Archive for March, 2011
Nothing to Write Home About
By Thomas on March 29, 2011 | No Comments »
We normally like to showcase the most interesting, the most mind-boggling, or the most exciting facts and places on our blog. Rarely do we talk about areas which have no appeal to travelers what-so-ever. Places which might be considered boring. Fact is, I often fall in love with mid-size towns, functional cities, and transportation hubs with zero tourist attractions. Why? Because there is » Continue reading this post »
How Lazy are You?
By Tony on March 27, 2011 | 5 Comments »
I mean seriously, people, how lazy can you be? An organized package transfer to cross the border from Langkawi, Malaysia to Satun, Thailand for “the bargain price” of $19 per person? Really? For the two of us, that would have been $38 for a tiny hop, skip and a jump.
On our own, we took a taxi from our hotel directly to the ferry ($8), bought a ferry ticket ($5 per person), and took the shuttle into Satun ($1 per person). Total for two people: $20. That’s a whopping $18 dollar savings for the two of us. Even a person traveling on their own would have saved $5. And the whole process couldn’t have been easier and more straight-forward. Why is everyone buying these package deals? Do they not know how to take a taxi? Is buying a ferry ticket that difficult? Doesn’t anyone have a guidebook? Or common sense?
I think it’s time to reactivate those travel brains.
What Would Grandma Mary Do?
By Tony on March 25, 2011 | 3 Comments »
Click on the panorama above to enlarge
At times, Langkawi seems like one money making scheme after another. Although the island is 478 square kilometers and it’s filled to the brim with tourists, public transportation is conspicuously absent. Instead, visitors can use the over-priced taxis governed by one hell of a well-organized taxi mafia.
Pantai Cenang too overdeveloped? Want to get out and explore the island and you don’t feel like shelling out a ton of dough on taxis? Just join an expensive, cookie-cutter island hopping tour. Or how about a $60 snorkeling tour? (Are you people serious? Is this Monte Carlo?)
No, in the spirit of independent travel (and thriftiness) Thomas and I, armed with a map, decided to rent a motorbike and drive around the island on our own. First stop, the bay at the base of that stunning karst ridge that I showed in my last posting.
We wound our away along the well-paved streets past gas stations, hotels, a couple of attractive rice fields, the airport, a police academy, a mall, and some apartment buildings until we came to Pantai Kok, which seemed refreshingly green and impressively undeveloped. We parked our bike and wandered down to the beach for a swim.
Being the grandchild of the renowned world traveler and celebrated adventuress, Grandma Mary, I always have to see what lies around the next bend. I strolled along the beach past some bungalows to a series of boulders extending out into the ocean. Working my way up onto the the smooth boulders, I continued to work my way around the bend. (I should mention here that climbing boulders to get to an unknown destination is also a trait I share with my grandma, who injured herself climbing a waterfall in her sixties.)
And there it was. Certainly the most » Continue reading this post »
Ouch!
By Thomas on March 23, 2011 | No Comments »
Speaking of setting foot in the world’s most beautiful locations, you really need to watch where you step here. 
Why I Don’t Love Langkawi
By Tony on March 20, 2011 | 10 Comments »
For 98% of humanity, Langkawi would represent paradise on earth. What’s not to love: tropical beaches, soaring karst mountains, emerald waters? What’s the problem?
Langkawi is beautiful, there’s no doubt about it. I can enjoy a nice drink in a relaxed beach-side bar as much as anyone. But when beaches are backed with nothing BUT bars and resorts and duty-free shopping centers and aquariums and over-priced restaurants and tacky souvenir stalls – I think you get the picture – my vision of paradise starts to fade.
The problem is that I » Continue reading this post »
