Hitchhiking in Langkawi

In Langkawi, I was told to standing on the side of road, facing traffic with thumb upward, and soliciting free rides from total strangers!

Dorm Room at Butterfly Guesthouse

So I booked a one-way ticket from MalindoAir, and the return ticket from AirAsia. After an email I received from MalindoAir, I finally realized that they upgrade my economy ticket into business class! How lucky I am! And as soon as I boarded, I sat on a more comfortable couch, with spacious legroom where the stewardess served me with a tiny sandwich and a very minimum of apple juice.

The journey to Langkawi from Kuala Lumpur is only one hour. When I touched down the island for the first time, my first impression is I don’t really like the weather! It’s too hot and humid, and the sun was just too mean! And there was no wind either. Sigh!

But, I actually don’t expect too much since it’s “only” a warming up before I go to Macau and Hongkong the week after. So, I walked to a taxi counter, and pay 30 RM for 15 minutes drive to my hostel. The driver was a local female with hijab and she made a shocking gesture once she realized the road to my hostel was ascending.

Me at my "Private Room"

Once I arrived at the Butterfly GuestHouse that I booked online via AirBnB, I realized that they were renovating the place! What? I am afraid it’s going to be less comfortable since there were some guys making some noises when they’re doing the job.

It is definitely not as I expected. But, I met the owner and submitted the AirBnB voucher. She is still young, less than 40 yo I guess, but I assume the children in the house are hers and the guy who stay until night is her husband.

The lady took me to my room, which is in level 2. The house is like a traditional “rumah panggung”, and I passed the dorm with some beds covered with unopened mosquito net—this was what I’ve seen on Agoda, and looks interesting. But my room is private one, except it doesn’t have a key. Moreover, I must pay a deposit 10 RM if I want to use the locker.

I like to stay in dorm because that’s my chance to connect to the world, literally. But the dorm is fully booked so I can only booked the so-called private room. Soon after that, it finally comes to my mind that there is NOTHING surrounding this hostel. Beaches are so far away, and the nearest beach was ugly. All the interesting places are not around, and the only way to reach them is to use a cab, rent a car or scooter or bicycle! No, thanks! I need to save money for my Macau trip!

On the first day I arrived, I go to that nearest beach without any expectation, and I had my early dinner in a Malay restaurant nearby. The food is quite cheap, but nothing special with them. You know, like my trip to Ipoh, cheap food can be really good!

Nasi Goreng Pattaya. I forgot the exact price, i think around 3-4 RM.

After that I went back to the hostel. In the night it was of course quieter, and as I look to the distance, the sky was getting dark. When the sun disappearing, mosquito came with their fellow insect that I can’t name. Somehow, it feels like a retreat.

The best part of the guesthouse. Witnessing the full moon as i open the window!

In the morning, the nature looked so amazing. I can see a lot of trees as I open the window, and I was like, OH MY GOD this is a really nice place to write. I came to Langkawi to write and read, so I write and read.

The place is nestled by a jungle.

But wait, I need to go downstairs for breakfast. I met entourage from UPM. They are exchange student from many countries and I spoke with a girl from China. My mandarin was non-existence, but I do ask her, “Ni duo da le?”, after I introduce myself, “wo shi yin ni ren”.

Her friends took some different course, some guys introduced himself and he said “I study virology” more than one time, because maybe some other guests asked the same question to him. The other guests seem like typical backpackers, friendly and can sleep anywhere. J

So I did my writing until late afternoon, and decide to find lunch. After that I walked! My destination is to find better beaches than yesterday so I just kept walking and realized that I have been walking for more than 1,5 hours under the majestic of extreme sunshine!

I followed the main road and I believe if I keep walking I could reach Cable Car and Waterfalls. But, I found two motorcycles parked by the road. My intuition said I can go down along the path. There were human path there, and I was sure that I can find some people at the other end. As I walked, there are scary sounds I heard, but I need to keep positive. However, I really shocked when I see lizard crossed the path in front of me!

When i decide to follow my intuition...

And here they are: three local guys are preparing themselves to fishing. I think, my sudden appearance made them surprised too, but I greeted them and after that I try to enjoy the scenery. I stay there around 15 minutes.

It's not a public beach

Subsequently, I visited a hotel and meet a very nice girl from a tour operator. RM 65 for island hopping? Hmm.. Let me think about it first.

After walk for more than 2 hours, and I decide to go back. It was crazy! I am very tired. LOL. So, I decided to hitchhike, try my luck, like I did in Ipoh, when a nice old man gave me a free ride to The Lost World of Tambun.

And… it happens again. A guy in motorcycle stopped and I took his offer to give me a ride me to go back to Kuala Teriang. What a wonderful world!

I went back to the hostel, and by the time I reached there, it’s already 19:11. I looked out of the window, and there she goes: full moon. It was Christmas’ Eve, some guests are going to a party. Two girls (one from Netherlands, the other one from Iceland), asked me to join them for RM 70 (dinner and drinks), but I am on budget, and I don’t drink either.

So I stay at my room, open the window as wide as possible. I want to fully enjoy when the night gradually come, and the full moon is getting more beautiful. It was very poetic and you know, what you can witness is incomparable no matter how hard you try to document it.

I prefer moon than mean sun.

The next day is Christmas, and I went to an islands hopping, after texting the girl from the tour operator the night before. There were 2 other guests, but I was not interested to make conversation with them.

Not the best island hopping, just an OK.

We went to the Island of Dayang Bunting, but the place is too touristy. Too many tourist and the lake is not as stunning as I expected, but that doesn’t mean it’s not beautiful. There are a lot of monkeys, and basically monkeys are probably everywhere there in Langkawi.

Pulau Dayang Bunting.

At the end of the island hopping, we visited Pulau Beras Basah. It was beautiful but nothing compare to Gili or Marine Park in Sabah. But I do a lot of swimming and stuff.

How many monkeys in this pic? 

Not bad!

My favourite pic from the island!

The next day, I felt I just want to rest at my room; I can’t be too tired, because I want to save my energy and money for my Macau Trip. Butterfly Guesthouse is a perfect place if you can find vehicle to go around. At the night the road to the hostel is a pitch black, you can count only to the moonshine that shines on your path. You will hear some howling in the night, reverberate from a near distance. The next day, I saw 2 dogs, and also monkeys, just when I climbed back home. This is a jungle.

I took my walk, and give up to make this holiday more memorable. I guess island hopping was enough for me. No Pantai Chenang, No Pantai Tengah, No Cable Car. Because I can’t afford a transportation!

But then I saw a face I recognize. She was the guest from the hostel. I forgot her name and where she came, but I actually made a conversation with her during breakfast. She said she just came back from beaches. I ask: how do you go there? She said: hitchhiking! Oh wow! She said she got a free ride easily otherwise she can just take a cab. There were even cars stopping by and the driver asked her, “Hello, where’re you going? Do you want to join us?”

Motivated by her story, I try to do another hitchhiking too. My destination is to the waterfalls, but after standing at the edge of the road with my thumb upward for more than 45 minutes, nobody seems care! So, I walked for quite some time and eventually decide to take a cab. LOL!  It was 15 RM.

 

Stairs to the waterfalls. 

I took the stairs to the Seven Wells Waterfalls. God, it was long stairs, so tiring! When I arrived, I smiled. The scenery was so exquisite. You can see the cable car from the distance, hanging by a rope that looks so thin. It epitomises life.

After change my clothes, I plunge myself into the water. There were some slides that really fun, and the water was so cold. I swam and chilled. I saw some people chilling by the huge rock.

I really like this place!

Awesome!

I continued my walk, and went to another waterfalls. Finally I realized this one is the real waterfall. Very beautiful, and I climbed to the top of the rocks and stay there for some time.

Can you spot Malaysian shuttler in this pic? (Clue: he won All England and he's not LCW)

I stayed there for around 45 minutes, because there are many water clusters that I can explore to.

After that, I decide to return home, and walk. (Again).  But, this time I was lucky. There was someone who offered me a ride. I sat on the back seat of her car with other passengers. The driver was a friendly local woman woman who taking her son, her friend, and her friend’s daughter to the cable car. I tried to make some conversation, and as I expected they were very friendly. People who do pick up hitchhikers like me tend to be very friendly.

It’s a great feeling to get a free ride when you're less expecting it.

In my last night in Langkawi, there are 2 new guests came. They are two ladies from Canada and Hungary. The hostel was quieter, since there were a lot of guests leaving. The new guests made a conversation with the owner’s son. They find it funny once they knew this kid’s name. It’s Aslan.