Day Eight
Today I'm in: Pantai Cenang, Langkawi, Malaysia
All too quickly, it was time to leave KL for my next stop, the island of Langkawi, which is Malaysia's most popular tourist destination. When I woke up, it was a seriously beautiful day in Kuala Lumpur - almost no clouds in the sky and very little of the heat haze that turns even sunny skies in Southeast Asia to a milky white color. It was a beautiful day to go flying!
To get to Langkawi I was flying Firefly, a low-cost offshoot of national carrier Malaysia Airlines. Unfortunately, Firefly only allows 7 kilograms of free checked baggage (most full-service carriers that I've been taking on this trip allow anywhere from 16 to 20 kilograms free) and my admittedly very heavy bag weighed 11 kilograms. That meant I got to pay 100 ringgit (about $30) in excess baggage penalties. Shame on me for not doing my research, but all the same, I'm glad I'm flying Malaysia Airlines - who allows 18 kilograms free - for my return flight.
About half an hour into the 70-minute flight to Langkawi, the weather started looking less promising. As we came into land on Langkawi we were routed around some really big buildups, and I could see a thundershower over part of the island during our final approach. According to the captain, there were "pop up" storms all over the Andaman Sea since the weather was so hot and humid. Just about 45 seconds after I took this picture, however, we landed at the airport in the bright sunshine.
I took a cab to my guesthouse, which is imaginatively named The Palms. It's a comfortable set of ten rooms arranged around a little pea-gravel courtyard with a rock garden and stream. It's a guest house, though, not a resort, so the accommodation is pretty basic. I have a private bathroom, an air conditioner, and a mini-fridge, and that's about it. My bed came with two sheets, both of which appear to be sized for a small child's bed. Last night I had to basically wrap them around myself and go to sleep. Even with the air conditioner on, I wasn't too cold, though, so it's not the end of the world. Although the guest house is just down a short driveway off the main road, it becomes rural very quickly - there were roosters pecking around the courtyard when I checked in, and I woke up to lots of crowing this morning.
I'm staying in Pantai Cenang, which is the busiest beach strip on Langkawi. The island is actually quite large but the main town, Kuah, doesn't hold much draw for tourists - it has a deepwater harbor but no beach. Pantai Cenang and its twin, Pantai Tengah, are on the southern coast where most of the smaller hotels and guesthouses are located, and the large all-inclusive resorts are scattered along the north and west coasts. Pantai Cenang's main drag is a predictable parade of tour operators, restaurants, supermarkets and bars, but it still has a pretty laid-back feel. The beach is just behind the main road and is quite nice, although with all the rain the water was a little bit murky and churned-up looking. There are also tons of watersport operators along the beach, which means the view is marred a little bit by jetskis and sailboats parked in the sand. Langkawi is not as well-known as some of the Thai islands like Phuket and Koh Samui, so the tourist mix here seems to be evenly split between Malays and Westerners.
Between the time I got to my hotel and the time I went to bed, there were five "pop up" thunderstorms that passed over the beach. Just about a minute after I took this picture, it was pouring on the beach and everyone was running for cover. Another storm hit overnight and pulled me right out of a sound sleep - driving rain on a tin roof will do that! There was some pretty impressive thunder and lightning, too.
The rain let up long enough for me to enjoy one of the island's famous sunsets from the restaurant during dinner. Today I've signed up for an "island hopping" tour of four of the smaller islands that comprise the Langkawi archipelago, and tomorrow I'm planning to rent a scooter and do a big circuit of the whole island to see some of the other beaches and waterfalls that are on the tourist route. It's cloudy again today, but so far it hasn't rained - I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Today I'm in: Pantai Cenang, Langkawi, Malaysia
All too quickly, it was time to leave KL for my next stop, the island of Langkawi, which is Malaysia's most popular tourist destination. When I woke up, it was a seriously beautiful day in Kuala Lumpur - almost no clouds in the sky and very little of the heat haze that turns even sunny skies in Southeast Asia to a milky white color. It was a beautiful day to go flying!
To get to Langkawi I was flying Firefly, a low-cost offshoot of national carrier Malaysia Airlines. Unfortunately, Firefly only allows 7 kilograms of free checked baggage (most full-service carriers that I've been taking on this trip allow anywhere from 16 to 20 kilograms free) and my admittedly very heavy bag weighed 11 kilograms. That meant I got to pay 100 ringgit (about $30) in excess baggage penalties. Shame on me for not doing my research, but all the same, I'm glad I'm flying Malaysia Airlines - who allows 18 kilograms free - for my return flight. 
About half an hour into the 70-minute flight to Langkawi, the weather started looking less promising. As we came into land on Langkawi we were routed around some really big buildups, and I could see a thundershower over part of the island during our final approach. According to the captain, there were "pop up" storms all over the Andaman Sea since the weather was so hot and humid. Just about 45 seconds after I took this picture, however, we landed at the airport in the bright sunshine. 
I took a cab to my guesthouse, which is imaginatively named The Palms. It's a comfortable set of ten rooms arranged around a little pea-gravel courtyard with a rock garden and stream. It's a guest house, though, not a resort, so the accommodation is pretty basic. I have a private bathroom, an air conditioner, and a mini-fridge, and that's about it. My bed came with two sheets, both of which appear to be sized for a small child's bed. Last night I had to basically wrap them around myself and go to sleep. Even with the air conditioner on, I wasn't too cold, though, so it's not the end of the world. Although the guest house is just down a short driveway off the main road, it becomes rural very quickly - there were roosters pecking around the courtyard when I checked in, and I woke up to lots of crowing this morning. 
I'm staying in Pantai Cenang, which is the busiest beach strip on Langkawi. The island is actually quite large but the main town, Kuah, doesn't hold much draw for tourists - it has a deepwater harbor but no beach. Pantai Cenang and its twin, Pantai Tengah, are on the southern coast where most of the smaller hotels and guesthouses are located, and the large all-inclusive resorts are scattered along the north and west coasts. Pantai Cenang's main drag is a predictable parade of tour operators, restaurants, supermarkets and bars, but it still has a pretty laid-back feel. The beach is just behind the main road and is quite nice, although with all the rain the water was a little bit murky and churned-up looking. There are also tons of watersport operators along the beach, which means the view is marred a little bit by jetskis and sailboats parked in the sand. Langkawi is not as well-known as some of the Thai islands like Phuket and Koh Samui, so the tourist mix here seems to be evenly split between Malays and Westerners.
Between the time I got to my hotel and the time I went to bed, there were five "pop up" thunderstorms that passed over the beach. Just about a minute after I took this picture, it was pouring on the beach and everyone was running for cover. Another storm hit overnight and pulled me right out of a sound sleep - driving rain on a tin roof will do that! There was some pretty impressive thunder and lightning, too. 
The rain let up long enough for me to enjoy one of the island's famous sunsets from the restaurant during dinner. Today I've signed up for an "island hopping" tour of four of the smaller islands that comprise the Langkawi archipelago, and tomorrow I'm planning to rent a scooter and do a big circuit of the whole island to see some of the other beaches and waterfalls that are on the tourist route. It's cloudy again today, but so far it hasn't rained - I'm keeping my fingers crossed. 
Enjoy Langkawi and maybe try ferry-ing in to Penang island for the day :)
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