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The best things in life are the things you work the hardest for. Langkawi Island, Malaysia proved that to us in abundance after we endured over 24 hours of uninterrupted travel. We arrived, exhausted, to an island paradise that seemed a million miles away from the chaos of Shanghai. Before I talk about paradise though let me explain Hell.
In the space of 27 hours we traveled thousands of miles in the pursuit of the perfect beach. The transit included a subway, a commuter train, a taxi, a plane, an overnight train, and finally a boat. Most of this was typically monotonous and boring, but a few things stood out. One highlight was the overnight train from Kuala Lumpur to Butterworth, where we had almost an entire train car to ourselves for the duration of the night. This allowed us to roll through the conservative Muslim countryside while drinking mixed vodka drinks. You would think this would make sleep easier but it still remained elusive in a 2nd class Malaysian Railways seat.
After our final scenic ferry ride we arrived and set off on a weekend of eating, drinking, and relaxing. For anyone who is a fan of Asian
Langkawi Cable Car
Last picture taken before camera died.food I would recommend an immediate culinary trip to Langkawi Island. Malaysian food is basically a hybrid of Indian and Thai so I myself was in heaven. This is because heaven is not only defined by the quality of the food but also the price you pay for it. On Langkawi you can get a full green curry chicken dinner with naan bread for around 6 ringgits ($2). Paul is our resident food enthusiast and I am fairly certain he climaxed several times during each meal.
Of course you need something to wash down the spicy Malaysian food and what better than Tiger Beer. On the island you can buy a Tiger for 2 ringgits ($0.70) so we were all once again in heaven. Langkawi is actually the cheapest place to booze in Malaysia because it is both a liberal outpost in a relatively conservative Malaysia, and also because there is no alcohol tax on the island. The issue though would not be getting a buzz, rather it would be finding people to share that buzz with.
Our hostel was situated directly on the beach, within walking distance of several restaurants, and directly beside a beachfront reggae bar.
Our Balcony
Duncan is trying to stay jacked, but mostly failing. Also the place cost $8 each per night. This place sold buckets (Literally kid's beach buckets filled with a booze and juice mix) but was verrrrrry laid back. So much so that if Bob Marley were still alive he might get anxious at a bar like this. It was relaxing but in Curtis' words, "It needs more party." We tried a few other places but kept running into the same problem. Because it is not tourist season in Malaysia we had trouble finding like minded people to party with. This meant a lot of card games and a lot of male bonding.
During the days we made time between gorging on the food to sample some of Langkawi's tourist attractions. The best of these was probably bthe Langkawi Cable Car which takes you up to the highest peak on the island. The views were amazing, but unfortunately for you my camera died during the ride up to the top. For anyone interested in what these pictures might have looked like, I suggest you Google "Langkawi Cable Car" and then photoshop my face into the pictures. We also went to a crocodile farm where we witnessed a man put his hand into a crocodile's mouth. Even better than
Ferry Entertainment = Avatar
The ferry ride included a viewing of Avatar. I have not seen Avatar so this sounded great to me. However, the screen was 8 inches and there was no sound. Needless to say I still have not seen Avatar. this was the fact that one of his pump up songs before his performance was Shania Twain's, "Whose Bed have Your Boots Been Under."
We reluctantly left Langkawi to travel back to Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur. Since I already mentioned
Entrapment, I will pass on some more Malaysian movie trivia. The movie
Zoolander is banned in Malaysia because it includes references to an assassination attempt on the Malaysian Prime Minister. I'm not kidding. This is why you will not see any Blue Steel poses in the pictures from this entry.
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Note to self, charge camera each night before going on tourist attractions. Avatar is a great movie, best seen on the big screen in 3D. Jack and Hannah send their love.