18 Dec 2018

Kuala Lumpur

We flew from Colombo to Kuala Lumpur which takes around 4.5 hours, Air Asia has some great cheap fares, and even though they are a budget airline, the flight was smooth and comfortable.

Within Malaysia you can use the Grab app to book taxis which works very well (it’s basically like Uber), it gives you a standard price based on distance in advance so you don’t have to negotiate and it’s usually cheaper than the taxi drivers that try to pull you in their car for a premium fee. One thing we noticed straight away to our surprise was that there don’t seem to be any tuk tuk’s in Malaysia! We also noted that the roads are very well developed and the drive from the airport was very smooth. We considered taking the train but it turned out to be cheaper taking a Grab for two travellers – single travellers should compare prices before making this decision.

Unfortunately we didn’t have a great stay at our hostel (Hostel Summer Suites), let’s just say the management has some strange views on micro-managing their guests and what they call security (and we would call 24h surveillance) hence we didn’t feel very welcome.
But our accommodation aside Kuala Lumpur has certainly a lot to offer, we particularly enjoyed the night food market Jalan Alor with all the delicious options! We couldn’t stop eating but still didn’t blow our budget (as far as we could tell here you can also get the cheapest beer in the city). Around the corner you can also find lots of bars for every taste from Reggae to Techno and ladies are drinking for free on ladies night!!

When in Kuala Lumpur you must also visit the famous Petronas Towers – if you’re on a budget like us, go in the evening around 8pm to the little lake by the towers to enjoy a water and light show with music for around 15-20min (for free every night) – if you have more cash to burn you can also book tickets online to go up the towers and take in the views.

All in all Kuala Lumpur is very clean and has accommodation as well as restaurants for most budgets, however note that alcohol is pretty expensive (due to the high tax) across the whole city. It is overall cheaper than Singapore but certainly up there when it comes to expensive cities in South East Asia. We thought a few days was enough to get an impression and decided to spend some time in Langkawi for some relaxing beach time.

All in all Kuala Lumpur is very clean and has accommodation as well as restaurants for most budgets, however note that alcohol is pretty expensive (due to the high tax) across the whole city. It is overall cheaper than Singapore but certainly up there when it comes to expensive cities in South East Asia. We thought a few days was enough to get an impression and decided to spend some time in Langkawi for some relaxing beach time.

Langkawi

From Kuala Lumpur you fly around one hour to Langkawi (again super cheap fares with our favourite Air Asia), it is located up the west coast and is said to have a more relaxed vibe compared to super touristic Penang hence why we decided to go here.
We stayed at two different accommodations near the main beach Pantai Cenang, firstly in Gecko Guest House which has a lovely rustic chilled vibe (with lots of cute cats) and secondly we stayed in Kampung Guest House due to cheaper rates which is basic but well worth it for the deal we haggled out.

Not having been to Penang I cannot say if Langkawi is more relaxed or not, but Langkawi is certainly pretty busy. On the beach you’re being hustled for tours and any water sport you can think of at not super budget friendly options, but if you decline politely they are not too much bother and let you get on with your tanning and relaxing.

The beach itself is sandy albeit not super white sand as you might have experienced in Thailand or Philippines and there is unfortunately (big important topic for everyone right now) a lot of plastic on the beach and in the water – we were often busy running back and forth to the bin with plastic we found in the water and one night when just going for a walk filled up two bags full with rubbish after only 50 metres of walking. Langkawi does try to protect the environment with motions such as no plastic cup tops and straws in fast food restaurants and no plastic bag in shops on Mondays and Tuesday, but unfortunately it is no use since the shop owners don’t want to risk losing customers and to our regret many tourists don’t seem to care either and instead of bringing reusable bags with them demand plastic bags for every tiny little purchase, quiet disappointing really.

The water on the beach is also quiet murky so you definitely cannot snorkel as you will have no visibility and we heard rumours that box jelly fish have been spotted around the area which sat a little uncomfortable with us.
There are however plenty of activities in Langkawi, from visiting the Underwater world, zip lining through the jungle, island hopping, horseback riding, Crocodile farm, cable cars to the mountain peak, marine park excursion, all the way to a swim in the Seven Wells waterfalls you can certainly keep yourself very busy (if you have the budget).
We opted in for the Seven Wells Waterfalls where you can swim in the waterfall, as well as in the pools above the waterfall and can also climb the peak without a tour all by yourself. This budget friendly (if not sore muscle friendly) option will take the best part of a day if you decide to hike all the way to the top.

When reaching the first platform above the waterfall it states that it takes two hours from that point to reach the peak – us being super confident from our hiking experiences in Sri Lanka thought that was surely an over exaggeration and most likely the time frame for a slow hiker – but oh boy, we were so wrong!
It took us just under two and a half hours to reach the top and we nearly gave up multiple times. It is not just a nice hike to the top, nope, to reach the 701 meter summit you need to actually climb very steep inclines with the help of a rope and it stretches on and on and is seemingly never ending, towards the end we expected the peak after every turn just to find another super steep rope climb. Even worse was the climb down as it started to rain and the ground became slippery with mud which made it very treacherous.

Not many people attempt the climb to the peak (we only met five people in total on our way up and down) which makes the hike and the climb itself quiet an experience, you are literally alone with nature and we certainly enjoyed that a lot and if you do finally make it up to the top, the views speak for themselves!

Another noteworthy fact about Langkawi is that the island is actually duty free, meaning that you don’t have to pay tax on booze and cigarettes, like with all good things there are limits here (per month per person max 5 litres of spirits and 62 cans of beer) but we certainly made good use from it and enjoyed the local party scene on the beach. Note that you can buy beer also from little shops everywhere (without counting towards your tax free allowance) but spirits only from the duty free shops (and you need to bring your passport).

Overall we felt like we needed some downtime and stay in a place more than just a week at a time and Langkawi was a great option for us. We plan to be back in Malaysia to visit the east coast which is currently in Monsoon season (mid-October till the end of March).

But we are now ready for new adventures – meet us in the Philippines next where we’ll spend Christmas and New Year’s!