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The island of Langkawi was our first encounter of the food, the people and the culture of Malaysia. Only 2 hours away from Koh Lipe, Thailand but it was quite different, not to look at, just slightly more chaotic. At first we wanted to turn around and go back. We had not booked accommodation which was a mistake as we ended up trekking up and down the street in the midday sun for about an hour until we found somewhere. We quickly headed for the beach. The main town of Pantai Cenang had a very nice white sandy beach that looked out onto some small islands. The only issue was that it seemed to have more jetskis than tourists- which meant you could always find an empty patch on the sand, but never a quiet one! We did however enjoy a few days sitting here reading, sunbathing and observing the range of beach attire from the skimpy Russian thong bikini to the fully covered ladies in burkinis, all sharing the same spot of water. We escaped for the day with possibly the worst moped of all time (no right hand mirror, no working petrol gauge and occasionally a non- starter) and headed to the famous cable car up and down the mountainous jungle roads. It turns out this is where all the people were.... We queued for an hour to get on but it was worth it! The cable car took you steeply (whilst rocking from side to side in the wind) up to 700 metres above sea level. Then you got on another which took you across the mountain from one peak to another. Here we had views over the Andaman coast towards Thailand and to the rest of Langkawi with its high peaks covered in jungle. It was beautiful! We came back down and road quickly back to the hostel to get rid of the moped and went for a bite to eat. Finally we had an excuse to eat Indian food, as there is quite a big Indian population in Malaysia. So we filled our faces with the cheapest and most delicious curry ever. It was at this point we decided we like Malaysia a little bit more.
We took the late and bumpy ferry to Georgetown, Penang. We were two of the five ferringhi's (foreigners) on the boat and suddenly I felt very underdressed in what I felt was shorts and tshirt weather. Must cover up! Anyway we made our way to love lane by foot, as we refused to pay for an overpriced taxi ride (of £4). Love lane was a beautiful street housing restored colonial buildings and we were to stay in one of them. The hostel (the 80's guesthouse) was one of the best and cleanest places we've stayed. It was renovated lovingly still retaining the wooden floorboards, staircase and shutters. We put our bags down and walked to the end of Love lane to find a plethora of Chinese street food so we opted for the 'curry mee' and 'wan ton mee', both were delicious but we were not entirely sure what was in it! So whilst we slurped our noodles, the oldest chinese lady you've ever seen was having some kind of water fight, cleaning all the dishes from every street food shack, splashing everywhere, the road, herself (who was dressed for the occasion in wellington boots) and everyone around her including me. She was clearly doing a good job though!
The first day we walked around the main heritage site of Georgetown which led us through Little India centred around the colourful Hindu temple, where the music was loud, the women wore the most beautiful sequinned saris and the food was amazing, especially the samosas deep frying at the side of the road and the naans baking from the huge tandoori ovens. We went back here everyday for food and kind of wished we added India into our trip! Anyway we also admired the Chinese temples (many) including the famous Khoo Kongsi klan house. We also had a great tour around the beautifully restored Cheong Fatt Tze mansion, once owned by a very rich chinese man, visited the camera museum and took a few pictures with the inspiring street art that lies on most street corners. The next day we decided to escape the hot city and took the air conditioned public bus to the largest Buddhist complex in Malaysia, Kek Lok Si, famous for its large pagoda. It was beautifully set in the hills containing many large Chinese lanterns and apparently 1000 Buddhas (I didn't have time to count them all). We walked around and climbed the pagoda to the top where we had a great view of the city. The grounds of the temple were so big you had to take a funicular train up to another statue! This would be the first of two funiculars we took on this day. The second was a short bus ride away to Penang Hill, the largest peak on Penang island at 821 metres above sea level. The funicular was at least ten times faster than the one at the temple, which was actually quite frightening, as it was also very very steep. We quickly watched the city reappear out of the trees whilst we travelled upwards. The view at the top was magnificent and the temperature was much more manageable. We could see the entire island including both bridges across the channel to the mainland and Butterworth itself. We found a spot under some shade and just sat for an hour watching the city and seeing the mighty container ships crawl into the port. We made our way back to Georgetown and went to the one of the night markets for a some more Indian food!
The last day we had a well deserved lie-in, then wondered around more of the city, taking in the information at the State Museum, viewing more Chinese temples and eating lots and lots and lots. That evening, Oli also had the best haircut of his life in Little India, £3 for a cut, close shave and head massage!
Off to Borneo next!
- comments
Mum What an interesting few days you've both had! The cable car looks very scary! Loads of lovely food too! Hope your night cruise went well and the crocodiles stayed away! See you soon, lots of love Mum xxxxx
Debbie Love those wall pics , oli where's the finished photo of your haircut? Can't believe how tanned you both are xx