February 12th- fly out of Incheon at 11 am, arrive in Kuala Lapur at 4:50 pm. There's a few time changes in there, I think flying time is around 6 hours. I plan on sleeping for most of it! That evening, I will stay at the Red Palm hostel, which is located in Bukit Bintang, the center of the city. It should be a great location, and the reviews on hostelworld.com sound great. I've also read that I need to buy a taxi coupon from the arrival hall at Sentral Station because otherwise taxi's may rip you off.
13th- I'll leave the hostel early in the morning and go to Puduraya Bus Station, where I need to buy a "transnational express" bus ticket to Kuala Perlis. Kuala Perlis is so far north it almost touches Thailand. According to Mapquest, that will be about 5 1/2 hours away. From Kuala Perlis, I'll take a 1 hour ($4) ferry ride to the tropical island of Langkawi. I'm so excited to get there! That evening, I will be staying at Hotel Helang. I've emailed the hotel two times now to send me my confirmation, but haven't heard back. I was so worried about getting a hotel, with it being Chinese New Year (2010- year of the tiger!) that I'm sure I booked it... I hope. However, there are still rooms available if I did infact somehow miss that minor part of planning! I don't know how I could have forgotten, so fingers crossed. I wish I could stay in this hotel!
14th, 15th, 16th- There is lots to do on Langkawi, most revolving around the 4 best white-sand beaches. Snorkeling in the marine park, scuba diving, jet skiing, mangrove tours, eagle feeding, shark feeding, alligator and snake park, canopy tours, hiking, kayaking to nearby islands (!), spas (I think the Ishan spa sounds fabulous!), and parasailing. I've read lots of places it is easy to rent a scooter, so I'd love to do that, maybe for two days so I can check out all the beaches. The pictures look fantastic and I just hope it looks that good in person. I'm also really dying to go snorkeling again after the awesome experience I had in the Philippines. And of course, there's plenty of bars, restaurants, and shopping. I really want to get a nice cold Pina Colada at a bar where you can stick you feet in the sand under an umbrella... mmm sounds great to me. This is Pulau Payar Marine Park, where I hope to take a day trip to snorkel!
17th- I'll check out of the hotel, and take a ferry to Georgetown. I have a feeling I may never want to leave the island though! It should take about 2 1/2 hours to get to Georgetown, and I'll stay at Huttonlodge. I haven't done much research about this town yet, but I think there is lot of Spanish influence here.
18th- The next day, I'll take a bus back to Kuala Lampur, where I will again stay at Red Palm. I'll use my freetime for sightseeing there. Apparently the city itself isn't very large, about the size of Gwangju. I really want to see the petronas tower. I've heard it's like going to Seattle without seeing the Needle. Here's what it looks like. It reminds me of a movie, though I can't remember what. I feel like it had Catherine Zeta-Jones in it though.
19th- I'll have all day on the 19th to sightsee more in KL. Maybe even do some shopping. I need to go to the airport in the early evening since I catch a red-eye flight at 11:30 pm. I'll get back technically on the 20th (Saturday morning) at 6:45 or so. I imagine hitting up the jimjilbang in the bottom of the Incheon Airport would feel amazing after sleeping on the plane. Ahh just a few more days left until I'm here:
Hi, im going to Langkawi with my family next week and off to Korea June. IIm going there all by myself tho. really looking forward to visit korea and visit all the film location but a bit worried about languange. my english isnt that fluent. do you think if i take public transport im sure going to lost my way? i read tips and review and most of the advise is not to travel using public transportation due to language constrain. what do you think?
ReplyDeleteHi, Payad.
ReplyDeleteIn Langkawi, you shouldn't have a problem using taxis, as most of the drivers know all the main sights- hotels, beaches, etc. There isn't any public transportation on the island like busses. One thing a lot of people do is rent motorbikes or cars. They are relatively cheap, and give you the freedom to go where you like.
In Korea, there is an excellent public transporation system. I'm assuming you don't know much Korean :) There are busses that go from city to city across the nation, as well as innercity busses. The innercity busses may be confusing for you. I remember it took me a while to learn my bus stop, because it is in Korean lettering.
There are always plenty of taxis around in Korea, but they do get expensive. They start around 2200 won or 2600 won after midnight. I sometimes have to repeat my destination a few times until they understand.
All that being said, I think the best way for you is to use the subway. Seoul can be confusing because there are so many lines, but mistakes are usually easily corrected. Fares are cheap and charge based on the distance you want to go. As long as you can read a map, using a subway should be easy even if your English isn't the best.
Good luck with your travels, I hope you enjoy your time both in Langkawi and Korea!