Langkawi and Koh Lipe

This year started off pretty well, because I got to travel before anything else. I went, for a week, to Langkawi then over to Koh Lipe in Thailand. I was so awestruck by the sparkling blue sea in Langkawi and even more so in Koh Lipe. The waters were magnificent, and it felt magical to be there too.

I travelled with my mum, uncle and two of his friends. His friends were two of the dopest women I have ever met. They are hilarious, and so young at heart. We ended up spending lots of time chasing birds and waterfalls due to their passion for such interests. I’m glad I got to travel with them, it was an honour.   

Langkawi felt like a hidden treasure waiting for me to discover. It sat there below us in the plane, all in its glory and its archipelago of islands sang out to my heart. We touched down, rented a car and off on a country road we went to what would be my first cable car ride ever. The cable car itself, or SkyCab as they call it, wasn’t much of a thrill, but the view was breathtaking.

Far into the horizon you can see little islands sprouting like mushrooms and boats languidly sailing away, and beneath all of them was the shining blue sea. Then the waters grew into hills of green and just like that nature has surprised me once again. We also took a stroll across the Sky Bridge and again it wasn’t any bit thrilling but the view again, the view was spot on.

I really love the roads here, they’re lined with village houses and paddy fields, and the song ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’ immediately came to mind. Here, the duty free shops are dope. We bought alcohol and chocolates like there was no tomorrow. They sell a lot of Thai food here, but we didn’t get any. To be honest, most of the meals here we just ate instant noodles (It just happened to be that way).

Koh Lipe felt like a small piece of heaven on earth. It was as if the edges of heaven crumbled a little and fell to earth, and Koh Lipe it was formed. I'd come to realise, after a stay of four days, that 'koh' means island, so Koh Lipe means Lipe Island. The place has limited selection of vehicles, most are motorcycles and the taxis are carriages attached to the motorcycles. Walking to get around was a common thing, and walking with minimal clothing on was even more common. Girls wore bikinis everywhere, on the beach, in shops, everywhere and guys, the only shirt they wore was skin (and maybe a little bit of chest hair ahem). My mum, who complains when I wear shorts out at night, even agreed to buy me a bikini and had no problem when I wore it to snorkeling. (Wearing a bikini taught me a whole different level of lessons, but that will be for another day.)

I really enjoyed leisurely walking down the streets with beer in hand (it was cider actually), and dining by the beach with couple bottles of Chang beer (Chang beer is delicious!) watching the westerners (ang mohs as we would say) sun-bathed under the hot glaring sun. I felt so at peace, and when I dug around my mind to find those little worries I constantly think about, I found none. There could not be possibly anything to worry about at that moment, and it felt so nice. After all the stress of college and life, it honestly felt so serene in my mind. 

We signed up for their snorkeling package and off we went on a boat to underwater paradise. It was so much fun jumping off the boat (trust me that part was fun), and watching the marine life under your nose (literally) was beautiful. For a second I wished I lived under the sea. We even went to see the bioluminescent plankton and it wasn't as beautiful as I'd expected but it was still awesome anyway.

One thing I had a problem with was their food. I don't like spicy food, and when you go to Thailand you kinda have no choice. I ended up having lots of barbeque, and that was great UNTIL I GOT FOOD POISONING. You know what's the funny thing? When I googled food poisoning after vomiting for the second time, the first thing google gave me was 'food poisoning in THAILAND'. Well that explains alot! It's apparently a common thing in Thailand. My mum, me and my uncle, all got food poisoning because we ate the barbecue pork sticks and grilled chicken. We wasted one whole day sleeping and feeding the toilet with vomit and diarrhea when we actually planned to shop and do some thai massage because it was our last day there! The end was a bummer, but all in all it was a wonderful trip.

side note (as if the post wasn't long enough): The photos aren't of good quality because I didn't have a camera with me and I took all of them with my phone. (then again why am I explaining this)

Hope ya'll have a great year!