Malaysia: Langkawi and KL

1/28-2/11

It was at this point in our trip that we started to get a little tired, as we'd been bouncing from place to place for about three weeks. We decided to take a break from doing anything overly adventurous and/or educational. Cori knew of a popular tourist destination in the northwest part of the country, the island of Langkawi, and it sounded good to me, so we booked train tickets. Problem is, there's no direct transportation from Taman Negara in the northeast (where we were) and Langkawi. That would've been too easy. What I didn't know about Malaysia was that pretty much everything goes through Kuala Lumpur. Because of this, we had to take a boat ride back down the river and take the bus all the way back south to KL. From the bus, we hopped the KL metro to the train station, ate some Subway, and got on an overnight train to Langkawi. The train took about 12 hours, but luckily I was in a sleeper car. Drowsy and disoriented, we arrived in a port city early the next morning.

Getting to our guest house on the island proved to be a little challenging. We found a taxi to take us to the jetty, splitting the fare with a young Chinese couple, as I remember. Among other things, China happens to produce a lot of young couples. Anyway, we found our way onto a small ferry and gave them cash without the hassle of buying any tickets, so I'm still confused as to the legitimacy of the whole thing. Another taxi took us across the island, and we settled into the guest house, far from the main city. It was a sleepy part of the world, just what we were looking for. The place was nice enough, sort of a loose collection of shelters and shacks among gravel pathways, and our room ended up being a lot more clean and comfortable than it appeared from the outside. The open-air kitchen shared by all the guests was right next to our door, so that was a plus. The lounge had a case of cold beverages and a sign explaining that we were on the honor system when it came to paying for them. The paths usually had dogs lying around because it was too hot to do anything else. It was all just as laid-back as we were hoping for. The picture below isn't where we stayed; I just thought it was funny.

One of the first things we did, at Cori's behest, was to find the beach. I was happy to go, since it was a lot of the reason for being there, after all. We found a nice strip of sand just down the road from us, and I plopped down in the shade with a book and a beer, kind of like what you'd see in a Corona commercial. Of course, it was hot and sandy, so I didn't last long. But the important thing is that I was there. The next week or so was a blur of books and walks and playing cards and Indian food. Now, I'm not normally a fan, but the area had some damn good Indian food, and we ate it a lot. That plus Malaysian, which was similar. I don't think there's much else I can say about our time on the island, just that it was lazy, and there wasn't much to do. I finally finished One Hundred Years of Solitude, which is a really good book, especially in warm weather.

We caught a cab into town a couple of times--first to buy bus and ferry tickets, and then to take the ferry back to the peninsula. Once we got on the mainland, we had a couple of hours to kill, so we went to the nearby KFC, threw our giant backpacks down, and got some nuggets. It was a good time. We took an overnight coach bus, since we couldn't find anyone who was selling train tickets, and it worked out pretty well. The bus put us in KL at about 4 or 5 in the morning. We had a hell of a time finding the hostel we'd booked, since all the streets kind of wind around everywhere, and the place was through a nondescript door and up a couple flights. It was a place to lay our heads for a few days, if we could wake up the owner and get him to unlock the gate. Once through, we got to our room, which faced what felt like the noisiest street in the whole city, since one of the windows was missing its glass. No matter. We collapsed on the beds and tried for a few hours of solid sleep.

Somewhere around lunchtime, Cori and I got up to go to the airport. Steven, one of the other teachers, was coming to Kuala Lumpur from Australia, and we were going to pick him up. After spending a little time back in Chicago, then Australia and New Zealand, he had decided to meet up with us on his way back to China. I wouldn't have minded adding those stops to the itinerary, but I think I did just fine as it was. Anyway, we were happy to meet up with him and catch up a little. Later, we had dinner at our new favorite restaurant, Chili's, and I got myself a couple of pints of Kilkenny, a really good ale that isn't sold in the US. There was a bookstore nearby that rivaled even the likes of Borders, so we spent some time in there, as well. That kind of thing just doesn't exist where we live. Then we went to see Underworld 3, a movie so utterly ridiculous that I was glad of those pints I'd had beforehand.

The next day we visited the Batu Caves on a tip from the people at the hostel. The three of us were only hanging around a few days before heading back to Wuhan, but we had unwittingly come back to KL during a large Hindu festival. The city, besides boasting a huge Chinese population, is also home to a large number of Indians. So popular is the festival of "Thaipusam" and its annual pilgrimage site, that all we had to do was walk down the street for a few seconds before a bus came rolling by with cries of "Batu Caves! Batu Caves! Batu Caves!" So we hopped on. What we didn't know was that it's normally one of the largest gatherings in the world. It was a little crowded, yes, but eventually we got up the couple hundred steps and into the caves. Kind of a crazy place, unless you're Hindu. Then it might make a little more sense. Or at least that's my hope. It was especially hot that day, and I was anxious to get out of the sun and away from all the pilgrims with their heads painted gold. We hopped a bus back to the city, got some Chinese for dinner, and made another trip to the Beatles Bar. I mean, how could we not take Steven, knowing he'd either really enjoy it, or be thoroughly creeped out by it?

The next day brought us probably the last major event of the trip: the swanky hotel (not pictured). My father, in his infinite generosity, had offered to help us out with our accommodations, and I decided to take him up on it. We hadn't been living on the streets or anything close to it, but I was, after all, in need of a good shower. It was a Western-style right there in Chinatown, a definite upgrade, and it had an amazing shower. That night we hung around the Petronas Towers, managing almost to get locked inside, and the next day we hit the Central Market and the National Museum. Our last day there, and I think we spent it right, absorbing some local culture and whatnot. Luckily, we were able to get on the same flight out. It was an early one, 'round 6 or 6:30, as I recall. Brutal. But we made it into Shenzhen just fine, and Wuhan from there.

I was gone exactly five weeks in all--a long time to be trudging around backwater countries--and it felt good to be home. Felt good to get some rest. Making it up as you go really takes a lot out of you. But looking back on it now, I honestly don't think I could've planned a better trip if I'd tried.

Follow the link and click on "Malaysia" for more KL and Langkawi pictures. Click on "Me" and scroll all the way down for a few me pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/kevin.wender