from suffocation!!! Jamie was traumatised!!!
2 3/4 hours later and we arrived in Georgetown, Penang. We got a taxi (the short distance) to a hostel that we had read about (75 Backpackers Lodge). We had read that it was good on somebody elses blog (so they do come in very useful!) They had a room left so we settled in and the guy running it was great fun - again very helpful
and friendly. He recommended a chinese hawker venue round the corner so we went there for dinner. It was lovely food and so cheap! We ordered off the menu but they also come round with trolleys of different food on as well. We tried some dim sum. After dinner we walked around and got our bearings! It was a great place - quite a lot happening and it had a good feel to it!
On the Tuesday we spent the whole day seeing the sights of Georgetown. We went for a long walk round, passing the grand Colonial buildings. We went in a local artists' gallery, and then to the Khoo Kongsi temple, which has an impressive roof. We had lunch in Little India. Little India was brilliant. We hadn't been to one before and we were very impressed. The Bollywood music was blaring out and it was really busy. The shops were great. We had some of the Indian hawker food (to sample the authentic bhajees & samosas!) Delicious!
As we walked further, we met a strange man who insisted on showing us round a temple that we were passing. It was the Kuan Yin Temple -
Little India
A day in Little India of the goddess of mercy. The man didn't make much sense and we couldn't understand each other. He kept telling Jamie to take photos though which was quite funny. We think he wanted money afterwards but we didn't give him any!!!
Next we caught a bus to Penang Hill. You get a train up the hill which takes about 30 minutes. Its a really steep train, practically vertical. Halfway up we had to get off one train and get onto another that takes you up the rest of the way - I (Karen) was petrified - we were already so high. At the top you are 821m above Georgetown and there are wonderful views of the island. The sun was setting as we were there so we got to see it all lit-up as well. We visited the Hindu Temple.
Once down from the hill we went on a tri-shaw ride. Its like the rickshaws in London but the man sits behind you and pedals so we sat in the front (with nothing in front of us). He cycled all round for about 40 minutes. We passed Fort Cornwallis (where the British first set foot on Penang). The
buildings near there were beautiful (it looked a lot like London!) We felt really guilty though because he was a really small skinny man with the tri-shaw so he was having to push both of us (we are not the lightest of people!) So, it was enjoyable but we also felt bad at the same time!!!
Cameron Highlands - Wednesday 12th April
The following morning we had an early start and caught the 10.30am bus to Tanah Rata in the Cameron Highlands. The journey took 6 hours in total so by 4.30pm we were there. The time had passed surprisingly quickly, plus the bus wasn't busy so we could spread out and sleep! Once we got close to Tanah Rata the scenery was beautiful.
We had pre-booked at Fathers Guesthouse so they collected us from the bus station. The town, and our guesthouse, were lovely. The weather was a lot cooler in the highlands - it also rained a lot! We stayed there for 3 nights. It was really nice and chilled out. In between showers we would go for walks. One of the days we visited Boh Tea Plantation (there are several tea plantations in the
Hindu Temple, Penang Hill
The Hindu Temple at the top of Penang Hill. Cameron Highlands). We were taken on a tour of the factory to see the different tea-making processes. It had an amazing cafe which was on a balcony platform over the tea fields - so we got to try the nice tea with a great view at the same time!
Perhentain Islands - Saturday 15th April
We left the Cameron Highlands on Saturday and caught a minibus to the ferry port for the Perhentian Islands. The minibus took 6 hours and then we had to wait around for 2 hours before our boat left (it wasn't very good organisation!) The boat journey was so rough - it was really choppy for the whole hour. It took longer for us as well because, you have to tell the boat people where you are staying and then they stop the boat nearby and a smaller boat comes to collect you. As we were heading to the north tip of the island, we were last. More tricky moves were needed to transfer us from the big boat to the small boat (in rough seas!)
Luckily there were vacancies at the resort that we had headed to (good job really because we
Penang Hill
View of Penang at the top of Penang Hill. were stranded there!) All small boats stop at 7pm and it was 8pm and we couldn't walk to any other resorts (only a beach!) The room was lovely. We dumped our bags and went back to the restaurant for dinner. Over dinner we decided to move to Long Beach in the morning. We liked the place we were staying but it was a bit too isolated for us. If the boats were running in the evening (like in Koh Phi-Phi) it would have been better but, as they weren't, we didn't fancy eating in the same place for 5 nights etc and there wasn't a lot to do there.
The next morning it was raining so we had to delay our move until lunchtime! There were other people from the resort moving too so maybe they had found the same problem. We got a small boat round to Long Beach. We went to Matahari Chalets and they had a room left (places on Long Beach were quite full). We had a lovely big chalet with a huge balcony (probably one of our favourite rooms so far!) so we were very happy.
The Perhentians were beautiful. The sea was
Boh Tea Fields, Cameron Highlands
One of the many Tea fields (workers in). so clear but also quite rough. We didn't do a great deal, apart from sunbathing. With our chalet we got one free evening meal so we had some nice meals of barbequed fish etc at our resort. On our last day we went on a snorkelling trip around the island which was amazing. The whole day was spent going round on the boat and stopping at different places to jump in and snorkel. The first stop was to see turtles and, when we jumped in, there was a huge turtle. It was great and it came right up and swam near us - very gracefully! The next stop was Shark Bay. We had to follow our guide and swim really fast to see a Black Tipped Shark. Not all of us managed to see a shark here but Jamie was amongst one of the few who got to see a big shark! The next stop was also to see sharks. As we jumped out of the boat the group went to the left but, for some reason, me and Jamie went to the right. We had only been in the water a few seconds and a huge shark swam past
Jamie and his Tea!!!
It's mine....all mine!!!!! The view from the cafe balcony. us. It was brilliant but scary at the same time. It felt weird because your instinct when you see it is to swim away - FAST!!! But we had been told that they were harmless so we swam after it for a bit (but it felt so wrong!!!) They also swim very fast so we didn't keep up for that long!
We stopped for lunch at the fishing village and chatted to some of the people on our boat trip. They were very friendly. After lunch, it was more snorkelling. This time it was to places with good coral so we saw many beautiful fish. We were taken to a really deep part of the sea. The variety of fish was amazing. Some men were swimming deep underwater under the coral which was good to watch. We don't know how they did it as they were only holding their breath!!! We also saw plenty of Nemo fish here which always pleases us!!!
At the end of the trip the sea was too rough to take us back to Long Beach so we had to be dropped the other side of the island and then walk across to LB
Our Hut on the Perhentians!!!
Our lovely chalet and balcony. (about 15 minutes walk). In the evening, after packing, we went out for drinks with a few of the people on our trip and had a really good night.
On the Wednesday morning (19th) we actually managed breakfast before our boat was due to leave. We then had to walk the whole length of the beach (in the rain) to get a small boat to take us to the big boat (again!) When we got in the boat we got absolutely soaked because the waves were so big! Getting onto the big boat was another story!!! The driver (of the small boat) circled the big boat about 3 - 4 times before attempting to pull up alongside it - the first attempt failed and our (small) boat just got bumped and he had to circle it again. All the time that this was happening - the driver of our boat and the crew of the big boat were laughing hysterically - really chilled out and just finding the whole thing very amusing - unphased by it all. All of us in the boat were looking white and scared!!! Finally, he managed to get the boat alongside the other (and
Beautiful Long Beach
View of Long Beach, Perhentian Islands (Kecil). stay there this time) and we had to clamber out the boat and hope that we somehow got onto the big boat. I ended up being half-dragged across by Jamie and another man (scraping my leg!!!)
The boat journey was rough (again) and this time took about 3 lousy hours!!! We made it to Kota Bharu town in the late afternoon, after possibly the worst journey for us (it wasn't helped by a smelly bossy woman who kept 'barking' orders at people!!!) We got a room in a hostel no problem and then went out to recover! We looked around the night market and ended up playing table tennis on the rooftop of the hostel (at the bar there). We played doubles and beat the staff - that cheered us up!!!
The following morning we left to go to the airport (to fly to Kuala Lumpur) - but thats another blog!!!..............................................................
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michele coleman
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hi guys just read your travel blog sounds awesome wish we were back on the perhentians.Hope you are still enjoying every minute of your experience.Hopefully we will see you very soon in New Zealand.Take good care of each other and remember lifes a dream...........xxxxxxxxxxx