The World Effect - Around the world travel blog

Pulau Langkawi, Malaysia

Taking a speedboat from one island to another has to be one of the coolest ways to get to a new country.  We hopped on a speedboat taxi in Ko Lipe, Thailand and about a hour later we were docked at a little immigration office in Pulau Langkawi, Malaysia getting our passports stamped.  It was really that easy.  We know we're posting many photos of islands and they're probably starting to all look the same, so we're mixing it up with this batch by adding a diffusion filter and a dash of tinting.

Langkawi is the last stop of our island hopping adventure in the Andaman Sea.  This island is actually very large compared to the other islands we've visited, about 25 kilometers across both length and width.  This larger mass gives the island's interior a much more lush and tropical feel.  We had all intentions of exploring the island via scooter, but we hit the island when everything was closed for the Chinese New Year holiday.  So we did what we've become accustomed to lately, living in island time.  We actually caught up on quite a bit of work since, most places have wi-fi, something that was tough to find and expensive in the small islands.

We stayed on Pantai Cenang, the most popular beach and also with the most accommodation.  Langkawi has many pristine beaches which are only accessible if you're a guest at super lux resorts... not in our price range, but we've heard they're amazing!   We were a little concerned staying in the most popular area, but it was really relaxed.  There were plenty of great little restaurants and the place we stayed at was very simple, but on the beach.  Like I said, we didn't get a chance to explore much, so we can't really speak for some all areas of Langkawi.  Our take on Pantai Cenang was it was a nice beach, but didn't have the magic of Ko Lipe and Ko Ngai.  The water wasn't crystal clear like it was an hour north nor was the sand powdery soft.  Of course we're not complaining, staying on a beach in Malaysia is never a bad thing!  One thing the Lonely Planet did mention were the jelly fish in the water.  Wow, they weren't lying!  As I jumped in the water I immediately started feeling golf ball sized objects bouncing off of me followed by tiny, almost undetectable stings.  It takes a mind-over-matter approach if you really want to swim.  There were many "Jedi Knights" in the water, we never quite acclimated to swimming through jellyfish.


The beach was a nice place to relax and the diversity in the people was also very interesting.  The typical beach activities are here, beach soccer, volleyball and para-sailing.  Jellyfish and all, we had a good time in Langkawi.

Ko Lipe, Thailand: Something for everyone

Three days of isolation on a beach is fantastic, but there's a limit to our attention span. We decided to move on to another island, increasing the "things going on scale" a bit. We chose an island near the Malaysian border called Ko Lipe.

This island certainly had more going on, but it's hard to classify this island in any certain category. We've been places where upscale resorts dominate, we've been places where it's all young backpackers, and we've also been places where there's almost no one around. Ko Lipe is all of those things and none of those things at the same time.

There's a little bit for everyone on the little island of Ko Lipe. The first full day, Meggan and I literally walked around the whole island including up and over the center. This only took a couple hours at a pretty leisurely place. What we found most interesting is the diversity of such a small island. We quickly found the crap hole we were staying at is not the norm on Ko Lipe. There are dozens and dozens of places to stay, ranging from high end to a shacks. Our place was just a few clicks above the former, but oh well, we were staying on an insanely beautiful island for the cost of a few coffees back home. We found three places that we would definitely like to stay at if we come back to Ko Lipe.

The Mountain resort is a grouping of bungalows sitting high up overlooking the best stretch of beach on the island. The Castaway is another set of bungalows, but what makes them unique is they have two stories featuring a sleeping loft above and plenty of room to chill in hammocks below. This place has a great bohemian vibe to it. The last place, if you want to go higher end is the Idyllic Concept Resort, located on the stretch of beach with the best snorkeling. This place is super contemporary with hip mid-century mod bungalows and a cool infinity pool with a bar. 
 

The island itself is absolutely gorgeous. The location couldn't be better being on the edge of a national park, for amazing, unspoiled diving a snorkeling. Meggan and I found some incredible snorkeling just off one of the beaches. We saw parrot fish, sea snakes, barracuda, clown fish, all kinds of coral and much more. We also spent ample time relaxing on the beach. Our favorite beaches were in front of the hotels we mentioned above. Our hands down favorite was the beach below the Mountain resort. We thought that this photo would be fun to edit with a "miniaturizing" tilt-shift effect.
No matter who you are, you'll find friends here. There are backpackers, families on vacation, yuppies wearing yachting clothes and a situation which appeared to be some sort of free-love commune, like the one from the movie The Beach. I don't know what else to call it, it was a large group of near naked adults, many with dreadlocks and about a dozen totally naked babies running around not belong to anyone in particular. 

There's a little main drag through the center of the island teetering on the tacky breaking point, but for now it's hanging on to some character. There are many food stands, thatched buildings made into restaurants and bars, a tribal tattoo place and a few general stores. There were signs up proposing master plans of the island and a debate on the level of development that should occur. It's a good thing that this conversation is going on, development of Ko Lipe could easily lead it down two paths: its current island get-away feel with a few more amenities OR a super tacky over-the-top holiday stopover encouraging people to find the next island to over develop. Let's hope they do the right thing.

Our final take on Ko Lipe is that you have to see this place! If your hopping through the islands of Thailand, you should put this one on your list.

The Mesmerizing Waters of Ko Ngai, Thailand

Probably the world's best problem to have: there's just too many islands to choose from.  We found ourselves saying this while we were charting out our island tour.  We ended up choosing a small quiet island called Ko Ngai (pronounced Ko Hai).  We were looking for the antithesis of Ao Nang and found it!  There were no souvenirs to be had, no soliciting tailors and only one place to eat... perfect.  Ko Ngai is part of the Trang province, if your interested, click here to find it on a map.  The Satellite view is pretty cool, you can see even see how pretty the water is from space!
This is a little island with a dense jungle interior, surrounded by soft white beaches and the clearest most beautiful water we've seen on our world tour.  Ko Ngai has no population on the island, no roads and just a handful of resorts with the people that run them, making this a true get away.  There's some world class snorkeling and diving here, as well as a great place to paddle a sea kayak.  Our favorite thing to do here was read our books on the beach and watch the afternoon thunder clouds roll in over the water.  We really cannot describe how beautiful the water is, it's mesmerizing -which is why we spent 3 days looking at it.   We stayed in a great little bungalow at the Thapwarin resort for a very reasonable rate.  The bungalows were super clean and comfortable.  They also had a couple of fans to keep it well ventilated, no need for a AC.

When staying here, be prepared to be a captive audience, there's no opportunity to look for other restaurants unless you hire a boat to take you to other resorts on the island.  We didn't mind, the food was good and it felt good not having an option to move anywhere.  In fact, I don't think we ever got much further than a couple hundred feet from our bungalow for three days.  Writing this post makes me want to be there again, island time at its finest.