Leaving Georgetown, we took a three hour ferry up to Langkawi Island.
The two islands were very different from each other; Georgetown was very curlural where Langkawi was a touristy resort island. Unlike Georgetown, the touristy island isn’t known for their food so we went grocery shopping to save money. Luckily our room in the “resort” had a fridge and a hot water kettle.
So, accommodations at Baron Resort were less than optimal but it was in our travelers budget. Along with the kitchenette appliances, the room had a private bath, a TV (with Asian Discovery Channel in English), and daily maid service which are usually missing from other cost effective options we stay at. There was even a pool (which we visited everyday) and an ocean view with beautiful sunsets. I know all of this sounds really nice, but it was comparable to staying at a rundown motel. Many items were broken or worn and just neglected. But the worst part was the often foul smells and the not so clean room, walls, toilet… It seems like hostels or guesthouses are the best choice when looking for a cheap bed because I’d rather have less amenities and be clean than the other way around. It’s also apparent that we need to avoid tourist areas to maximize our funds.
We took the first day to explore near the “resort” and plan out activities for the upcoming days. We read that a motorbike was the best way to explore the island because there is minimal traffic and a rental is cheap. There were rentals available from a shop right in front of our “resort”. For some unknown reason the motorcycle shop didn’t have any electricity. Consequently, they closed early at sunset but we still reserved a bike with them. The other activity we booked was an island hopping tour because it was the number one tourist activity listed for the island. That was sketchy as well because our confirmation was a handwritten note from a toothless local sitting at an empty table at the entrance to the pier (nothing about this seemed official). We spent the rest of the day strolling through a park along the waters edge and visited a giant eagle monument.
Legenda Park
Legenda Park
Legenda Park
Lankawi eagle monument
Lankawi eagle monument
sunset selfie
sunset view at Baron Resort
Temurun Waterfall
Temurun Waterfall
rocky beach off abandoned road
Beach of Skulls
selfie at Pulau Beras Basah
dock at Pulau Beras Basah
Close up of Pregnant Maiden (head\'s on the right and she\'s looking towards the sky)
Pregnant Maiden
sunset view at Baron Resort
selfie with island hopping boat
sunset view at Baron Resort
selfie at roadside restaurant (only mean out that week)
Walk to the ferry terminal through Legenda Park
Motorbike day!
I was excited and a little nervous since they drive on the left and I had only driven a motorcycle a couple times before. I made sure to sound confident when the clerk asked if my license was valid for motorbikes and if I have had any experience. After doing a couple of practice laps around the parking lot, I was ready to hit the open road. We did a complete loop of the island stopping at waterfalls and beaches along the way. We even found some hidden beaches down abandoned roads!
Island hopping adventure!
We arrived at the jetty with a handwritten slip of paper that said we had paid and looked for anyone that looked vaguely official. Towards the docks, I found a guy holding a pack of stickers so thought he might know something. We showed him the paper, he handed us yellow stickers, and pointed to chairs in a pseudo waiting area. While waiting, we noticed everybody had stickers of different colors. Even though it looks and feels completely disorganized when going on tours or traveling across the Asian countryside, their systems seem to work (and they always involve stickers).
Although island hopping was super touristy, I think it was worth it. We visited a few different islands and at one point we were feeding Eagles from the boat! One stop was the Bay of the Pregnant Maiden where we walked to a freshwater lake for swimming. Local legend states that swimming in the waters will promote fertility. I dove right in, but Sara was a bit apprehensive. She was apprehensive not because of fertility but since there were no other girls in bathing suits (the island seems to be a popular destination for Muslims). Another interesting observation was that everybody (except for Sara and I) wore a life jacket while swimming or on the boat (the girl sitting next to us on the boat confessed she didn’t know how to swim). I brought along my GoPro for the tour and compiled this video to share the fun experience:
To boost tourism in Langkawi, the Malaysian government established the island as a duty free zone several years ago. We were thankful to finally be able to afford decent beer and we even got to try several different types because they were sold in singles. I even found a nice (and cheap) bottle of whiskey to bring along to our next destination: Phuket, Thailand.
