Pulau Langkawi Part 1: Welcome to Malaysia, where the cable cars terrify.

20th June 2015 - still ten days behind...argh!

Up to my time in Krabi, I had spent almost forty days in Thailand. I knew I would also need to return to the country eventually to catch my flight home. I was fast approaching spending half of my entire trip in one country.

While I do prefer to travel slow and thorough, I felt this was a little too slow when I have such a relatively short time to travel.

So, rather than spend more time in southern Thailand waiting out rainstorms and overeating Pad Thai, I finally booked my bus ticket that would take me to my next destination: Malaysia.

When I had started researching this trip, I had little knowledge of Malaysia; I originally only intended to visit it in order to reach Singapore at the far end of the Malay peninsula. However, after a little research (and several cut-up travel books), I realised Malaysia could well be a highlight of my travels. Multicultural, fiercely Asian, and exotic; yet also developed, modern, and (mostly) English speaking. It definitely had potential.

So, on my fifth morning in Krabi, I woke up to a miserable grey morning. I packed my bag, ejected a certain somebody from my room, and staggered out of the hostel, locking the front door behind me, and throwing the key back through the grate. I caught a sorgnthaew out to the remote bus station (I feel in Thailand bus stations are deliberately placed miles out of the city to provide an income for local public transport), and got onto a minibus bound for the southern Thai city of Satun (pronounced variously as Sow-toon, Sa-toon, and Sou-tun), from where I could catch a ferry to the Malaysian archipelago of Langkawi. I feel I did rather well, as I had two front seats all to myself, and had a very comfortable journey, even if the driver did make a 200 mile journey take five hours.


In Satun, I was abandoned in the centre of the town, and with a discernable lack of taxis or sorgnthaew, I begrudgingly had to take a motorbike taxi to the ferry terminal (again located inconveniently ten kilometres outside of the town). I have only began having problems with taking motorbike taxis since I have learnt how to ride and enjoy riding scooters; I much prefer being the driver to sitting glumly behind as a passenger.


At the ferry terminal, there was a brief wait of an hour before the passport control opened, and the passengers were allowed onto the boat.

I feel the ferry's name was quite apt.

I was fairly exhausted from the bus ride and a sleepless night, so I fell asleep on the ferry, and slept pretty much through the entire journey of around two hours. This meant I did not notice the time on my phone and laptop roll forwards an hour, and I was completely oblivious that Malaysia was in a different time zone to Thailand for nearly two days. I only realise when I tried and failed to reach my parents at a pre-arranged time over Skype. Oops.


Anyway, hello Langkawi!!!

On land and with the ink still drying on a Malaysian ninety-day tourist stamp, my first priority was money. This was easier said than done, as none of the four ATMs in the ferry terminal would accept any of my bankcards (I deliberately carry both Visa and Mastercard cards issued by different banks to prevent this very problem). I had around £40 in Thai baht, and £25 in US dollars, so I went to the currency exchange counter, only to find it was closed for prayers.


This was the first of many occasions where I realised travelling in a predominantly Muslim country during the month of Ramadan was not my smartest move. 


Tired, feeling increasingly ill, and stressed out by the swarm of taxi drivers, I hid outside for ten minutes, composed myself, and then asked a taxi driver to take me to the main tourist beach, stopping via a actual bank branch (ATMs attached to banks are always more reliable than the smaller standalone ones). I negotiated down from RM40 to RM30 (£8 to £6), but the taxi driver miraculously forgot this upon payment. Arsehole. But he did at least take me to a bank that allowed me to withdraw some Malaysian Ringgit.


It was at an abysmal exchange rate (the actual rate was £1 = 5.93RM; I got £1 = 5.35) with fees on top. The moral here is only use Maybank when necessary; use HSBC which give accurate currency rates and don't impose fees on their end.


Not a good start in Malaysia. It was not helped by the taxi driver not following my instructions to drop me off at my hostel, and instead dumping me on the far end of the main tourist drag, necessitating a twenty-five minute walk in the heat.


Eventually ensconced in my friendly hostel, I attempted to do some blogging, but just felt so tired (still slightly ill here) that I fell asleep at 7pm, and only re-emerged at 9am the following morning.



(Day 2) 21st June 2015


I woke up feeling remarkably good, and I spent a lazy morning in the hostel in the hostel eating breakfast, and deciding my plans for the day. As I feeling proactive, I decided to rent a scooter, and explore some of the island. 


The hostel scooter was sketchy and expensive, but at least I was not required to surrender my passport as insurance. They also did not ask whether I had the necessary license to drive the scooter (I do not, even though it is a requirement in Malaysia that you have one), so I endured the rattling death bike, and went exploring.

Outside the hostel was a field which contained a very bored looking cow. 

I headed north from Pantai Cenang (the beach resort I was staying at) and out around the airport runway that juts into the sea.

Pretty pink bridge.

I was not driving mindlessly; I had a destination in mind. Eventually, beyond the airport, I started encountering signage for it:

Apologies for lack of focus, this was taken whilst moving.

The cable car on Langkawi is one of the island's major attractions, because of the views from its terminus atop one of Langkawi's tallest mountains, and also for having the longest single span of any cable car in the world. It sounded slightly more exciting than your standard cable car, which even octogenarians could not find thrilling.


So it was with some excitement that I parked up my scooter at the foot of the cable car and walked up through the tourist village at its base. This area was particularly sad due to all the closed cafes and restaurants (Ramadan), and generally the whole complex felt a little underused and pointless. The pair of dejected-looking ponies pulling around carriages far too heavy for them added to the sad atmosphere.


Anyway, onto the cable car.

Very excited by this point, as the mist made the far end of the cables invisible. 

There's that longest span in the distance, the cables drooping perilously.

Misty mountains.

Casual cable car selfie.

The cable car had a stop midway, with views to one side of the mountain, and then a view point at the very peak of the mountain, which offered views of the other direction. 


Despite it being a misty, cloudy day, the views from the two stopping points were incredible, though the mist meant there has been some serious editing so that the photos my camera took match the mental images I remember.

When you looked offshore, you could see the vibrant colours of the ocean, and some of the dozens of smaller islets which surround the main island.

At the top you could pay extra to go on the Skybridge, but I felt the views would be no more amazing than those I was enjoying from the top viewing point. I just found myself a spot to sit where no Chinese person with a selfie stick could intrude upon my view, and stayed there for twenty minutes, just admiring.


Eventually, it was time to go back down on the cable. As on the way up, I had my own car all to myself, and was rather enjoying having the privacy and freedom to photograph when and where I want. At this point, I was almost disappointed with the cable car itself; the views were fine, but the cable car was not that intimidating or scary, despite its extreme height and length. On the way up, the longest span where the cable drooped and the incline was fairly steep, I had not really been scared.


It was a different matter on the way down.

I was stood up in the car as it passed through the middle station, waiting to take a photo of the long drop. I forgot that when cable cars leave the station, they are accelerated as they rejoin the main cable. So the cable car suddently rushed forwards, and tilted forwards as it met the slope of the cable. The ground just disappeared beneath the car, and suddenly I was at jungle several hundred feet beneath me.

I quickly sat down on the seat as my vertigo kicked in.

Not such a tame cable car after all...

Happily back on the ground, I retrieved my scooter, and returned back to Pantai Cenang along a different route that took me through a few local towns where I could try some local Malaysian food (fried chicken and banana cake, very authentic). Back in the tourist resort, I first headed for a mall I had spotted to obtain a Malaysian SIM card for my phone. Travelling is made much easier when you can use Google Maps to find places, and Facebook Messenger to find out where your new friends have wandered off to.


SIM card eventually sorted (my Thai phone was not impressed to begin with), I decided to see what had originally attracted tourists to this part of Langkawi: Cenang Beach.


I admit it was fairly nice, if a little over-commercialised.

In case you were not sure where you are...

The beginnings of a beautiful sunset.

I had planned on watching the sunset on the beach, but due to Malaysia's later timezone, the sunset was much later than I had expected, and I gave up and drove back to the hostel long before the sun touched the horizon.


After a shower, I headed into the common area with the intention of talking to some people. Unfortunately, the Grand Prix was on and everyone was vacantly watching identically ugly cars go round a non-descript track.


Eventually two girls started to ignore the TV and chat, and I quickly ingratiated myself into their conversation, and before long there were five of us heading out for dinner together.


Yay, I haz frends!


There were two Norwegian girls Stine and Frida, a Dutch guy called David, and a British girl called Rachel who was very obviously from Bolton, England (and who I know would not be in the slightest bit insulted being described as such).


We walked down the lane to a local restaurant, where the majority of us had the 'local burger' which was a standard burger with a few Malaysian oddities thrown in to improve it. It was very good. Afterwards, I would have happily settled for doing some internetting back at the hostel, but everyone else wanted to get some beers, so we went in search of a cheap bar in the tourist resort.


This being Malaysian meant that, despite the island's duty-free status, cheap beer was hard to come by. We eventually settled on a small beach shack bar with tables and mats scattered along the surrounding beach. The small cans of beer were only RM5 (c.£0.85) and the setting was pretty sweet.


As the night progressed, some of the bar staff began practising fire dancing and breathing, and we laughed at some of the newer staff making mistakes and at times almost setting customers on fire.

Later the professionals took to the beach, and gave quite an impressive show of fire and sparks.

At around 12.30 in the morning, I said my goodbyes, and walked back to the hostel to skype with parents, only to miss them because I had not realised the time zone had changed. Disgruntled but mildly tipsy and sleepy, I headed to sleep minutes before my parents tried to ring me.


Successful skyping!

DSP

Useful Information:

Getting to Langkawi/Malaysia:

• From Krabi, I took a local minibus to Satun, where there is a ferry port with direct services to Langkawi. It is not the cheapest way of reaching Malaysia, but it was one of the quickest and most convenient.
• My minibus was B200 (£4) and took around 4 or 5 hours. They leave fairly frequently from Krabi bus station, though it is not always clear exactly when, so it may be worth enquiring when you arrive in Krabi bus station.
• The ferry cost B350, and took around two hours (I am not entirely sure, as I slept through it). The ferry is fairly comfortable, and there are plenty of seats, but it is very chaotic when disembarking, so perhaps be waiting by the door in readiness.
• The ferry schedule varies to a great extent, but from what I can tell, there is always a morning departure (c.08:30), and an early evening departure (c.17:30), and then at least one more during the early afternoon, maybe more if demand is high enough. The schedule varies according to demand, season, and for me there was a modified service because of Ramadan.
• The border checks are handled by each ferry terminal respectively. The Thai side took less than five minutes to get through. The Malaysian side was slower, as there are only two or three counters processing entire ferry-loads of passengers who arrive all at once.
• British subjects receive a ninety-day visa exemption, and I believe most other western countries receive this or at the very least a thirty-day exemption, which is more than enough for Peninsular Malaysia.

Transport on Langkawi:

• Langkawi lacks public transport, and so the only options open for tourists are vehicle rental or taxis.
• The ferry port is situated just a few kilometres away from the main town of Kuah, and is around a thirty minute drive from the main tourist beaches of Pantai Cenang and Pantai Tengah.
• A taxi should cost RM30 (£5) from the ferry terminal to the tourist beaches. That cost is per vehicle, not per person as some taxi drivers would argue.

Vehicle Rental:

• I paid RM30 (c.£6) to rent a crappy motorbike from my hostel. They are available cheaper elsewhere, but the hostel bike was just easier, and I was happy not to have to surrender my passport again.
• Ensure you wear a helmet at all times when on a motorbike, as it is the law, and corrupt Malaysian policemen do not need many excuses to pull you over and extract a fine.
• I have heard that you can rent a car for only RM100 per day, which would be cost effective if there is a large group of you.

Langkawi Panorama Skycab:

• The skycab (cable car) is located in the NW of the island, and is around a thirty minute slow scooter ride from Pantai Cenang resort.
• Like the rest of the island, there is no public transport to the bottom of the skycab, necessitating either a taxi or a rented bike/car.
• The basic ride up and down costs RM30, but there are a myriad of extras you can add, such as walking on the Skybridge, seeing the Skydome, or taking a glass-bottomed Skycab.

Going out:

• Beers are cheaper in Langkawi than in much of Malaysia, but are nevertheless noticeably more expensive than Thailand.
• Most drinking options are fairly upmarket, and geared towards rich package tourists. There are a few cheaper, local bars on the main street, and several option available just off the beach, with the best tucked behind the row of shops situated across from Cenang Mall.
• Buying beers from a local shop and drinking on the beach is definitely an option. We found local beer for RM1.80 (£0.30)