Langkawi, Malaysia

Last weekend, I took a trip to Lankgawi. Before this semester, I had never heard of Langkawi, but through some searching on Google of “places to visit in Southeast Asia”, I happened upon it. Langkawi is a small island, off the coast of Malaysia, in the gulf of Thailand. You can actually see Thailand from Langkawi, it’s that close.

On our way to Langkawi, we flew through the Kuala Lumpur Airport. For some reason, when transferring from international to domestic, Malaysia will not let you get both of your boarding passes when flying into Kuala Lumpur. Thank goodness we had a four hour layover, because this meant that we had to go outside of the Airport to get our second boarding pass, and then back through security again. As it so happens, all of the good food at KUL is outside of security, so it ended up being a blessing in disguise. Maybe that’s why they make you go outside of security on your layovers…so you buy more food…hmm…

Anyway, at the airport, I learned that the national religion of Malaysia is Islam. I learned this the hard way by accidentally walking into a female prayer room rather than the bathroom, where I received lots of glares from women kneeled on prayer mats. This wonderful cultural attribute of Malaysia can also be credited to the ample amount of delicious middle easter cuisine that can be found throughout the country, and also throughout the KL airport. It was a nice break from the usual noodles/rice dishes that I have been shoveling down my throat for the last four months.

Finally, after our layover, and a short 45 minute flight from Kuala Lumpur to Langkawi, we arrived on the island. Immediately, I fell in love with the island. It was night time, but I could still feel the familiar island vibe that I feel whenever I get off the plane at Honolulu International Airport. The relaxed feeling of home.

I’m not going to give you a play-by-play of everything that we did over the weekend, but it really just consisted of waking up, eating the most delicious Indian pancakes for breakfast, and then heading around the island to explore. We went to about seven different beaches, two waterfalls, climbed one mountain, and saw a couple hundred monkeys. In the evenings, we enjoyed delicious food, we really only drank the first night because after adventuring the following two days, we were exhausted from sunshine and salt water. I also had my first ever Skype interview at our hostel. I got the internship, so I figure it went well.

Overall, Langkawi was a dream, and I would 100% return. It is still in flux of being sort of touristy, but not yet overrun with tourists, which added to its perfection. We stayed in Pantai Cenang, which is definitely the most touristy part of the island. About thirty minutes east of Pantai Cenang is Kuah, which is very built up. Other than that, the island is much less touched than most of the other places I have been this semester. It was a perfect weekend.