Saturday, April 18, 2009

Langkawi, Malaysia

Thanks to the local bus system in Malaysia and Air Asia's dirt cheap flights ($75 round trip from KL even when booking the night before), I got to Lagkawi on the same day I left the Taman Negara. Langkawi is an island chain off the coast of Northwestern Malaysia and the entire area is, for some reason, a duty free zone. There is one big island where most people stay and I was at the Southern part, on Pantai Cenang a nice beach with a little tourist strip behind it and backpacker bars, restaurants, and hostels abound. I met some the first night who introduced me to the only restaurant at which I ate, an Indian place called Tomato. By far the cheapest ($1 a plate) and damn good too. I spent three nights there so my first full day consisted of drinking cheap beer on the beach and for my second, I rented a moped to drive around the island to mountains, waterfalls, beaches, etc (which only costs $6 for the day!). Driving on the left side of the road is quite a trip as well, good thing there wasn't much traffic. Anyways, a good chill few days before I headed off to Thailand. Pictures below:




Beer of Malaysia: Since it's a Muslim country, it doesn't make beer of its own, most of the stuff available is Tiger from Singapore and Carlsberg from Denmark. Even those are ridiculously expensive about $3 a can at a supermarket. Langkawi is the only place, being duty free, that one can really even justify having a beer. Grade: F.

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Details:
Round trip Air Asia flight from Kuala Lumpur ($76) leaves from LCCT Airport and at Langkawi you must get a taxi to wherever you are going for about $5 one way fixed price because there is no bus system there. Moped rental places are found on the main street, just look for bikes outside shops ($6 a day), though some require a motorcycle licence, despite how ridiculously easy they are to drive. Return trip to the airport costs the same, fixed price. I stayed at Gekko Guesthouse, a nice little place with $5 dorms and a fun atmosphere, though a few people are glued to the TV.

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