Mini Break: Penang & Langkawi
Since we are presently living in Bangkok, Nuca and I try to take advantage of our location and the regular cheap flight specials, this time we headed to Malaysia, specifically Penang and Langkawi Islands. Flight to Penang was less than US$10 so it was hard to pass up (ok, that was minus taxes and fuel surcharges, but it was still cheap). We couldn't get a flight back for that price so we got a domestic flight from Hat Yai to Bangkok for $5 instead. Originally we were going to take a train or bus from Penang up to Hat Yai, but I discovered we could take a ferry from Penang to Langkawi, then in a single day take a ferry to Satun, Thailand, then a minivan up to Hat Yai and fly back to Bangkok.
Penang
I'd been here once before, about 13 years ago. Nuca had been here more recently, about 7 years ago. Things have changed since then, in the suburbs were countless new hi-rise condos, and insane peak-time traffic jams, but central Georgetown itself has not changed as much as other Asian cities have over the same time period. You can still see a lot of the old shophouses and colonial buildings, albeit some seem to be in worse condition or abandoned and rotting altogether.
We saw all the basic sights - up the Penang Hill funicular railway, Kek Lok Si temple, and we hired a motorbike and drove around Penang hill where we visited a butterfly farm, and saw some lovely scenery, small towns and communities, and some nice, but not spectacular, beaches. We stayed in a dump of a hotel in old Georgetown, right next to a mosque which hailed an amplified call to prayer every morning at 5am! Still, the best part about Penang was the food!! With such a diverse population, you get a lot of choices. During our two days there we were never disappointed!
Langkawi
After a two hour ferry ride we landed in Langkawi. Neither of us had been here before so we intended to have a good look around during our three days there.
After visiting so many beaches and islands in Thailand, we were pleasantly surprised at how few foreign tourists were around, and even the locals were seriously laid back and never once hassled us or tried to cheat us. We stayed at Cenang Beach, which is the main tourist beach, and there was never more than a handful of people on the beach at any time. Interestingly, we were there during Malaysian holiday season, so most tourists were locals, even still, it was pretty quiet. We noticed perhaps half a dozen or so English/Aussie tourists the entire time were on the island, most other foreigners appeared to be eastern European and Chinese. We met an American sailor who had sailed his sailboat from Seattle, making many stops along his 14 year journey. He told us an amusing story about becoming a "golden shellback" which is where you cross the equator at the int'l date line. He was quite a character.
We rented a motorbike and drove all around the island. We found numerous deserted waterfalls and beaches, and picturesque views of mountains and outlying islands at almost every turn. One of the highlights was taking the cable car to the top of a mountain.
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Langkawi over Ko Samui or Phuket. If you want hassles, high prices, loud disco pubs, non-stop tourist shops lining the streets, bar girls, crowded beaches, ok then, go to Thailand.
Be sure to check out our photos and videos above, plus here's a Google Earth placemark I made with some additional Langkawi details such as hotels and attractions.
posted by Steve Fox @ 9:05 PM
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