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Published: September 28th 2007
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Welcome to Pulau Langkawi
There are beautiful shells along the beach! After a rough flight into Langkawi and a very, very wet start (two days) the sun came out, and so we decided to stay in Pantai Cenang (Cha-nang Beach) on Langkawi Island for two weeks.
Langkawi is a group of 99 islands north of Penang just off the Malaysian north-west coast, close to the Thai southern border. Langkawi is a Duty and Tax Free island which means that beer is 1.3 MYR per can (AUD$0.47), and a 1 litre bottle of Baileys is 42MYR (AUD$15.27). And Col, Johnny Walker Gold (18 year aged whiskey) is 75MYR (AUD$27.27) for a 1.2litre bottle - shame we can't put some in a parcel home for you. Langkawi is also a Muslim community which means that some restaurants serve alcohol and the majority do not!
We are staying at the AB Motel right on the beach at Pantai Cenang for 80MYR per night (AUD$29) in a beachside bungalow with 2 queen size beds, bathroom, TV, fridge, air-con and fan. Along the beach there are a number of resorts and larger hotels, but Langkawi is relatively less developed than Thailand. The water is clear and about 28C degrees and the sand is a fine
powder white.
We haven't been doing much here except swimming, eating and drinking - as you do in an island paradise. We went into the main town Kuhua, to shop at the Duty Free Megamall - picked up some bargains but really it is small time compared with Bangkok or China.
We've been eating lots of yummy seafood - (tiger prawns, etc), delicious curries (lots of South Indian restaurants) and spicy Thai food. It is the end of the monsoon season and now many restaurants and bars are beginning to open for the main tourist season which extends from December to April. It is also Ramadan at the moment (the Muslim month of fasting) so things are quieter than usual.
Last Saturday night we experienced one of those cultural moments that serve to remind you that other people see things in a very different way:
We were sitting on our balcony having a Baileys or two after a terrific dinner at a local Thai restaurant. In the sandy quandangle in front of our bungalow a Malaysian Indian Hindu family were having a whale of a time laughing joking. Their group comprised dad, mum, granny and three
kids. Soon we were invited to join them for a drink. Yes, they had left their religious talismans (normally worn around the neck) in the room, and had gone to the Duty Free Store and purchased a bottle of Chivas Regal and beers (for dad) and Peach Vodka and some other spirit which they called "lady drinks" for mum and granny.
They had all had a smashingly large indian takeaway meal and had spent several hours in the balmy night air consuming most of the spirits! The father explained that they had come across from Penang for a few days r&r and that while they were devout Hindus (ie usually no alcohol), "You know, every now and again you need to lash out and experience the other side."
We spent a couple of hours debating the state of the world, south indian food, soaring real estate prices and politics.
It was near midnight when mum and granny decided to try and recouperate with a walk on the beach. The kids thought they were hilarious and came back and told us that they were "really all out of it" and wobbleing all over the beach.
Just when
we had all concluded that we had solved the world's problems and it was time to go to bed a German girl who was staying in a bungalow nearby came over quite distraught pleading for someone to help her.
"Can you get it out of our room?" she said.
"What?" we asked.
"In english I do not know, but in German it is called
Munster!" She said.
The Hindus shrieked "Oh my God!" and suggested all sorts of rites to get rid of the monster.
It was 12.30am, we all moved cautiously towards the open door wondering just what kind of monster was inside that had frightened the girls so badly. (Susan, you will appreciate this - Rob thought that when he went into the room he would see a stocky Australian lad with a can of beer!)
Because Rob was the biggest he was pushed into the room first - there he saw the other German girl crouched on the bed shaking. "Where is the monster?" he asked. She said it had first appeared in the bathroom while she was showering, and now it was over there on the wall.
Yes, it was a
bloody cockroach!!!!
Rob dutifully dispatched it. The two girls were absolutely scared, so to calm them down he told them that in Thailand they fry and eat cockroaches, and that if they see any more we will come over and cook them so we can all eat them!
Next morning the German girls had made a very early departure, and the Indian family were nursing monumental hangovers. So we all went swimming in the refreshing ocean and discussed neat things like hangover cures. We are invited to join the family in Penang for dinner next week - strictly no alcohol they said!!
After 2 weeks in Langkawi we are leaving tomorrow on the ferry to Penang.
Langkawi - we will return!
Salamat Detang
Robert (Who might not have lost as much weight as he first thought because the scales might not have been too accurate) and Donna
Thought for the Day ( from a bumper sticker on a car in Langkawi):
Don't drink and drive - You might hit a bump and spill your drink!
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magenta
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Mag
hi just back from parklife music festival in brisbane. Had a nice holiday in sydney, peppi says hi. He's taken to flying quite well! You guys must be going t bali soon. What have you been doing this week? Ok i'm off, doing a stupid accounting assignment :-( Have fun!!!