Our retreat in Langkawi felt like a vacation from our global travel sabbatical. The time zoomed by quickly which means we must have really enjoyed ourselves!
What did we do?
Pool, nap, eat, beach walks. Repeat.
We rented a townhouse with a private pool which made the routine of rolling out of bed and throwing a bikini on very easy.
We stayed near Pentai Tengah with the beach and many restaurants within a five-minute walk.
Langkawi was also on my travel itinerary 15 years ago and much of it looked the same! Soft, sandy beaches and warm water. Getting to Langkawi was not as easy as before. The ferry between Penang and Langkawi stopped running during COVID, and so we ended up flying. It was a cheap Air Asia flight but a boat would be more efficient for this easy trip between two islands.
We took a few leisurely outings during our eight nights on the island and here are the things we enjoyed.
The Beach
Langkawi is both the name of the main island, and also a 99-island archipelago that it is a part of. Being an island, there are lots of beaches to explore. We stuck to our nook of the island but enjoyed walking along Tengah Beach and Cenang Beach. Langkawi is a great place to rent a car or scooter but our location placed us right in the middle of it all so we walked almost everywhere. On a few occasions we used Grab to hire a taxi.
Cenang Beach, the most popular beach on the island, was about 10 minutes away on foot and has a number of cafes and bars along the sand with various happy hours and fire shows.
One late afternoon, Linda (Corey’s mom) and I rented a jet ski and glided over the smooth waters with the setting sun as a back drop. She drove the entire time and had a blast trying out different speeds and thrill seeking on a new mode of transport.
The beach closest to us was a quiet, uncrowded gem. I wish we had spent more time frolicking along the shore. There was one restaurant that sold a variety of foods and drinks with nice lounge chairs too.
Cable Car
The Barrs were able to peel me away from Mojito (the flamingo) and my floating hammock for one day in order to explore the cable car, waterfalls, and mountain area.
Need more details?
Langkawi has one of the steepest cable cars in the world, possibly the steepest! And it was pretty terrifying. It was a windy day and we had a to wait a few hours for the wind to die down before they started operations. Eek! The track covers around 1.4 miles and rises more than 2,000 feet. The lower station is called Oriental Village, and resembles a theme-park mall.
The middle station does not offer much at this time, but they are building a viewing platform that will resemble an oversized eagle’s nest, complete with large concrete eggs. After exploring the views at the middle station, we got back in to progress to the top.
It was a beautiful day from the top observation platform and we could see all the way to Thailand!
There is also a gorgeous suspension bridge that I avoided crossing out of fear. This makes two times that I’ve chickened out! Corey walked across it with his parents while I snapped a few photos. Would you walk across this bridge?
On the way back down, Corey and I got off at the middle station (which is not allowed and earned us a stern scolding) and then tried to hike down that mountain. Although a trail exists, it is marked as no-admittance, and we were not willing to jump the gate to trespass down a trail that can easily be seen from multiple observation decks. To our chagrin, the only way back down the mountain was to again go UP the cable car, then back down the whole track. We have decided that we just don’t enjoy cable cars, ski lifts, gondolas, etc. But the views are incredible and Dale and Linda (Corey’s parents) had a great time!
Dining & Drinks
Langkawi is quite popular with tourists so there are a lot of international restaurants offering all kinds of cuisine.
One of our favorite places was a Turkish place with fresh kebabs, dips, and salads.
Our other favorite was The Argan Trees, a Mediterranean and European restaurant just a few steps from our rental. Dale was a big fan of their burgers! The prices for food and drink were very reasonable with meals ranging from $7-15 for an entree and alcoholic beverage. You may find 2022 references to the restaurant being closed, but Google Maps will bring you to the correct (and open) location, in a shopping center with a few other restaurants.
Malaysia is a Muslim country and while alcohol is not prohibited, it is taxed heavily. But Langkawi, as a whole, is a duty free island! There are numerous shops that sell wine, beer and spirits. Plus other stores for perfumes, luggage, purses, chocolates, and kitchenware! We stocked our fridge at home with beers and such and also enjoyed buying cheap drinks while out and about. While the prices were generally inexpensive, they also varied between stores. That special bottle of scotch could be 20% less at the store across the street.
Leaving Malaysia
Our ferry from Langkawi to Koh Lanta, Thailand was an all day affair. We were prepared and had done plenty of research to know what that process would look like.
We used THIS blog to learn about all the details. It was mostly correct. Here’s how it went.
We pre-arranged a taxi van to take us to Kuah Jetty. We arrived a little early and were immediately confused inside the terminal. We had booked through a company called Tiger Line Ferries, but saw no signs for Tiger Line. The check in instructions in the terminal said to go to Tropical Charters, but their office did not open until after the time we were supposed to check in. So we wandered around in circles for about 15-20 minutes (there was a Starbucks, though), and by that time Tropical Charters opened up and they confirmed that was the place we needed to be! They took our passports, gave us stickers for boarding, and asked us to wait for about an hour until immigration opened.
When it was time we stamped out of Malaysia and boarded the ferry to Koh Lipe, Thailand. Tropical Charters operated the boat that covered that leg of the journey. It was about an hour ride to a beautiful Thai tropical paradise, and where Thai immigration would process our entry.
This was the prettiest immigration office I’ve ever visited!
We finally met someone with a Tiger Line Ferries shirt, who took our luggage on a motorcycle from the arrival pier to the departure pier. We were to walk north along the beach and trust that the motorcycle would actually arrive with our possessions (which it did).
Our departure ferry was delayed, which gave us three hours to frolic on the soft silty beach and drink cold beers. If I had known that we would be spending that much time on Lipe then I would have gone out and explored more. Instead it was like an open-air ferry terminal. I waded in the clear warm water and guessed that each boat that pulled up to the “pier” was ours.
We eventually loaded the boat and island hopped up the coast of Thailand. It was a neat way to explore the tiny islands that scatter across the Andaman coastline.
We stopped in Trang, Muk, Kandar, and Ngai before finally arriving at the Lanta pier at 6 PM: two hours late. The funny thing is that the boat ran out of gas about 10 minutes away from the pier! We floated near the Lanta coast while the crew worked hard to fill her up (they had gas cans on board) and get us on the way!
I was slightly tempted to just swim ashore but Corey and his family would need my help with directions and baggage! More to come from Thailand!