[jaygeetee]

I am one of lurkers on the forum here and I enjoy reading the travelogues the most (reviews come second). I also like going on trips but always wondered how others had the stamina to come back and then write up in so much detail about their trips. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed reading them but was never able to commit myself to the task. Somehow after the latest trip, I thought this should be the one where I contribute. Don’t ask me why, maybe because I had rented a car for the whole time or maybe because I ended it with a visit to a go-kart track. Anyways here goes...

<start rant>I live in Singapore, been here for the past few years and anyone who knows about the car situation in this country knows that living here is like 'vanvaas' for us petrol-heads. Car ownership is EXPENSIVE and with the brilliant public transport it's really not necessary but there is always something missing. No late night drives to the ice-cream parlour or monsoon trip to Lonavla here. In short, I MISS DRIVING <end rant>

Any chance I get to drive is never over-looked. I did a trip to Australia last year with my family and rented a car for 2 weeks, drove 2500+ kms and loved every km of it. I always drive when I am back in India.

Another aspect about living in SG is that any proper vacation has to be outside the country. When the country is so small, the best you can do is spend a day at one of the gardens or beaches but if you want to spend a few days you have to find a place in another country. Btw, Staycation is big here but I never understood the idea of staying in a hotel 30 minutes away from your house. I blame my Indian genes.

The saving grace is that travel to countries like Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia is very cheap. Cheap as in 100-150SGD for a return ticket. The distances are also quite short, most of them are less than 2 hours away.

Since my parents were visiting we decided to visit Langkawi for a short trip.


Langkawi is a small island in Malaysia close to the Thailand border and guess what, the whole island is duty-free. That translates to cheap chocolate, cigarettes, liquor and (the icing on the cake) petrol. Petrol is 2.2MYR/lt (~42INR) here. Yes, that is correct and you can pick your jaw up from the floor now.

Funny story: When I filled petrol the first time for 15MYR, the counter read 6.54 and 15.00. My dad who was sitting in the car read it as 15 litres at 65.4 and commented that prices are high before I corrected him. It was fun seeing his eyes grow larger as reality dawned on him.

Day1
Coming back to the trip, we landed in Langkawi on Saturday afternoon and after the immigration check went straight to find a car. Just next to the baggage carousel you are greeted by a row of booths for the car rental agencies, each of them looking the same and from what I learnt providing similar cars at the same prices. I went to one with a lady in uniform (marks for effort) and got myself a Toyota Vios in red (automatic, with abs, airbags and a Start/Stop button). No great shakes, simple car, basic creature comforts. Enough for lugging 4.5 people around the island.
Walked over to the parking to get the car, met the guy, took video of the car for evidence, heard the rules, picked the 'smart'key, pressed the start button and away we went. To the hotel.


We got a hotel in Kuah, this area wasn't my first preference but we had booked the trip quite late so I couldn't get any good hotels at Pentai Cenang which is really the Baga/Calangute of the island. The hotel was ok, got a duplex suite so we didn't have to take a different room for my parents. Again, simple hotel with basic amenities but importantly everything working fine and with a great breakfast buffet.


In the evening, we went to the first tourist spot.


The eagle square (http://www.langkawi-info.com/attract...taran-lang.htm).



Saw the eagle, got the pics, had ice-cream, item checked off the list. That’s about it. It’s just a touristy place with a few photo opportunities.


This was followed by a visit to the Langkawi Fair shopping mall close-by to check out the duty-free stuff. Didn't really find anything great so had dinner in a restaurant at the mall and returned to the hotel.

Day 2
Sleep, wake up at leisure, nice long (mealtime is always long when you have a 3 year old) breakfast. Day 2 started well.

This was a Sunday, so we decided to not go to the main tourist spot (that's day 3). I ended up planning a day where I would be driving as much as possible and doing a few different things
By the time we were ready to leave, it started drizzling so we started the day with visit to the Langkawi crafts complex in order to find some nice local things to pick-up (http://www.langkawi-info.com/attract...ft-complex.htm). we got some random stuff here but learnt about another fascinating little place just 300mts away. A little glass blowing studio where you get a quick 10-minute tour about glass blowing and glass making process which was something I hadn’t seen before(https://www.langkawi-insight.com/langkawi_000013.htm). It was totally worth the visit being able to see craftsmen demonstrate their art.

We had a quick lunch at the cafeteria and the rain had relented by then so we were on time for a visit to the Kilim Geoforest park for a 1hr boat trip (http://kilimgeoforestpark.com/important-notice.html).


You can take a 2 or 4 hour trip too but with a group comprising of two 70+ years old and a 3 year old, we stuck to the 1 hour trip. It was a good decision. In the hour, we went to a floating fish farm (very touristy), saw eagles flying close-by (interesting) and visited a bat cave. The bat cave was really a big dark limestone cave with a lot of bats hanging off the ceiling. It seemed like something from the Paleolithic era.



The best part was the speed boat ride with the skipper doing his best to weave left and right making it more exciting. The hour went by quite fast and all three at the extreme ends of the age scale seemed fine too, so even better.

Since we were in the north of the island, we were close to a beach called Tanjong Rhu. I had read quite a bit about this being one of the best beaches in Langkawi so we figured this was a good chance for a visit . A good decision, it was.


This was a beautiful beach and we spent some time rollicking in the waves while my daughter spent time making sand castles.

We drove back after an hour. Dinner was at a restaurant close to the hotel, we came back and called it a day. Day 2 done.

Day 3
Sleep, wake up at leisure, nice long breakfast. Day 3 started well.
We had planned a visit to the Langkawi skycab and skybridge this day (remember the climax of Don; the one with SRK). [http://www.panoramalangkawi.com/ ]
The skycab ride is an awesome experience and the vista from the top is scintillating. It’s quite a steep climb and this holds the record for being the steepest in the world. The 10 mins spent inside gave a glimpse to the beautiful island and it’s surroundings. It was stunning view.









We went on a Monday but the place was quite busy and the queues were long. We spent about 6 hours there in total, there are lot of restaurants and shops to spend time apart from the skycab ride. This is a 100% recommendation if anyone is planning a visit.

After a fun filled day, when I got back to the car to leave the car refused to start. This was my first tryst with a start/stop button so I thought I was screwing up something. I tried everything and also used google baba but nothing helped. Giving up, I called up the car rental guys who said they’d take a hour to reach my spot. I let the rest of my family go in a taxi and waited for them to turn up. Turn-up they did on the dot and it turns out my battery was dead. They gave me a jump and as soon as the car came alive, I saw the headlamps were on. Earlier while driving I had put the lights on during a short shower and then forgotten to turn them off. Mea culpa. Gave them some money for their help and headed back. I was alone in the car and the road back has a nice twisty bit. Nirvana on full blast (bt audio), my inner Senna made an appearance and I had a rollicking time on the drive back. In hindsight, the whole experience wasn’t so bad.

Dinner at the hotel and everyone was quite tired with the day’s action so it was an early end to the day.

Day 4
Sleep, wake up at leisure, nice long breakfast. Day 4 started well.
Our flight was in the evening, so we decided to visit Pantai Cenang after check-out, try some duty-free shopping and visit the beach on the way to the airport.
We made it Pantai Cenang mid-day bang in the middle of a thunder-shower. We visited the mall and spent some time going around but really there was nothing great on offer so after wasting some time window-shopping we settled for a sedate lunch. By the time we finished the rains had let up but we gave up on the visit to the beach since everything was still wet.
And now we come to the highlight of the trip, the fact that it was just before we left Langkawi was quite poetic I thought.

When we left Pantai Cenang for the airport I remembered reading about a karting center close to the airport. We were going to reach early since our beach plans had been cancelled so I thought it would be a good idea to check out the place.


I reached there and found that they charge 45MYR for 10mins drive. The place looked a bit ramshackle and the track was wet in a few places because of the rain but then I figured I didn’t have much to lose for 45MYR so I paid up.

The track itself isn’t smoothly paved and it’s quite long at 1km+ in length with 12 corners in total. The karts were basic with a pull-nylon-rope-to-start-engine. I got a shower cap to wear under the helmet, picked a helmet off a rack and got into my kart.

Rope pulled, engine puttering, helmet on, both feet in the bent metal they call pedals and I was ready. From my past experience, the karts always lacked power and you’d need to try and eke out as much as possible to really have fun but boy-oh-boy was I wrong about this one! I went Rambo on the pedals and got the jerk of my life. Brrrrrrrrrrhhhh—pfft, the engine died since I lifted completely and rammed the brakes instinctively. It was like going to pet a sweet-looking dog and jumping back after seeing it snarling at you. Hmm, this should be fun.

Rope pulled, engine puttering, me giggling in anticipation, I SRK’d the throttle and moved slowly on to the track. Once I got on to the track, I gave it another go and wheeeee it happened again; the surge ahead but this time I was ready. It was outrageous fun, the track was bumpy, the two-stroke engine was loud, the brakes were hard and the acceleration was insane. It was as hardcore as it gets, no power-nearly direct steering and a kart which just wanted to go. After the first couple of laps of what felt like ‘fast’ driving I wanted to see what it could really do. I now started putting the rear-wheel drive to use and trying to get the back out on the turns. The first couple of times, it was unnerving because suddenly the back feels lighter and you can actually feel your bum wanting to go somewhere on its own but then it falls back into place and your wide smile gets wider. Oh! It was a hoot. I got progressively courageous till on the 5th lap I hit a puddle of water on a turn, the back slid out completely and I ended up facing the wrong direction on the track. Thankfully the engine didn’t die so I could get back to my shenanigans till it came to an end on lap6. Then 10 minutes were over.

I was laughing so hard under my helmet when I came in that I just sat in the kart for half a minute. It was then I realised that my shorts were soaking wet from running over the few puddles on the track and I was literally sitting in the dirty water. Who cares!

This was a whole another level of fun. I might have driven fast on the road, I had a lot of fun on my bike in my younger days, but I don’t think anything has come close to the raw, undiluted feeling of speed that I experienced sitting in a plastic bucket seat inches away from the ground in that kart. I was tingling all over. If you do the maths, I might have done an average of 35-38kms/hour but it felt so much faster.

Once the adrenaline left the veins, I went and changed, got into the car and went off to the airport. Happy, I was. Very happy and I couldn’t think of a better way to end the trip.
Gave the car back, picked up a Macallan at the duty-free and flew back to Singapore. End of Story.
I MISS DRIVING!!!

A few tips

• Local food is a great option if you are non-vegetarian. It’s very spicy so make sure to not be too
• Get a car on rent, best way to go around. No real traffic jams. Ample parking and petrol is 2.2myr. Get a car from inside the airport, there are lot of touts outside who might charge you less but the cars are usually in poor condition
• In general very cheap, compared to many other places in SEA.
• Island hopping is an option
• Cenang is the hip place, kuah is a bit away from action but with a car getting anywhere isn’t an issue

[androdev]

Loved the title Good write up as well, couldn't help but notice that the go kart section is the most enthusiastically written part of the review!

[Flyer]

Nice travelogue.

I have been here in 2008. Pretty similar scene back then too.

I have heard that even car rental rates are cheaper in Langkawi, when compared to rest of Malaysia. Can you share the formalities for the car rentals in Langkawi, like security deposits etc.

Originally Posted by jaygeetee

anyone who knows about the car situation in this country knows that living here is like 'vanvaas' for us petrol-heads

Yes. The only thing I don't like in Sg so far.

[vnabhi]

Lovely pictures and travelogue. Brings fond memories of my trip 3 years ago. I visited all the places you listed, but did not try the go-carting though. We were staying bang next to the airport in Hotel Helang--in fact we walked to the hotel with our luggage from the airport.

We rented a car that was a bit bigger than a WagonR--Purdue something, from the cousin of the hotel receptionist, and it was cheaper than the airport rentals. We enjoyed driving all around the island in our 4 full days that we were there. We feel it was the best family holiday we have had so far.

Thanks for the wonderful pictures.

[jaygeetee]

Originally Posted by androdev

Loved the title Good write up as well, couldn't help but notice that the go kart section is the most enthusiastically written part of the review!

Thanks. I still think its the go-kart experience which pushed me to write this.

Originally Posted by Flyer

Nice travelogue.

I have been here in 2008. Pretty similar scene back then too.

I have heard that even car rental rates are cheaper in Langkawi, when compared to rest of Malaysia. Can you share the formalities for the car rentals in Langkawi, like security deposits etc.


Yes. The only thing I don't like in Sg so far.

Thanks!
I paid 390myr for 3 days. 100myr deposit which i received when i gave the car back. They needed my passport and license. It was quick. 5 mins to get the car and 5 mins to give it back

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Lovely pictures and travelogue. Brings fond memories of my trip 3 years ago. I visited all the places you listed, but did not try the go-carting though. We were staying bang next to the airport in Hotel Helang--in fact we walked to the hotel with our luggage from the airport.

We rented a car that was a bit bigger than a WagonR--Purdue something, from the cousin of the hotel receptionist, and it was cheaper than the airport rentals. We enjoyed driving all around the island in our 4 full days that we were there. We feel it was the best family holiday we have had so far.

Thanks for the wonderful pictures.

Thanks! Yeah it was better than expected and the gokart was the proverbial cherry on the top

[Aditya]

Nice travelogue with wonderful pictures.

What a beautiful place Langkawi is! Such a lot of greenery and lovely blue water. But, more than anything else, I'd like to experience walking on the SkyBridge and take a ride in the cable car. The thrill of being suspended in the air many metres above the ground is just going to be tough to match.

Hope I get a chance to visit Langkawi sometime. My brother's been there some years ago.

[gadadhar]

Short and crisp write-up, brought back memories from my earlier trip.

I was informed that hardly has any crime or theft happens in the island and the cars are never locked. Not sure whether it was true or someone trying to add spice to a story.

[jaygeetee]

Originally Posted by Aditya

Nice travelogue with wonderful pictures.

What a beautiful place Langkawi is! Such a lot of greenery and lovely blue water. But, more than anything else, I'd like to experience walking on the SkyBridge and take a ride in the cable car. The thrill of being suspended in the air many metres above the ground is just going to be tough to match.

Hope I get a chance to visit Langkawi sometime. My brother's been there some years ago.

Yes, it is really nice. It's cheap too and unlike a lot of cities, there is next to no traffic on the roads.

The cable car is a definite must-do. The climb and the view are both brilliant.

I really hope you get a chance very soon

[shrjun]

That was an interesting and unexpected end to your travelogue.Love the mini write-up

I'm also Singapore based and have been to Langkawi but spent my week there rolling on the beach at The Andaman which was also very worthwhile.

[SJM1214]

Originally Posted by jaygeetee

I enjoy reading the travelogues the most (reviews come second). I also like going on trips but always wondered how others had the stamina to come back and then write up in so much detail about their trips.

I study travelogues before planning my trips. I read almost all the travelogues on the Himalayas at Team-BHP. I tried to write my own travelogue on Ladakh trip. It got published(& got featured on the homepage as well as FB page) on Team-BHP. It was an overwhelming feeling just like you "I too wrote a travelogue"

By the way, Thank you very much for this amazing write-up and excellent photographs. Keep travelling and Keep writing.

[jaygeetee]

Originally Posted by shrjun

That was an interesting and unexpected end to your travelogue.Love the mini write-up

I'm also Singapore based and have been to Langkawi but spent my week there rolling on the beach at The Andaman which was also very worthwhile.

Thanks! I have had a few like those but thats when it's just my family. when i go with my parents i usually take them around, and in this case I had to, since i had a chance to drive. Like i said in the write-up, I MISS DRIVING

Originally Posted by SJM1214

I study travelogues before planning my trips. I read almost all the travelogues on the Himalayas at Team-BHP. I tried to write my own travelogue on Ladakh trip. It got published(& got featured on the homepage as well as FB page) on Team-BHP. It was an overwhelming feeling just like you "I too wrote a travelogue"

By the way, Thank you very much for this amazing write-up and excellent photographs. Keep travelling and Keep writing.

Thanks for the kind words.
Usually for me, the travelogues help during a slow day at work. And like you, it helps to give a glimpse of the places that I want to visit.
Apart from driving home the point that I should travel more.

[silverado]

Wow, great pics.This rekindled memories of trip i did from Singapore when my parents visited us.We went to Penang by an overnight bus and took a Ferry to langkawi from there.

I remember driving a Proton Saga automatic, and did almost 153 kms in 2 days, which is a lot for langkawi. And yes, that was the main highlight for me , having been starved of driving due to stay in Singapore.

Apart from that, the ropeway ride still remains fresh in my memory.
Thanks for a lovely travelogue.

[ARAY]

Originally Posted by jaygeetee

Like i said in the write-up, I MISS DRIVING

Crisp thread with lots of detailed narration. The thrill of being suspended mid air on such a beautiful valley beneath is breathtaking. Keep travelling and sharing your experiences with us. Would love to see many more travelogues coming from you.

[Ananthc]

Very nice travelogue. Had been to Langkwi a year back and still it is fresh in mind. It's one of the most peaceful place and a good place to keep driving around without any traffic. Only concern is for pure vegetarian folks as there is no vegetarian hotel and you need to manage with the multi cuisine restaurants there. I will definitely go back to Langkawi if time permits.