Sailing was the primary goal for our tip to Langkawi, Malaysia. It's been our dream to learn how to sail for quite some time. We've taken some lessons in the San Francisco Bay but wanted to spend some time sailing in the Andaman Sea. Matthew had been reading into the sailing community in Langkawi for quite some time and with it's close proximity to Krabi, it seemed like an optimal place to test the waters.
"Laman Padi" rice fields
We found a RYA sailing school and were able to get into a 6-day sailing course starting on January 13th. We planned to arrive at Telaga Harbor on Sunday night to meet our crew and sleep on the boat that evening. We would depart early the next day to sail around the archipelago of islands that surround Langkawi. We would be mooring or anchoring in some areas or staying in a marina. We were a bit curious how it would be to live on a sailboat for 6 days, along with 4 other people we didn't know. It would most definitely be an experience!
We rented a car and spent a few days exploring Langkawi. We drove around the entire island, stopping at each of the island's beaches and their beautiful harbors at Telaga and Kuah. We also spent some time in "Laman Padi", a small area of rice fields with interesting scarecrows to photograph. We expected Langkawi to be built up and over-touristed. We couldn't have been more wrong about this island. The development is concentrated in a few small areas with the remainder covered in lush forest and hills. Langkawi is surrounded by 99 different islands and has a similar landscape to Krabi. The island overall is very quiet and sleepy. Langkawi means "Eagle Island" and you can see them soaring above in many places. There is a point on the island where you can see them be fed (fried chicken). Oh, Malaysia.
Cable Car View
Our first couple of nights in Langkawi were spent in the Geopark so it was easy to wake up and walk over to the cable cars which take you up to the highest point on the island. On a clear day you can see the islands of Thailand from the peak. As you start traveling up on the cable car, it's hard not to get a little anxious. The car travels at an easy pitch until you arrive at the rock face and then it is a nearly vertical ascent. If the heights don't rock you, the bumpy approach just before the landing will. There is a beautiful look-out point at the first stop but you still have to hop on another cable car crossing over a deep ravine before you get to the highest point. It was a beautiful day for the trip and well worth the white knuckles getting up there.
Riding the cable cars
We finished the day by grabbing some lunch at the "Tiger Cafe". This cafe is actually inside a tiger habitat (mind you there is a thick piece of glass between you and the tiger). The place seems a bit touristy but it was directly across from our hotel and too close to not take a peak. They also had coney island dogs on their menu and we were more than curious how they would be made in Malaysia.
Tiger Cafe
We sat at a booth next to the glass and just waited. The tiger eventually started to circle his enclave and walked right past us. It was eerily cool to feel so close to it, as if the glass weren't there he would have brushed by us. He then took a bath in his rock pool next to our table. Very cool experience. I wish I could say the same about the coney dog. That was a bad food experience and we should have known better not to order something like that!
"Coney Island Dog"
Sailing with our instructor, Keith
We met our crew the next day; Keith, a dairy farmer from Scotland turned sailing instructor, Daniel who is from the UK but crews a sailboat based in Phuket, Sharon who is an airline steward from Ireland, and Marius from Holland who surveys/delivers sailboats in Hong Kong. It was a great group of folks!
We had small living quarters as we were on a 38' boat with a small galley kitchen and 3 births. Matthew and I were in one aft berth and Sharon was in the other. Daniel slept in the galley and Keith was in the birth at the bow. Marius had the option of curling up with Daniel in the galley or sleeping outside in the cockpit. He chose the cockpit :)
Swim-up bar on Rebak Island
We had a great first day of sailing, minus some wind. Unfortunately the seas were fairly glassy that day but we were able to take advantage of some gusts coming through some of the island channels. We sailed for most of the day, stopping only for some lunch and tea. The first day was mainly getting used to the boat, where things were, how it sailed, and started some simple tacking and gybing. It had been about 3 years since Matt or I had sailed but it eventually comes back, like riding a bike :). We had another full day of sailing, man overboard drills, etc and sailed to Rebak island for the night. We had a chance to swim in the pool at the resort there and enjoyed some cold beer at the swim-up bar. We knew we would be busy the next day as we had a full day of sailing in addition to a night passage.
Our berth
Sleeping on the boat didn't come very easy, unfortunately. The heat doesn't help the situation. We would toss and turn most of the night and start sleeping during the cool hours of the morning.
We woke up early and made breakfast. Everyone on the boat took turns making food, doing dishes, making tea, etc. We left for a full day of sailing and had some decent wind for much of the day. We anchored up for a little while to relax and watch the sunset before heading out on a night passage.
We were heading to "The Hole in the Wall" which is a small inlet barely visible on the charts. The entire route had to be plotted and sailed using no electronic devices such as GPS, etc. It was just plotted using paper charts, a tidal book, and compass. This was our first introduction to navigation and I loved it. Daniel showed us how to use the various tools and plot our course looking at markers, direction, depth, tides, lights, etc. It was a crescent moon that night so we were in near darkness, relying solely on the markers that we could see (buoys, lights, land masses) and trying to avoid the countless fishing and squid boats. We came upon one channel and could only see a small red light which ended up being a small tugboat with a tanker attached.
Waking up inside the hole in the wall
Since we were sailing against wind, we had to do a fair amount of tacking just to get us through the channels. The winds can be deceiving though, gusting from one direction and then swirling from another. We finally arrived at our destination, sailed through the narrow channel and in until we could only see hills surrounding us. It was midnight when we arrived and we were all exhausted from the trip. We called it a night and woke up to a beautiful sunrise in the hole. The karsts rise up all around and we could now see the narrow channel we sailed through the night before. We had a nice breakfast and then sailed on.
Matt at the helm
The last couple of days were full of sailing activities and we had great wind for it. We had much to cover as we were all on different course tracks. Sharon was taking competent crew, Matthew and I were taking Dayskipper, and Daniel and Marias were taking the Yacht Master. At the end of the week, we would be a part of Daniel's crew during his Yacht Master exam and participate in a second night passage.
The exam was fairly intense as it takes 6-10 hours and runs through all requirements of being a skipper. As part of the crew, you just try to do whatever is asked and try not to screw up. We worked well as a team by the end of the week and we all felt very confident in Daniel. It was a great day of sailing overall and the test went well. Unfortunately, one critical mistake in the night passage meant that Daniel wouldn't get his certificate that evening. The sails were brought up while the wind was unpredictable, with gusts coming from all directions. We had an uncontrolled gybe which meant the boom slammed to the other side of the boat. It was unfortunate but Daniel will have another chance to complete a passage and pass the exam next week. We still celebrated the evening with a bottle of champagne.
Our crew (me, Matt, Marias, Dan, Sharon)
By the end of the week, we started to feel a bit sad for having it all come to an end. It was a great week in all, and we enjoyed living out on the water. This was a test to see if we could live on a boat for a period of time and we both thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
We didn't do much the next few days, just enjoyed our room with comfy bed and air-conditioning! We went out for dinner and drinks with our crew one last time before we all went in separate directions. It was sad to say goodbye but I'm sure some of us will meet again someday, somewhere.
Leaving Langkawi by boat
We fit in a couple of last sightseeing excursions, spending time at the water buffalo project and visiting the viewpoint at Gunung Raya. We left Langkawi for Koh Lipe and spent a couple of days doing barely anything. We are starting to miss home and ready to leave the islands. We were planning to stop in europe on the way home so booked our tickets while we were in Lipe. We leave for Holland on January 31, starting in Amsterdam and heading to Belgium before traveling to France. We are both excited for the change of scenery but not so excited for the weather. Neither of us packed for cold weather so there will be some shopping to do as soon as we land.
I'll leave you with this clip of Bill Murray in "What about Bob". He was quoted frequently during our time at sea. Ahoy!
We had a great time with friends and family after the wedding. We went to Koh Poda, a small island about 30 min away by long tail. Koh Poda gets some daytrippers during the day but not many people actually stay overnight so it feels very much like we had the island to ourselves much of the time.
Our bungalows on Koh Poda
The lodging on the island is very basic which is probably why they don't get too many tourists. They have about 12 small fan bungalows (no airconditioning) with simple bathrooms, and it's only $20 to stay the night. The island has generator power so to conserve the electricity only stays on from 6pm until midnight. The rooms really start heating up once those fans turn off and by sunrise, you are ready to get out for a swim.
I'm glad this island hasn't developed like many of the other islands off the Krabi coast. The more people, the less enjoyable a place is for us, so I will gladly take the simple accommodation. The beaches are beautiful, crystal clear blue waters and tropical fish which will swim all around you. It is a hidden gem in Krabi.
Fish swimming all around
Empty beach on Koh Poda
We went to the only restaurant on the island to eat some thai food and ended up staying at a table to play cards. We quickly learned that we were the only guests staying on the island that night. It was a nice feeling to know that we had this amazingly beautiful place all to ourselves! We ended up staying up late with Mom, Dad, Melanie, Daniel, and Jackie playing "Ming". We modified the game a bit to include the bottle of rum that we had brought. It was a fun night!
The fun ended when Matt started to feel ill. Unfortunately, food poisoning does happen at times during our travels and it is the worst. He was violently ill the entire night :(. Thankfully though, he was the only one that got sick out of the group. There isn't much that you can do when this happens, aside from drinking a lot of water and riding it out. It usually lasts about 24 hours and then you are wiped out for the next few days. Poor guy!
We did get out for some kayaking with Melanie and Daniel. Kayaking is one of our favorite things to do in Krabi as there are so many amazing and accessible places to get to. We kayaked around the karsts off of Railay Beach, stopping for a bit of time on some secluded beaches and adventuring into some of the caves. We kayaked around the corner to get some beach time and some lunch over on Phranang Beach, one of our favorite stretches of sand. It was a great day!
Kayaking in Krabi
After all of our guests returned home or went on to other adventures, we decided to go on a mini-adventure ourselves. In all the time that we have been coming to Thailand, we have avoided their most popular island, Phuket. We had always heard that it was a busy place and really built up which is why we've never ventured up there but it was time. Phuket is close to Krabi, being just a 4 hour drive north.
It was a beautiful drive through the Phang Nga province, minus the random heart attack we would have when a car would pull into our lane and drive at us head-on to pass a vehicle in front of them. It's something that I don't think either of us will ever get used to. Driving in Thailand is not for the faint of heart.
Lane markings are only for suggestion in Thailand
We arrived in Phuket and found a hotel close to Kata Beach, one of the less busy sections of Phuket. Unfortunately, less busy is still too busy for us. Phuket felt a bit overwhelming. We walked to Kata beach and while it was a beautiful stretch of sand, we were surprised to see thousands of beach chairs and umbrellas. It spoiled the scenery a bit for me. Even if the beach was empty of people, it would still feel crowded with the endless amount of chairs in the sand. That said, the chairs did offer some comfort on the beach that we typically don't get :).
Kata Beach in Phuket
Since we had a car, we explored all sections of Phuket and hit up nearly every beach. Unfortunately, we couldn't find any without the beach chairs! This wasn't our type of place but the benefit to Phuket is that it has all of the modern conveniences; good shopping, malls, and really great restaurants. We had some great meals while we were there, indulging in foods that we can't typically get in Krabi (like a nice steak!). There were also lots of bars with live entertainment and good atmosphere.
Me standing under the big Buddha
Big Buddha
Our favorite site in Phuket was the Big Buddha, which is over 150' high and looks over Chalong Bay and Kata Beach. It sits at the highest point in Phuket and towers over the area. In fact, you can see this statue from nearly every area of Phuket. The body is covered in beautiful white burmese marble and you feel very small with it towering from above. It was built about 10 years ago and funded entirely by donations alone.
The view from the top
The area has a magical feeling; monks chanting from the temple, prayer bells hanging from trees and ringing in the breeze, walking past sacred banyan trees wrapped with scarves. The views from the site are equally breathtaking. We left a donation on our way out and headed down to Laem Phromthep, which is a nice spot to watch the sunset.
A sacred banyan tree
We stayed in Phuket for 3 days and then headed back to Krabi, stopping at a few interesting sites along the way. It was nice to be home again!
We stayed in Krabi for another week before heading to our favorite island, Koh Lipe. Koh Lipe is very close to the border of Malaysia so it was an optimal stop before we left to get more time on our Thai visa.
Koh Lipe has changed a lot since we were there 5 years ago. We knew that it would as quiet places don't stay quiet for very long. Eventually more and more people find out about them and the islands build up with more restaurants, hotels, shops, etc. We were surprised to see the jungle paths now covered in concrete and the walking paths were now filled with cars and motorbikes.
A rainbow over Sunrise beach in Koh Lipe
There were many additions to Koh Lipe, some great restaurants and new hotels but it was sad to see much of the jungle gone and more and more trees getting cleared for future development. We were happy to see some familiar places and faces though. We ran into Greta and Mary who used to work at the Karma bar, and Jack from Jack's Jungle bar is still the same. Jack now has a new restaurant, bar, and a big golf cart to get around the island. Much of the development has benefited the local community there which was nice to see.
This used to be a jungle path
We stayed in a different area on Sunset beach this time and were pleasantly surprised by the lack of people on our stretch of sand. We had the area nearly to ourselves most days! We spent most of our nights at Jack's Jungle bar and celebrated the New Year with them on Pattaya Beach.
Fireworks and fire lanterns on NYE
The fireworks were booming from each side of the beach, their proximity was so close that we could feel the booms reverberate through our bodies. Fire lanterns were being lit and sent into the sky, good wishes for the year ahead. We left shortly after midnight, like an old married couple! I'm glad we left when we did though as the fireworks got a bit out of control and a few people in our area were burned by them.
We stayed in Koh Lipe until our visa time ran out and left on January 7th for Langkawi, Malaysia. Langkawi is just a 40 min boat ride from Koh Lipe, and is one of the larger islands off of the Malaysia coast. We ended up meeting a guy from California along the way who also worked in software, and happened to be a customer of my old company. It's a small world! We aren't sure how much time we will spend in Langkawi but our goal is to get out and do some sailing. The island has a large sailing community and many people land here after their ocean passages. They have a small sailing school that we have been in touch with as we are looking to take some sailing courses. We will post again from Malaysia soon.
We were heading to "The Hole in the Wall" which is a small inlet barely visible on the charts. The entire route had to be plotted and sailed using no electronic devices such as GPS, etc. It was just plotted using paper charts, a tidal book, and compass. This was our first introduction to navigation and I loved it. Daniel showed us how to use the various tools and plot our course looking at markers, direction, depth, tides, lights, etc. It was a crescent moon that night so we were in near darkness, relying solely on the markers that we could see (buoys, lights, land masses) and trying to avoid the countless fishing and squid boats. We came upon one channel and could only see a small red light which ended up being a small tugboat with a tanker attached.
We were heading to "The Hole in the Wall" which is a small inlet barely visible on the charts. The entire route had to be plotted and sailed using no electronic devices such as GPS, etc. It was just plotted using paper charts, a tidal book, and compass. This was our first introduction to navigation and I loved it. Daniel showed us how to use the various tools and plot our course looking at markers, direction, depth, tides, lights, etc. It was a crescent moon that night so we were in near darkness, relying solely on the markers that we could see (buoys, lights, land masses) and trying to avoid the countless fishing and squid boats. We came upon one channel and could only see a small red light which ended up being a small tugboat with a tanker attached.
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