Lazing In Langkawi

Hey folks,

So it's now been almost a week in Malaysia and it has been quite the mixed bag so far. I started things off with a minivan ride down from Krabi last Wednesday to Langkawi, an island on the North-Western tip of Malaysia that is known for some of its white-sand beaches, tourist hotels, and duty-free shopping. On the way, I met and became travel buddies with two girls from Manitoba who were sharing the minivan with me. Because of the change of plans with scuba diving in Thailand, I was heading to Malaysia a couple of days early and didn't have a place booked for the first two nights in the country. Neither did the girls, so we decided to check out what Lonely Planet had to say and found a backpacker's place near the main beach and main road on the island. After a somewhat lackluster meal of fried noodles (which we got because they were cheaper than most of the $5 meals in the area), we hit up a bar where I introduced them to the wonderful world of sheesha with one of the hookahs they had there. Despite all the travel, it was feeling like a pretty good day and it was nice to have some companions to talk to. Unfortunately, when we returned to the hostel, things took a turn for the worse...

That night, I tossed and turned due to the fact that I felt like I was getting bitten all over. In the morning, after only a couple of hours of rest, I looked myself over in the daylight and realized I had been bitten at least fifty times, twenty-five bites which were concentrated on one spot on my right elbow. This worried me right off the bat because it looked reminiscent of the bites I had two summers ago from bed bugs. This hostel had been one where I had forgotten to check the mattress and by the time I was coming to these realizations, I wasn't at the hostel but on a tour, island-hopping with the two girls. To make things worse, not only was I preoccupied by thoughts of impending costs for laundry and the hassle it would cause me, the island tour itself was the worst tour I have been on so far in my travels. Our boat driver didn't speak a word of English and there was no actual explanation of what places we were stopping at. Our first stop was at a lake called The Lake Of The Pregnant Maiden. I assumed at the time that there was a story behind the name but there was no one to tell the story to us and the lake itself was a little too warm and not too impressive-looking. I would have been happy to stop there for maybe 20 minutes but we were stuck there for an hour before our boat returned to pick us up. Next, we had a stop at an island with a nice white sand beach. Unfortunately, the weather turned when we were there and it was overcast and a little on the chillier side. On top of that, I have seen much nicer beaches already in Thailand and so this one paled in comparison. Finally, we were off to do the activity that had been the draw for me for the tour, eagle feeding! But once again, my expectations were too high as we didn't even stop but simply drove by an area with lots of eagles in the sky and there was no feeding involved. There was supposed to be a fourth stop but it never happened. All in all, despite the cheapness of the tour, it wasn't worth the money I spent on it. When I got back to the hostel, I checked the mattress for bed bugs and was relieved to see they didn't exist there. The woman at the front desk assured me that the bites on my elbow looked like ant bites and apologized, telling me that the previous guest in my dorm bed had brought food up there and she had tried to rid the area of ants but had obviously not been completely successful. My bad day started to look better with this good news and we went to the night market in the area where I found some delicious food for dirt cheap, a welcome treat after a disappointing day. The girls were also nice enough to share a double bed room with me that night so I didn't have to brave the dorms again. The next day, I went to the local beach with the girls and then said my goodbyes before heading down the road about 5km to my next hostel.

The next place I stayed felt much different, and although it was more expensive, the extra cost was worth it. The surroundings were much quieter and they had a nice library where I found a book that I had wanted to read for awhile. I've spent the last few days in lazy mode, down at the beach the first day (but decided against it after that because of lots of jellyfish) and then by the pool the following days, spending nights in the common area watching movies and going to bed early. The solitude has been nice, although the past few days have been the most homesick of my seven months away from home, maybe due to lack of activity or just the realization of how long I actually have been away from Vancouver. Nevertheless, the time alone has given me the opportunity to go on a run to the tip of the island (where I was followed for several hundred metres by a group of monkeys), to finish an entire book (which I haven't done since my first week in Israel), to explore the area on my own at my own pace, and to do lots of thinking about the future. There were a few spots I could have checked out on Langkawi for tourists, namely Seven Wells Waterfalls and the Langkawi Cable Car. But for one, the cost of a taxi there and back was grossly inflated and a motorbike rental was a possibility but I didn't feel comfortable riding by myself with no one there if something happened to me. Second of all, I have seen plenty of waterfalls in the past few months and they are starting to lose their allure, and the cable car although cool is expensive and quite feasibly a tourist trap. Last night, my hostel put on a delicious free dinner consisting of biryani rice, chicken skewers and green beans and it was great not only for the quality of the food, but for a chance to meet lots of backpackers because everyone was there for it. I sat around with several people my age till late at night discussing experiences traveling so far and getting some tips for my future months ahead...

Today, I made the ferry trip over to Penang, another island south of Langkawi known for its central city of Georgetown where I am now staying. The plan for the next few days is to exhaust my feet by exploring the city by foot. I already found a great little food mall where I tried frog legs for the first time tonight. And yes, they do taste like chicken...

That's all for now. Don't have too much concretely booked for the rest of my travels now, which is both a relief and a bit daunting as well. Lots of opportunities present themselves and I want to make sure I choose wisely. Then again, life's about not being afraid to make a mistake or two, right?

Hope you're all doing well and I leave you with a list of some cultural differences I have noticed so far in Malaysia...

Ciao for now,

Max

Cultural Differences In Malaysia:

1. Corn: Right off the ferry entering Malaysia, I was greeted by the smell of corn. It seems the residents here have a fascination with the vegetable and use it for pretty much everything. So far I have seen several different types of corn on the cob, corn used in pastries and desserts, corn tea, corn juice, and corn ice cream. Not sure if this was just a Langkawi thing or exists all over Malaysia but time will tell...
2. Movies: Censoring in movies on television here is rampant and can be quite amusing actually. Not only is any word that might be considered offensive blocked out, cigarettes and alcohol are blurred out and scenes that feature kissing or anything related to sex are completely removed, even if the scene contains critical dialogue to the movie...
3. Women's Clothing: While Thailand was the land of the ladyboys, Malaysia is the land of the burqa. Religion is all of a sudden quite apparent all around me and I am reminded on a constant basis by all the women who are covered up in any situation. For example, several women took their kids into a kiddie pool at the lake I stopped at on my island-hopping tour, but didn't show any skin. They simply went in in all their clothing, whether it was several layers, jeans, or a burqa...
4. Bugs: I thought I had started to get used to the bug situation in Thailand and although I got the occasional bite, it didn't bother me too much. But in Malaysia, the bugs have a fervor I can't quite describe and I've suddenly got more bites than I would ever care to have on my ankles, knees, hands, wrists, elbows, and lower back. Not only that, it's no longer just mosquitoes but ants and bed bugs I have to be cautious of... 
5. Language: Although it's hard to notice when it's being spoken, Malay is quite similar to English when written out, at least for some words. I have noticed so many signs that have English words, but spelled in peculiar ways, mainly due to Malay not having the letter "c". Some examples are: klinik (clinic), ais krim (ice cream), and karbohaidreit (carbohydrate)...