Jess Jets Off...Again!: Goodbye Thailand..Hello Malaysia

OK so I wrote this whole blog out..got right to the end and then it deleted..! Soooo here we go again....

After a sad goodbye to Ben in Bangkok me and Amy set off on an overnight bus journey to Langkawi which took 13 hours! the bus was actually the nicest one we've had since we've been away! we got blankets, had plenty of leg room, they played a film at the start and we even got a little snack box-oooh! when we got to Hat Yai we then had to find a minibus going to Sutan port which was 2 hours away..we almost got charged triple the amount, until we got a price from somewhere else and realised we could have been ripped off!
The journey took almost 24hours altogether which was a mission but as we approached all the tiny islands surrounding Langkawi we realised it was worth the journey!

Our first 2 nights we stayed in Kudah, the city which was a very weird, quiet ghost town with about 5 restaurants, weird chinese shops and westerner on the road drinking from the can as there were no bars to sit in!! me and aim reluctantly sat at a restaurant for food as we didnt have alot of options in the area and the noodles that come up were gross, they were covered in slop! lol!
Our hotel was very nice on the other hand, very posh compared the last few places we have stayed! clean bed sheets, air con, hot shower, tv AND a kettle oooh!! lol.

Our first morning we woke up it was pretty cloudy outside so we decided to go to the cable cars which was heard were a good thing to do here. There was no bartering with the taxi drivers here, everyone has a set price and thats it!! not like thailand anymore :(
At the cable cars you had to walk through a little village of shops first which was quaint and had things like rabbit feeding, snake holding and donkey riding as you passed through. Me and Amy went on a 6D virtual rollercoaster ride which was hilarious, screaming out when it felt like spiders and scorpions were running past your legs! haha!

feeding the rabbits

little village

6d movie

ahhhh!

the size of this thing! eww!

the cable cars took you up really high into the mountains, giving you the most amazing views, but there wasn't anything else to do up there! was still cool to do.
That afternoon we asked the taxi driver to take us to the best beach here, which he said was 'Cenang' where all the youngsters go. The afternoon was pretty cloudy but we had a little read on the beach and booked ourselves into a new place for the following day.

cable cars! so high up!

in the cable car

the view from the top!

coming back down

we found mc donalds :)

lunch on the beach

We made the most of our nice hotel room for the night watching a film and enjoying the comfy beds, then got up the next morning and moved up to 'Cenang Beach'. Not such a nice room, we were in a motel this time with a lumpy bed, cold shower (to begin with), noisy neighbours and a tv with one fuzzy channel haha! BUT we were in a much better location :)
We went down to the beach enjoying our first sunny day here and my god it was hot! never felt heat like it before! but google said it was only 33degrees but apparently felt like 42degrees! roasting!

this is the life

Langkawi

Cenang Beach

loving this weather!

we made friends with the watersports guys there - Nick and Dollar, who went and bought some local snacks and made us try them! they were the texture of playdough and tasted a bit ricey, a bit playdoughy haha!! not for us but good to try these things :)

our little spot on the beach

the weird playdough food

aim and Dollar

sharing there snacks with us

blackcurrant in a bag

That night we went out to a bar called Babylon which we heard was the place to start round here. It was a very chilled atmosphere - people sat on mats on the beach, smoking sheesha and a few people dancing to the deep house music. We sat down and soon got chatting to a couple of German guys and some English guys! Me, Amy, Nicko and Luke stayed on and decided to go onto another bar after called Sunbar! Luke was hilarious as he was really drunk off of 2 beers!!lightweight! We had a giggle in Sunbar, teaching Luke to dance as he didnt have a clue, drinking shots and vodka and dancing away!!
We ended up home around 4am feeling happy merry and had had a good night!

me and luke from up north

aim and nicko from germany

drunken silliness

the four of us

laughing allll night!

MWAH!

more drink!

The next day we got up and Nick (the watersports guy) was going out on his jetski and told me to come with him! I straight away said 'nooooo im too scared' but after him telling me jst to get on I thought sod it and told him drive slowly for me! he was actually really good and took it easy, and we went out in the middle of the sea to pick up some crabs (still alive) from the fisherman! he then got me to drive it around a small island and back to shore which I was nervous about doing but after a while loved it!! had so much fun!! weeeheeeeee!!
That afternoon we got to eat the crab that I had gone to collect with Nick and with it being my first time eating crab, I guess you couldn't get much fresher! weren't bad actually! Not amazing, not gross!

jetski!

trying the crab we picked up earlier!

being taught how to take the shell off

In the afternoon we went on an Island Hopping trip which was amazing! There were 7 of us on the boat, where we met 3 Malaysian guys our age - Arain, Loy and Faiz. The first island we stopped at there were loads of monkeys!! we had to pass them as we got off the pier which I was excited about, love monkeys! I gave one of them my Ribena and watched him rip it open and devour the lot! Another monkey I made come up to my water bottle and then wrestled with it for a bit before giving it to him (they are strong little things!)
We then walked through the forest, climbing stairs stairs stairs and passing monkeys in their natural habitat swinging through the trees! We then got a beautiful huge lake! it is said that if you drink the water here you will be fertile and become pregnant!! ahh! me and aims had a swim and took in the amazing views around us! pretty cool. After an hour here, we had to head back to our boat where it took us past Eagle Island which literally had a dozen eagles in the sky, coming down for feeding! was cool to see as much as I dont like the birds!

on the boat trip

aims

first island stop

picture perfect

aims and the malaysian guys

giving the monkey water :)

monkeys!!!!

a swim in the lake

at the lake

so nice and fresh!

lovely view

a walk through the forest

an eagle

floating

boat ride

And then we stopped at the last island which was paradise! White powdery sand, crystal clear blue water, palm trees, and sun-Bliss!! we got an hour to sunbathe and play in the water here, then headed back after a 4 hour trip, only costing £7.50! bargain! :)

gorgeous beach

a shot from the sea

palm trees!

in paradise

whey!!

We went out that night with the Malaysian guys from the boat, meeting them in Babylon bar. There was live reggae music this time, so it was a bit more chilled out from before but we had a good time finding out about the guys Muslim religion. Asking a million questions like why cant you drink alcohol (coz it makes you false), why do women have to cover up and men dont (coz its the law), and do you have to have an arranged marraige (depends on the family, but usually get a say in it)..very interesting! we then went onto Sunbar which was playing extra cheesy music this night and the men became pests!! when a local guy started to touch my face and hair I'd had enough!! time to leave! so we went for a sneaky KFC with the boys, heading home for about 4am again.

first coronas :) yum!

out with the malaysians

a star!

weirdos

in Sunbar with Arain, Loy and Faiz

The next day we had some fun on the beach. Nick and Aki (his friend) bought some beers over to us and we started having a sand turtle making competition, followed by a 'lets bury jess in the sand' game lol! was funny! a few beers later we were feeling merry and wanting more so stocked up in the shop and carried on drinking and chilling in the nice warm sea, until it turned dark! The guys picked us up on their mopeds after we showered and took us to a local food market! there were all types of weird and wonderful food there which we had never tried before so got a small selection for about £1.50 each and took it back to the beach. We ate some nice flatbread stuff which tasted like veg samosas, chicken satays which had a yummy sweet glaze on, a few different sausages on a stick and a local curry which we had to eat with our hands, Malay style!! we weren't very good at this as we were worried about the messy fingers but really enjoyed the food!! yum!

Nick getting creative

a grasshopper out of banana leaf

another day in the sun

i got buried!!

a fish!

sandy me!!

my attempt at a sand turtle

beer anyone???

After an early night we had arranged for the guys to take us on a private snorkelling trip the next day as we couldn't afford the proper tours you go on, and we wanted to be able to stop and snorkel when we wanted, rather than the tour telling us when to stop. So the guys took a day off work, picked us up at 10am, took us to get drink and food for the journey and drove us round to there grandads boat.
2 of there friends joined us at the last minute aswell, and so we set off...and then conked out!! haha! we were stranded in the middle of the sea, so had to get a jet ski to come pick us up and rope us back to shore! after a few attempts the engine was finally fixed, and after a delayed start, we headed off to the islands but it was unfortunately a cloudy day so not very good for snorkelling.
The guys took us to monkey island which was beautiful and we were the only ones on it all day!! we tried to snorkel but it was too merky and there was coral everywhere, even in the shallow waters, which I scraped my foot on and cut!! ouch!!
Another russian girl joined us later and we made a sandman as me and amy were missing the snow back home. Everyone got involved and made the sandman into a Malaysian, giving it a hat, glasses, a beer and a fag lol! ..we buried Nick in the sand which was funny, drunk some beers, listened to music and chilled. Me and Amy took a stroll up the beach when we see some monkeys, and after a few snaps, one of the monkeys started to run towards us (aggressive things) but we screamed and shouted until we scared it away!! ha that will teach him!
By 6,o clock we headed back feeling pretty knackered and crashed out in our room for the night!

the driver

one of the boats

trying to get the boat started after it cut out!

windswept!

our sandman!! :)

on monkey island

making cheese and crisp sandwiches :)

aims and aki

nicks turn to get buried

monkeys strolling about

gross jellyfish!

The following day Nick and Aki picked us up on their bikes to give us a tour of the island for the day :) so cool becoming friends with the locals, get to see so much more! they took us to the seven wells waterfalls which took 647 steps to get to...to find the waterfall was dry as it hadn't rained here in a while! lol! still nice to see and had some great views, I just wasn't sure about the spider and scorpion sign I had seen at the bottom, being careful not to find any!!
We went for a Malay lunch where the messed up my order (giving me a fish dish) and took a million years to bring back the correct food! but it was yummy!! and then we literally went around on their mopeds around the whole island! I had a little drive on the bike, only round a car park to try it out and tick another thing off my 'things to do in life' list!! we stopped at some beaches and definately now feel like we have done Langkawi!! was a really good day, but a long one again which completely knackered us all out!

the bikes

aims and her partner in crime

climbing the 600 steps!

the dried out Seven Wells Waterfall

at least the view was good

nick striking a pose

komodo dragon

my tree!

lunch

up the tree

bottom of waterfall

enjoying the ride

rolling banana leaf fags

views from the bike

aki and aim

high five

shark surfing!

it was there wedding!

goggle eyes!!

thats thailand behind us

that way!!

me having a go on the bike :)

The next day was Akis birthday so we made him a paper birthday card and took a cake down to the beach for him, playing Stevie Wonders 'Happy Birthday'..he said he nearly cried as his never celebrated his birthday before!!shock horror! he said his family is too poor so they have never had presents and he only got one other card from his 7 year old cousin! how sad!
It chucked it down that afternoon!! me and amy ran out in it, getting drenched in seconds, it was fun..until we got cold and soggy and looked like drowned rats! we headed back to our room for a few hours to get warm and then got ready to celebrate Aki's 28th birthday for the first time ever!!
We had some grub at a local Malay place again, then got some vodka and took it down to the beach, sitting close to Babylon so we could hear there music!! We played drinking games and got Aki very drunk very quickly! everyone told us he doesn't normally drink alot but we said its his birthday and he must drink ;) he had loads of fun anyway!! we took him to Sunbar for a drink, then onto One Love reggae club which was playing decent music. Me and Amy wanted to stay in there but the guys insisted Aki was too drunk and would upset too many people so we went to Eagle Club, leaving Aki in the backseat of the car passed out! oops!! We listened to the live music in there, and then headed to a Malaysian fast food place where we had there cheese naan for the first time which was delicious!! after a long drunken night we got in at 5 and had a nice lay in the next day!!

happy birthday to yooou!

our little dinks

akis first birthday cake

running out in the rain!

drowned rats

taking shelter from the rain

night out drinks on the beach

doing the drunk aki 'one eye'

drinking games on the beach

think im drunk!

we got him battered :)

essex gals out on the razz

bottered man

and look who got lumbered lol

peek a boo

It has now been raining here for a few days, so yesterday and today we have been inside, watching films, pigging out and browsing the shops! we keep meaning to move on from Langkawi but everywhere has bad weather at the moment so we don't know where to head next...only a week or so until we hit Singapore and then we will be flying to Australia next Friday!!