Blogs from Kedah & Perlis, Malaysia, Asia - page 6

Next on our agenda was Langkawi, our final destination in Malaysia. This place was supposed to be expensive. However, since it is tax-free, it is the cheapest place for beers, our biggest expense... The ferry from Penang to Langkawi was sickening. I managed to hold my food from the night before inside me, but only just. Mary wished she was on an other planet or dead, or both. The sea was rougher than a unshaven arse, not a pretty sight, I can assure you. After an hour or two we had Langkawi or Langwaky as Mary likes to call it in sight. The islands look out of this world, so fantastically beautiful. There are 99 islands in total although I think they made this up for the sakes of having a nice number. Anyway, all of ... read more

5 nights in Langkawi. Probably the best of my many many trips out here over the years :) We stayed at The Andaman as it's Sprog's favourite hotel in Langkawi - this in no small part owing to the intermittent presence of its Resident Monitor Lizard. The beach at The Andaman isn't as nice as the wide powdery-white stretches at Tanjung Rhu or the super luxurious Four Seasons - but I like it here a lot. It's the familiarity - being nodding acquaintances with Resident Monitor Lizard and all. Sprog was on a quest to find as many 'LIZARDS' - from geckos and skinks to alligators and frilled dragons - as possible. Yeah - he watches a lot of Harry Potter and National Geographic... As such, I was forced to trawl every possible reptilian haunt with ... read more

The Lake of the Pregnant Maiden is the largest freshwater lake of Langkawi and is located in the south of the island Dayang Bunting. You can only go there by boat. From Porto Malay many operators offer this service as an island hopping tour for a few ringits. The boat takes you to the foot of a hill of the island and then you have a 10 min. walk up the hill through the jungle and then about 100 steps down the hill to the lake. Flip Flops will be fine but you should be in a reasonable physical condition. Tip: Never carry plastic bags, food or soft drinks while walking up as the monkeys can be very aggressive and keep your smaller children closed by. Have a stick with you in case you see bigger ... read more

Our last day on Koh Phi Phi consisted of relaxing by the pool, eating a massive dinner at the French restaurant by the pier and preparing ourselves for our speedboat journey to Koh Mook the next day. We awoke the next morning brimming with excitement to board the boat and get on the way. It arrived at 9:30am (Thai time 9am) and we climbed aboard... that's when we realized that the sky in front of us was dark with rain and the ride would not be a smooth one. We sped away from Phi Phi and into the dark clouds. Ev had the front seat and a great view of the terror approaching. We cruised for about 20 minutes before we hit the rain. At first I felt quite smart sitting behind the driver and staying ... read more

Day 23: Sintok, Malaysia to Alor Star, Malaysia While attempting to exit the University campus, we somehow ended up on a dirt path through the woods, where before reaching a dead-end, we saw a pangolin, a four foot-long lizard. That was awesome. The campus was huge, with signs listing certain buildings as 5 kilometers away, and busses transporting students from one side to another. We biked back along the road we’d come down yesterday, witnessing tons of little kids getting dropped off at school or getting on the bus to school. It seemed every house we passed had a car in the driveway. We met up with the main highway, fields running along both sides, but otherwise very little interesting life to observe. Some drivers and motorbikers were friendly, waving to us and honking. We ate ... read more