Air Travel

Pulau Langkawi in the north west of peninsula, the nearest island to Thai border town of Satun, is the perfect place to relex. We took a bus from Kuala Lumpur at 24.00 hours(one hour late departure) and went to Kuala Perlis, the port town which is the departure point for ferries to Langkawi.

The buses in Malaysia are new and comfortable and we traveled in a double-decker bus. The journey time from KL to Perlis was seven hours and immediately on arrival at Perlis, we took a ferry to Kuah, the major town and arrival point for ferries. There was a lot of hustle and bustle on the jetty, Langkawi is a duty free port and Malaysians love to come here. On the day we arrived in Kuah, there was an important festival in progress and hotels were full and charging higher rates. But we had no intention of staying in the town as we wished to go to the beach.

So on arrival, we went in the restaurant on the jetty to have breakfast and found that they had full Indian food there. Mr. Jamal the soft spoken manager came over to our table and after exchanging preliminary courtesies and taking our orders, came back and asked if it was our first time in Langkawi, which was yes, and offered to find us accommodation. He gave us his visiting card and I saw that apart from working in the restaurant, he was also working for tourist information and travel agency. So we had rice, chicken curry, pancakes and coffee at very reasonable price at 7.30 in the morning and Mr. Jamal phoned the travel office, which was nearby and outside the jetty, and in came Linda, a very helpful young woman, who took us back to her office.

The sun was shinning, bright sunlight bathed the whole town, heat prickling the body with a sensation of adventure, the sparkling blue sea, boats arriving and leaving, and a huge statue of an eagle with its enormous wings looking out to the sea. All was fantastic. The town of Kuah, as we found out on our last day there, is a commercial center, with concrete buildings, western fast food chains and shopping centres, which cater for malaysians and other tourists visiting Langkawi.

We explained to Linda our wish to go to Pantai Cenang or Pantai Tengah, she phoned some hotels but all seemed full. At the end we settled on Pantai Cenang and she booked us in Malibest Beach Resort, with wooden cottages right on the beach. The tariff was MR80.00 per night and the cottages were spacious, with attached shower/toilet, with daily room service. We stayed there three days.

If I had to choose a place to live for the rest of my days, my first preference will be Canary Islands(Spain) where I have lived for over twenty years and where I had the best time of my adult life. I love the sea, the food and the people there. The next will be Langkawi. The place has an enchantment, dense jungle, white blond beaches, uncluttered life without motorized traffic, good albeit pricy food. But a place in paradise does not come cheap any more. We put on our siwmsuits and strolled down to the beach, a few meters from the cottage, and saw the wide expanse of the clear horizon, a mirror calm sea, not a ripple stirred the waves. Glorious heat which engulfed your entire self, swathing body and mind in a peaceful calm. I went in the water and lay down on my back and the gentle water took inside. I was floating and nearly went to sleep, so peaceful and calm was the water. The picture on top right show the intricate pattern etched on the sand by crabs.

In the evening we went out for a stroll. All shops and restaurants are mostly on one side of the road. We were hungry and after inspecting some places to eat, entered Palm View, a Chinese restaurant with spacious dinning area. The owner, a gentleman from Tamil Nadu (India) came over and greeted us like old friends and recommended fish and sea food, which was fresh. My wife had shrimps in sweet & sour sauce, baby squid in ginger sauce and mixed vegetables. I had, as recommended by the owner, steamed red snapper, cooked in a delicious sauce, which I enjoyed very much. The bill ,together with two glasses of fresh pineapple juice and one beer, came to MR.76.00 .

After staying in Langkawi and with fond memory of its enchantment, we came to Kuah, stayed overnight and next morning took a ferry to Satun, the Thai border town.

In November 2007 we once again went to Malaysia. Malaysia has had a complete revamp. New roads and highways, tall and elegant tower blocks and beautiful houses. Kuala Lumpur is the face of new prosperity and business and people are content. Govt. workers retire at age 45, get a lump sum amount at retirement, they can buy a house cheap, a motor car (Malaysians can buy a car with a down payment of MR ONE) and live well as things are cheap. A visit to a doctor costs MR12.00.

Malaysians don't seem to cook at home. KL, Penang, Butterworth and many small towns we visited, were all the time full with customers, eating. In KL we stayed at China Town Inn, pat in china town itself, a good and clean hotel with a very friendly staff. A double room cost MR100 per night, although we later found out that similar hotels cost around MR60 per night. We booked on the internet so had to accept the tariff. But we liked it there and stayed four nights.
KL is a fantastic city, clean and visitor friendly, transport is cheap, there are so many places to visit and things to see and do. The food is cheap, whether you opt for Chinese or Indian food, it is cooked fresh and is very tasty. And you can buy fresh fruit cut in slices for MR1. What else you want? Who would bother to cook at home?

In China Town we had Black Noodles every day, ginger chicken, spring vegetables, morning glory (spinach like vegetable, diced and sauted) bean curd with pineapple and mixed vegetables. Black Noodles are boiled noodles fried with shredded octopus, calamari, beef and pork. The ingredients are sauted in a large wok and cooked on high heat. We also had beef in black bean sauce. Fantastic. In Little India we had tandoori chicken and nan. There was a large pavilion in the market with nearly a hundred food stalls on both sides, with benches and tables set out in the middle. Malaysian, Thai and Chinese food at very cheap prices.

You can visit KL just for it being there, Suria KL city center, the Petronas twin towers, Masjid Jamek, the aqua marine world, Batu Caves, the Golden Triangle, all deserve a visit. The city centre is full of pubs, bistros and restaurants. The only thing I did not like was the large number of McDonalds, KFC, Subways and starbucks cafe chain. Their signs and billboards seemed out of place. We had delicious coffee, at a restaurant in the international market just a few hundred meters from china town, for MR2.50. In KL you can have good coffee anywhere. Who cares for Starbucks? And coffee at McDonalds, anywhere in the world, tastes lousy. As does the food. And instead of three days as originally planned, we stayed for five days.

It was our plan to visit Perhentian islands but we were informed that due to rainy season these islands had been closed as it was dangerous for boats to cross the islands. So instead we decided to go to Langkawi Island and after our soujorn in KL, took a bus to Kuala Perlis which is a departure point for ferries to Pulau Langkawi.