What started as part of my travel goals for 2021 and then popped up in a random conversation with my friend very quickly became an unforgettable experience and I’m absolutely glad it did.

A few weeks ago, four of my friends and I took a four day trip to Langkawi Island, Malaysia. It was one of those things where you simply had to have been there to fully understand how much fun we had. However, I will do my best to bring you along with me in this post. Make sure to click on the pictures so that you can see the full images!

Travel Day

We went to the airport quite early and so we had so much time to kill. We boarded from Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA 2) which was pretty empty except for a few late night travelers. This could be a result of the pandemic.

Our flight departed around 9pm. It took us just under an hour to arrive on the island. We didn’t do anything that night because we were extremely exhausted.

Day 1: “Let’s give ‘em something to taco bout.”

My friends were either working online or learning online. I was the only one who didn’t really have anything to do apart from have a good time.

As a result, we didn’t do much on Monday morning because my friends were working/learning. However, in the afternoon, we decided to go out for lunch. Our initial plan was to go to a specific location but then my friend booked our cab to the opposite side of the island so the day didn’t go to plan at all.

We went to Pantai Cenang where we walked for a few minutes trying to decide where to eat. We finally found ourselves standing outside a restaurant called Putumayo.

Off the menu, I ordered the Spicy Mango Chicken, while my friends had Sweet and Sour Chicken and Black Pepper Chicken Chop. We all ordered different things so that we could taste from each other’s plates (a hack). The food tasted amazing! I absolutely loved the Mango Chicken. The sweetness of the mango and the spicy mango complemented each other in a way that I cannot explain. It was lovely.

We also stumbled upon the cutest ice cream shop I have ever seen. I am not a fan of ice cream but we simply had to go in! I tried the mango flavored ice cream. It tasted great! The overall aesthetic of the ice cream shop was so beautiful. I loved the pink.

When the sun went down, we visited the beach. As it was nighttime, there weren’t so many people in the water. There was also a really cool fire show being held right there. One had to pay for good seats but I think we had a very good view of the show, without paying.

After spending some time at the beach, we went to have dinner at a Mexican restaurant called El Toro. I was especially interested in the Tacos because the first time I had tacos (at another restaurant), they tasted horrible. I’m not usually so willing to give food a second chance but I surprisingly decided to this time.

The restaurant had a very lively environment with a two-person band entertaining the guests. We found another group of tourists at the restaurant and they were having a grand time. They were quite intoxicated and definitely contributed to the lively ambience of the restaurant. Their singing and dance moves kept us so entertained that I don’t remember if the food took long to arrive after placing the orders or not.

The tacos were really tasty despite the portions being small. I really didn’t expect them to be as small as they were. If you go to the restaurant on an empty stomach, you will need to order more than one portion of the tacos.

We had a nice time at the restaurant. One of my friends went up to sing a Malay song. As you would expect, the Malaysians were thoroughly impressed with the idea of a Kenyan girl singing a Malay song.

We went back home after having dinner and decided to watch Shang-Chi together. Everyone fell asleep halfway through the movie and I was the only one who watched it to the very end. It was a really good movie, as most Marvel movies are. I enjoyed it.

Day 2: Island Hopping

Our main activity for Tuesday was Island Hopping. We decided to pay for a private tour as opposed to a sharing tour.

We were picked up from our apartment at 10am and were driven to the starting point of the tour. We also carried swimsuits because we knew we would get into the water at one point or another.

The island hopping experience was definitely one to remember. The boat moved a lot faster than I expected but that only added to the thrill of it all.

Our first stop on the tour was Pulau Dayang Bunting. This translates to “Pregnant Maiden Island” as it resembles the silhouette of pregnant lady lying on her back from afar. Langkawi locals believe that after swimming in the freshwater lake on the island, barren women will become fertile.

We spent about an hour here but I didn’t get into the water because I had a procedure done the day before and one of the rules I was given was not to swim. I was the designated camera woman on this island.

Our second stop was Pulau Singa Besar. The name of this island translates to “Giant Lion Island”. Unfortunately, it has nothing to do with lions. However, what you will see on the Island are eagles. Watching them was a beautiful sight.

Our third and final stop on our Island hopping tour was Pulau Beras Basah. By the time we got to this island, I had given up on staying out of the water. I decided that I would deal with whatever consequences came with me swimming. The island had a very beautiful beach. All we did here was swim and play in the water. It was an extremely hot day so I really appreciated the feel of cool water against my skin. The overall Island hopping experience was great!

Once we were were done, we were driven back to our apartment where we rested for most of the afternoon. One of my friends had a test the same evening so we had to help her study for that.

We bought dinner from the same place we had lunch the previous day, Putumayo. This time, I ordered the Claypot Taiwan Chicken. It was extremely hot and spicy but it tasted great. The chicken was especially tender and tasty.

We played card games for the rest of the night. We slept quite late but our Wednesday activity was scheduled for 3:00pm so we assumed we would be fine.

Day 3: A glimpse of paradise.

I slept through the entire morning while my friends attended their classes and worked on whatever they had to.

On plan for Wednesday was to visit Paradise 101, a private island in Langkawi. We booked our activity a day before and we were absolutely looking forward to kayaking.

We drove to Paradise Jetty where we got on a ferry to the island. Once we got there, we opted to go straight for our main activity before doing anything else.

We quickly changed into our swimsuits and were led to our kayaks. It took a while for my friend and I to get into a proper rhythm with our paddles but we eventually got it. It was very relaxing. Additionally, the weather was perfect. It wasn’t too hot or sunny so we really had a good time.

Once that was done, we played a terrible but fun game of volleyball before going to the restaurant on the island. We ordered some very pretty drinks. I ordered the “Legend of Langkawi”. It tasted good but it was really nothing special. We also took some pictures and then headed back to the main island. It was generally a very pretty afternoon.

For dinner, we looked up places where we could have a very fancy dinner as it would be our last night there. We found some restaurants online, looked at the menus and then settled for one. We drove about 25 minutes to the restaurant. It was beautiful.

We were shown to our seats and given menus. The first thing I noticed was how thin the menu was. The menu I saw online had more pages than what was in my hands. We looked through the menu and one thing stood out: everything was vegan. There was no meat at all. So I got my phone to see if I looked at the correct website and I did.

We then asked the waitress about the difference and she told us that the menu was recently changed to be strictly vegan. Unfortunately, none of us, my friends and I, were in a vegetable mood so we left. We also made sure to inform the waitress that their website needed to be updated. I wasn’t happy about that but there was nothing I could do.

We drove another 25-30 minutes to a restaurant that had meat on their menu. We ate and made our way back to the apartment to pack our stuff.

Day 4: The Eagle Square.

Our flight out of Langkawi was scheduled for 10pm. We technically had a full day in Langkawi. However, we still needed to checkout by 12pm so we decided we would leave our bags at the reception and pick them up when going to the airport. We requested late checkout but we were told that would be impossible.

The first thing we did, upon leaving our bags, was find food. We found a restaurant, whose name I unfortunately cannot remember, and ordered food. We all ordered Nasi goreng ayam kunyit to eat and limau ice to drink. This is basically fried rice with chicken and vegetables and lemonade.

I have had Nasi goreng ayam kunyit countless times in Malaysia but that was by far the best I have ever had. I will for sure remember that meal for the rest of my life. It was amazing. I really couldn’t believe it.

After eating, we drove to one of the landmarks in Langkawi, the eagle square. We took pictures that loudly scream, “I am a tourist!” and, “I love Langkawi!” That was so much fun. We then went to a duty free mall nearby where I hoped to buy sweets for my family. Unfortunately, the shops there were almost completely out of sweets.

So we drove to another one which we saw on our first day and I managed to buy what I needed. Once that was I done, we went back to pick our bags and went to the airport.

Would I go back to Langkawi? Definitely. There is a lot we didn’t get to do on the island so I would love to go go back. It is such a beautiful place and dare I say very affordable for a tourist town.

I had so much fun in Langkawi and the whole experience is simply unforgettable. Like I said, this is one of those things where you just had to be there to understand.

I’ve gone on trips with friends a couple of times and well, while everything looks good in the end, there are always some hiccups along the way. If you would like me to share tips for traveling with friends or something like that, please let me know in the comments.

Would you visit Langkawi? What was your favourite part about this post? Leave a comment and let me know! Additionally, if you have any questions about the trip, costs etc, don’t hesitate to ask me.

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Wonani Xx