Langkawi - The Island of the Naughty Sea!

After a great time in Penang and 2 new recruits, Myself, Caroline, Becky, Ben and Michael all left early doors to catch the 3 hour ferry over to Langkawi Island. Sitting on the top deck of the ferry catching the early sun was so relaxing and we all couldn't wait to get over to the island to have some 'holiday' time. Typical weather arose and just as we were getting to the island, the biggest black cloud you have more or less seen, struck the shore line. Hhhmm. What do we expect?


Trying to book accommodation online in Langkawi seemed to be troublesome so we arrived with nowhere to sleep, something we had not left this late before. Whilst in Melaka we were recommended to stay at a hostel called Gecko in the area of Pantai Chenang. We asked the taxi driver to take us straight there and then the trouble (by me) began.


We found Gecko and there were barely any rooms left. There were no dorms, only double's/privates and at the cost of 50RM, now in my head I was either thinking 50GBP or 25 GBP each for the double. 50RM for a double room is actually only 10GBP - so 5GBP each. In my head I was like, wooaahhh that's expensive when in real terms, it was a bargain. I stormed off and everyone seemed to follow thinking what planet I was on and to not say anything to me as I had my 'grump face' on. I wish they had attacked grump face. To try and redeem myself,  Ben and I went off to try and find ourselves some accommodation. This shouldn't have seemed too difficult as there were around 10 other hostels on the same stretch of dirt track.
Ben managed to find himself and Michael a dorm room down the road and I, found us girls a lovely little placed called the 'Amani'. We had to climb a spiral staircase for 2 floors, deal with the fact we had no sink, and just deal with the fact in general, the place was disgusting. However, it was only 15RM, 3GBP a night so who can really moan at that? We can! We decided we couldn't bare another night in the Amani so we tried our luck at Gecko and we were just told to go back in the morning.


We spent our first afternoon on the beach and it didn't take long for the 'beach games' to start. Jumping shots, silly poses, who can handstand/cartwheel best on the beach. This was our first  time really in Malaysia on the beach and the water was so warm and clear, it was definately, one of those moments!


In the morning we re packed and raced to Gecko and Ben and Michael had already got themselves in, and luckily, we managed to get a private room (with a mattress cat bed for me) for only 8GBP for 3 nights. I think I had redeemed myself at this point as everyone got cheaper accommodation in the end!


Sunday 20th, was a very bad day! I am going to describe in quite some detail.


It was actually quite the miracle to start with, we were all up, fed, dressed, showered and all on the beach by 12. In hindsight, nothing can come good from being up and ready so early.. and now you will know why.


We hadn't been on the beach that long and we had been in the sea several times due to the heat and the fact the water was so nice and refreshing.
Caroline, Becky and Ben went into the water and I stayed on the beach trying to get my pasty skin to turn a little darker other than the shade of pale. They came back out, and I decided to go back in. 2 minutes later, they all re joined me as it was still too hot.


We were all having a nice chat in the sea discussing what we were going to do the next day, hire a car or hire mopeds, and bang.......... jellyfish gate started. Caroline suddenly yelled 'jellyfish' and I just thought she meant she had seen one, but this was repeated several times and as she tried to scramble from the water, we all knew she had been stung. I was furthest away from Caroline, then Ben and Becky and we couldn't get out of the water quick enough.


As I tried to escape the waist high sea, I saw something white, huge and jellyfish esque coming towards me and obviously, in this instance, you try and think the best way to escape. For me, it was either attempt to run out of the sea which proved to be difficult as I tried it for about 4 seconds.. front crawl.. or breast stoke. So obviously, the best way to escape the sea from a jellyfish, is to do breast stoke. NOT.


Caroline gets out of the sea and it is clear from then she is in great pain. Becky suggests we rub wet sand all over her to try and ease the sting but this doesn't work. Ben runs off to try and get some help and leads us to a little hut where a man just simply pours vinegar all over her.
At this stage, we can now start to clearly see the severity of the stings. Caroline's wrist, stomach, and legs had been badly affected and the stings were coming up as massive blisters. (Now at this point I actually wanted to take photo's just to show her what they looked like but obviously thought this was majorly inappropriate at this stage).


As I was holding her hands as she squeezed, I squeezed back, and the man was still dousing her with vinegar but with no affect. It was so difficult to see someone in such pain and to not be able to do anything about it.


Now, we all remember that episode of Friends which is probably the most educational episode.. the one where Chandler pee'd on Monica. I think for everyone who has seen this, will remember that golden shower tip. The ammonia in urine subsides the itch of the stings. This was our next course of action.


Obviously, me and Becky don't exactly have the correct tools for being able to openly wee on someone as much as a boy, so we turn to Ben. His first response is 'I don't need to go'.... Me and Becky find the nearest empty water bottle, hide round a corner (where I think was very much on show) and wee in a bottle. Poor Becky for having to hold it after me. We run back over to Caroline so we can pour our lovely wee on her and the first thing Ben say's is 'you must be dehydrated', yeh, thanks Ben. Becky pours the wee on Caroline and it seems to do something (cringe) and we race her over top the front of the beach, onto the road to wait for the ambulance. Caroline is still in a massive amount of pain but there really isn't much we can do. The waiters from the restaurant suggest we squeeze fresh limes on her, so what's what we do. We request more and they bring over a full plate. So by this point, she stinks (she won't mind me saying this) of wee, limes and vinegar.. not a good combo!


As the ambulance arrives, even the paramedic pulls the face of 'wow', this looks bad. They don't even help a weak Caroline into the ambulance, we have to do it.
They continue to douse her in vinegar and inappropriate as ever, as they go to put the cannula into her hand for the drip, I go.. Oooh that looks like it hurts! As is she isn't in enough pain already.


We arrive at the hospital and 3 hours later, a saline drip and 3 injections, we are able to leave!


To make light of the situation I 'plank' the opposite hospital bed and find joy in the spare wheelchair whilst waiting for a taxi doing some rather cool spinneys!


The rest of our time in Langkawi was spent being rather scared of the sea and for good reason!


We later find out that Pantai Chenang has the highest jellyfish rate on the whole of Langkawi and the fact that it was high season! Nowhere on the beach or guide books does it tell you this. Also, to make a matters just that little bit more, not funny.. we google jellyfish in the area and discover that some of them are actually a form of Box jellyfish... the ones that kill!


Our last day with Michael (day after jellyfish gate) we hire a car and see the entire island which was lovely. We visit Seven Wells waterfall which was right at the top of around 300 steps.... and nearly killed us all... Black Sands Beach and Durian Perangin Waterfall. The weather wasn't exactly spectacular so we didn't go into any of the waterfalls other than for a quick paddle but if it had been a really sunny day, those waterfalls would have been amazing to dip into!


The last day in Langkawi was spent in fear. As the weather was so bloody hot and the heat was near enough unbearable, me and Becky had a little paddle in the sea and were that scared we got terrified by.... a chocolate wrapper. We only went ankle deep and sat down just so we could see anything coming at us! The sea is not to be trusted!


Overall, our time in Langkawi had been an experience, it's not often you get to visit A&E on a Sunday afternoon but it's something I definately do not want to be doing again.. as I am sure Caroline feels the same.


(pictures to be added soon..... damn slow wi-fi.. and next stop.. Borneo and the 20 hour travel day.. bet you can't wait to read that!).

Penang

After the painful evening in Ipoh, we take the 5 hour coach up to Butterworth so we can get the ferry over to Penang.
Whilst in KL, I had heard everyone raving about Penang so I was expecting a more or less 'party beach town' and quite looking forward to going to a) get a tan and b) get drunk! (only the latter happened).

A very nice Chinese lady started talking to us on the coach and she was literally going to the same street, 'Love Lane' which is where our accommodation was, and she showed us the way as soon as we got off the ferry.. again, saving us around 30 minutes of asking people and getting the trusty map out.

We had booked into Reggae Mansion (the same company as our hostel in KL) and we aimed straight for it. Ben led the way and we tried to check in but there was no booking for us? We asked and Ben got his emails up as he had paid the deposit. Then, a very helpful young man told us the hostel we were in, wasn't the Reggae Mansion, but another one, and the one we wanted, was simply next door. Ben lost major captain points for this. (Just to fill you in, if you do something wrong on the trip, you lose your captain staus and go down in the ranks. Ben managed to fully downgrade himself on this occasion to the bottom rank, Community Support.

Now one person I must mention from Reggae Mansion, is Smart Casual Man. Smart Casual, is a man who works there but just can't seem to decide what he wants to wear. Most guys would wear a shirt with trousers, or a t shirt with casual shorts. Not this dude! He would wear a shirt, waistcoat, beach shorts, trainers and on some occasions, a Michael Jackson esque glove! Ahh we love Smart Casual!!! He also had very few teeth and we could never understand what he was saying but we just nodded and smiled! Oh bless him.

Finally sat in the correct hostel, we all de-Ipoh ourselves with lovely showers, a decent meal and for me, a nice little nap! As soon as I wake up Caroline and Ben are on the ball and lookimg at flights for our next stop, Borneo. Within 30 or so minutes, flights booked and that was that.

Our first full day in Penang and all we could think about was the beach. We hopped on the 101 and low and behold, it was only an hour and a half away!!! Good thing that bus had AC! Not impressed.
During the bus journey a girl started talking to Caroline... and she literally has not left our side since. Becky is from Essex and on a round the world trip for a year. She comes to the beach with us that day, then says she is off to Langkawi the same day we are and we obviously invite her along (always more the merrier) then she comes back to our hostel for a bit and then all of a sudden... after knowing us for approxiamelty 6 hours, she had booked her flight to Borneo with us! We like to call this day, 'the day Becky picked us up on the bus' or 'the day we found Becky'.

To celebrate our new found friend and travel companion, we go out for a nice curry which almost blew my head off. Walking back to the Raggae, we bump into Michael.. Michael is someone we briefly knew from KL and after dinner, he came by for some ahem, many drinks and then we pretty much didn't get rid of him either for a few days! :) Beer, vodka and gin seemed to flow rather well when Michael was around (and then blaming us youngen's for keeping him out late).

Me, Michael, Becky, Caroline and Ben (taking a break from some intense card playing)

Beach on Penang

Now, I'm going to be quite complementary here.. Michael suggested that we all go out and try some street food (which I have no idea why we hadn't done that yet) and it was incredible. We sat on the side of the road, I had my Starfruit juice in a bag that cost 30p and then my pork noodle soup was a shocker at 50p! So, thank you for that. Also, Michael proved to be quite the interesting American. He is a travel blogger/writer (www.goseewrite.com) and has been to over 60 countries and more or less travels only by land.
More £1 drinks started to arrive and later on Shithead starts (a card game) and the competitiveness is rife! The banter gets serious and no one wants to lose.. apart from Ben who just can't help it, and the fact that he is still learning whether a 7 is higher than a 4! :)

Smart Casual Man!

Overall our time in Penang wasn't what I expcted but I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Apart from the beach issue, but I can get over that. We find Becky, Michael (who then decides to come to Langkawi with us). Find out about amazing street food, share ridiculously drunken stories, and learn that card games really are serious fun and not to be taken lightly! Oh, and finally see the famous 'Old Trafford Burger' van!


Next stop, Langkawi Island.. and jeez.. have I got a story for you then!

Time To See Some Of Malaysia!

Having spent 3 days in KL, we decide it's time to move on. KL is a nice city, but sometimes large cities can get a bit claustrophobic and all you want to do is to walk around a nice little town instead of always having to look up at the high rises, which is what we did. First stop, MELAKA.

Ben wanted to go up to the Cameron Highlands and do some trekking (no thankyou) and advised us to go to Melaka. Ben had aleady been there so it made sense for us to go south, and Ben to go north and then we would re meet ready to head up north to Penang together.
As Ben had already come from Melaka he kindly showed us to the bus station. With our heavy bags on and the temperature hitting 30 degrees plus,  any length of walk would have been challenging. We arrive at the bus station after a 15-20 minute walk only to find, Ben had taken us to the wrong station. Thanks Ben!!! We then have to make the 15-20 minute walk back in the right direction, plus around another 10.. (you don't even want to imagine the faces I was pulling).  Myself and Caroline finally made it to the station and a very friendly Malay man asked us where we were going, and that he too was going to Melaka so he showed us where to get our tickets from and what terminal we were due to depart from. This probably saved us around 15 minutes of faffing around trying to figure it out ourselves.


The journey was only 2 hours south of KL and a bargain at only 12RM, a whopping, £2.20! You can't even get a one way on the bus in Manchester for that!
The coach was more comfortable than a plane! It had near enough fully reclining seats, and even a fold out foot rest from the seat! Bliss!

We arrived in Melaka and headed straight to our hostel, the River View (which you guessed it, had a view of the river). We only paid £4 per night for this accommodation so we didn't even care what it was like but we were pleasantly surprised. Raymond the owner greeted us with a nice cold drink and an orientation of Melaka. The hostel itself was really homely, comfortable clean and tidy.
On the evening we arrived Caroline felt ill so whilst she slept, I took myself out and attempted to eat. At this stage, having been away for only 5 days, the thought of eating rice/noodles for breakfast, lunch and dinner was filling us with dread. Our appetites had dramatically reduced and we just didn't want to eat (well, not Asian food anyway) So, the English way to solve a fussy eater, a good portion of french fries! Happy Jessica :)
With Caroline still feeling ill the following day, I take myself out for a wonder and with excellent use of my E grade Geography GCSE, I go the completely wrong direction. I find China town and the famous 'Jonker Walk' which is host to the weekend night markets. I walk up and down it around 2 times before Caroline comes out for some air and food. We spend the rest of the day walking around and generally enjoying the scenic town which could be a little European village with all it's river cafe's and quaint crafts and art shops.
One thing I do have to mention is.. I went to buy some playing cards and as I went to pay the lady she was literally almost spitting at me with her horrific cough. When I saw the unwanted bodily fluids coming in my direction I was trying to back up out the shop and get my money out of my purse so quickly my money just wouldn't come out quick enough... she was gross. As I left I felt like I had caught some sort of disease, and out came the hand sanitiser!
Also, on the way home, I also fell over.. twice, in the small fall. I don't quite know how it happened, but I spilt my newly bought drink and cut my foot.


When you say you are going travelling, everyone automatically thinks of beaches, well after 6 days, we still hadn't seen one, so our task for the day, was to find a beach... and that we did!
It only meant taking a 30minute taxi ride and a 20 minute boat.. close hey?
The beach itself was lovely and the island was called 'Pulau Besar'. At one point, it was only me and Caroline on the beach so perfect timing for a jumping photo shoot. We didn't last long in the heat as even for my standards, and I love the heat, it was just too damn hot!
On the way back to the ferry, we were swarmed by around 30 Indian men who had clearly never seen a white woman in the flesh before. We sat round the corner hoping they wouldn't bother us (yeh right) and the next thing we know, we have posed for around 10 pervy little men and their camera phones. We literally should have started to charge!

That evening Raymond had advised us that the local area was putting on a free river boat cruise with FREE FOOD, and as a backpacker, that's like hearing you have won the lottery.. well not quite, but you see how important it is.. for all international travellers to celebrate the Deepavali festival of light. We arrive and low and behold, everyone starts to stare, I feel like a gimic. We get some incredibly fresh food though and enjoy the Indian dancing. We quickly realise the importance of this festival as it's only the King of Malaysia sitting a few yards ahead of us.. and the King of India (I think).


After the festival, 2 Austrian's we had met in our hostel got chatting to a Polish girl and a Malay girl (no idea what her name was) and we all go for a few beers. One of the Austrian's, Manual, decided he wanted to get up and sing.. at this point you think, oh dear.. this is going to be awful. It actually wasn't. He got up and sang some Oasis.. especially for us, and also strummed away on the guitar. He also decided to play some of The Verve, or as Manuel liked to call them, The Werve! This, I found very amusing!


The next short chapter is going to be me, moaning, alot. If you too had gone to a place called 'IPOH'.. you would understand!


On the Monday morning, me and Caroline left Melaka to head 5 hours up north to Ipoh to meet back up with Ben. Then on the Tuesday, we would head up north to Butterworth to make the way to the island of Penang. This whole little journey made sense at the time of booking, but in heinsight, we all wished we had never gone to the dreaded town of Ipoh.


We arrived in Ipoh and headed to our accommodation, the Shanghai Hotel. It was, if I am going to be completely honest, a sh8thole, and I cannot be more polite if I tried.
It looked like it hadn't been decorated, well, ever! Our room only cost £3 per night each, but still, we were all disgusted.
The bathroom door lock was a straw, we saw rats on the 'balcony', we didn't have sheets, there was what looked like an axe mark in the door - as though someone was trying to escape this god awful room and a hand print above the bed Ben had! To make the evening a little more bearable, we got a couple of beers and watched some ever so exciting, NCIS and Criminal Minds. Rock on.
To top it all off.. Caroline and Ben heard.. errrmm.. how to describe this nicely, 'man groans' from another room.. and as it turned out, we were staying in a semi brothel!!!
At 7.30 the next day we left Ipoh as fast as you could say Ipoh. Without sounding horrible to it's locals, it should be wiped off the map and never heard of again!

Our next stop, Penang...!

And so we begin!

Hello Everyone!


I have never done this blogging thingy stuff before so please bare with me. a) if I type too much, which will happen b) if it bores you and c) if you think I moan too much, I'm just describing things - NOT necessarily moaning :)


So, after months of thinking that myself and Caroline were flying on the 3rd November, we actually delay until the 6th... and thank god as to say I was disorganised is an understatement. The reason being for the delay was the floods in Bangkok - even the hostel we had booked advised us to stay away so we changed out flights to Kuala Lumpur (and might I say, it couldn't have worked out better).


After an emotional (yes, I do cry) departure from the parentals, me and Caroline set off through the gates and the trip had officially begun! Eeeek.


The 7 hour flight to Dubai was easy enough and we both took advantage of the spare seat in the middle, even if I did take up most of it sleeping for half the flight :) Our 3 hour wait in Dubai was boring to say the least, especially if you don't have loads of money for all the good duty free's! My oh my, do they love their Gold?! Going through the security gates and scanners, after only at least 10 hours of use, my lovely £9 Primark bag.. broke on me. And breathe. The last 7 hour flight straight through to Kuala Lumpur wasn't as enjoyable as by this point, tiredness was kicking in but we made it and the first stamp was inked on our passports.


The test now started as I actually had to pick up my 18kg bag for the first time since leaving home. Where was my wheely bag from Oz when I needed it?
Getting a taxi was easy enough and we both liked the fact that we paid first - this ensured that we weren't going to get ripped off. We only paid 75RM which is only £15. The taxi took around an hour and a half (half an hour getting lost) to take us to our hostel, Reggae Mansion and we were so glad to get there and just get in bed!


We opened the hostel door to be greeted by a 2m x 2m space and what can only be described as pod beds. To be honest, they were awesome. For those who haven't seen the photo's the bunks were directly on top of each other like little cabins with curtains, a double mattress and a little private light. For hostels.. this is what you want. We rock paper scissored for top bunk and fortunately for me and not so for Caroline, she got top. Moving around in the room however, was a procedure of 'you go that way, I'l go this way'.


We woke up at 2pm after a mammoth 13 hour sleep and we both got up, got ready and went to inspect Kuala Lumpur. The heat was ridiculous, but so refreshing for not having to wrap up like we were in the Arctic. Shorts, flip flops and vests were well and truly out. Hello tan!!!
After 30 minutes of walking around to try and find food.. we gave up and went back to the hostel. There was no where obvious for us to eat and at this stage, we couldn't be bothered to wonder that far as we still hadn't gained our bearings. The streets smelt like bins and we were the only white people walking around. Odd one out doesn't describe it. Especially as I'm short, brown haired and pale, whilst Caroline is tall, blonde and also pale.
Back at the hostel we instantly greet Ben - who will appear alot in this blog as we are pretty much travelling as a 3. Ben is someone I know from Melbourne back in 2008. Our mutual friend (Hello shovel face) mentioned to Ben that I was travelling S.E Asia around the same time he was and he got in touch. It just so happens that Ben was going to be in KL the same time we were and he hasn't left us since, have you Benny Boo?


That evening is spent sharing stories from Oz, as we all did our working visa's and getting to know each other a little more. We come across a fellow englishman, Jack, who we now name, weird Jack.. and go for dinner. Our first real meal in KL, is a vegetarian curry for about £3.. bargain. We decide to get up early in the morning to sort out our body clocks out and go on the Reggae Mansion city tour which is 38RM approx £9 and lasts from 10-4pm.


To say I woke up early... is a joke. Hello 5am. As I know we have a busy day ahead, I try and get back to sleep but oh no.. I'm wide awake. I lay there until around 6am which is when I gave in and got up to go on the computers to be greeted by a few other 'non sleepers'. We chat for around an hour (whilst getting told off for being too loud by a grumpy German, we weren't even being loud) and I make second in line for breakfast. Scrambled eggs, toast, fruit and a side of Calamari anyone?
I try and get some more sleep but it just isn't happening so I get up, get myself a £1 Redbull and await for 10am for the tour to then be told, there was no tour guide!!! We did it anyway.
6 people had put their names down for the tour, myself, Caroline and Ben (who to make life easier, I will just refer to as the '3 of us') 2 aussie's and another english guy who had literally, just landed so I think he beat me on tiredness. He was also called Jack but we refer to him as 'Good Jack'. Poor Jack gets stuck in the middle of the 2 aussies's and dare I say, they were annoying. The elder lady literally talked about herself the entire day and generally asked really random questions. She was therefore named 'crazy lady' but we think her real name was Charlotte. The other aussie girl mentioned that she was woken up at 6am by people at the computers talking... Safe to say, I didn't admit I was a culprit.


I've just realised how much I have typed for only 2 days so I shall try and keep this minimal!


We had a lovely day getting to see KL and can't say we would have seen all these things has we left it to the 3 of us. Over the day we visited:
National Palace
Heon Thean Temple
National Mosque (where we had to wear full Muslim dress, in a nice purple shade)
National Monument 
Batu Caves.
As we arrived back at the hostel I caved and had a glorious afternoon nap which then saw me see the evening through until 2am drinking £2 beers overlooking the KL tower and the Petronas Towers from the rooftop bar!


Our last full day in KL started rather well! Ben came to wake us up and told me that Frankie had been taken off the X Factor, still sad that I cared but jeez, I was happy! We spent the day, walking, and walking, and then maybe some more walking in pretty much the wrong direction when all we need to do was go straight, and not in one massive circle! In about 5 hours of walking, we achieved food, and a visit to the KL tower which had amazing views of the city. Feethurt.com.
Another must in KL is the Petronas Towers which in the day, are worth a look, but at night, are much more worth the visit. We spent some time trying to take arty farty photo's and pretty much gave up after we achieved the basics.
To end our time in KL, we spent it on the rooftop bar with Good Jack (who then deserted us with crazy lady... painful 30 minutes) playing shithead and pretty much just getting drunk. Travelling is hard work!!!