Pulau Langkawi

Man, we had some really great things scheduled for Malaysia: world class scuba diving in Sipadan, visiting orangutans in Borneo, hiking to the top of Mt. Kinabalu… We were all fired up to start. Unfortunately, some terrorists/pirates/hooligans/whatever from a nearby Philippine island decided to get all rowdy and shit, so the US state department issued a travel warning for the exact island and port that we had already booked our flights and dives for. Normally we would see this as an opportunity to follow the Rod Shultz school of travel planning and negotiate a better rate. But this particular warning was pretty specific for exactly what we had planned on doing, by an Al-Qaida separatist movement (Abu-Sayyaf) who’s home state was recently under martial law, and who had already kidnapped some foreign tourist a few years ago… It was probably a good idea to make some other plans. We decided to eat the cost of our non-refundable plane tickets and visit a more “relaxed” corner of Malaysia: The island of Langkawi.

We arrived at the Kuala Lumpur airport and were immediately greeted by the easiest immigration line ever. No hassle… No lines… No fuss. They say that Malaysia has some of the nicest people in Southeast Asia, and so far they were making a great impression! Our connecting flight on to Langkawi (Click for Map) was equally trouble-free and before exiting the baggage claim the tourist info booth gave us maps, advice, and exact prices that should be paid for taxis to our hotel. Nice! I couldn’t help but think to myself, “This Malaysia place is all-right!” While waiting for a cab to the airport we met a Dutch couple named Ruben and Sarah, who ironically had just arrived from Sipadan. We agreed to split the cab and save some cash. Neither of us had a room booked yet, so we conducted our search together eventually settling on a place called Tropical Resort. This place was run by a very strange German woman… the kind of person who every now and then is terribly rude to people, but has not the slightest notion that she is rude. Very odd, and quite unlike the local Malays in town. At least the rooms were clean.

We spent a day hanging out on the beach, and it was ok… The water was not that clear and there were many small jellyfish ready and willing to lay a stinger on you. The temperature outside was brutally hot. You basically had to hide away the afternoon in the comfort of some air conditioning until the sun went down. The sunsets were particularly spectacular however, and our west facing beach bungalow was the perfect venue to enjoy viewing the sky aflame.

While out here we rented car, driving around the island to check out its sights. One particularly memorable spot was a place called seven wells, which was the base for some troops of monkeys and a smallish (by our standards anyway) waterfall. The real action was at the top of the waterfall, where a gently descending series of pools were connected by shallow rapids rolling over moss slicked rock. Sweet! Natural water slides! The water was so cool and refreshing (with the heat surpassing triple digits F) that Ana and I spent hours going up and down the same hill with stupid grins on our faces. I went feet first, head first, belly first… yea. I sessioned it. Gasp in awe at my sliding prowess.

You can check out our pictures by heading over to picasaweb: http://picasaweb.google.com/richmosko/PulauLangkawi

Tags: Langkawi,Malaysia,Borneo,Beach