Yes, I am wearing a hat under my helmet.
There is no shortage of people willing to rent you a little bike to get around Langkawi. After a few days of not doing much other than eating, swimming at the beach and generally hanging around Pantai Cenang we decided we should probably get out and see some more of the island.
Langkawi isn’t a big place. It was actually a bit of a surprise just how small the place is. We had expected this to take all day but it actually only took a few hours.
After picking up the bike and fueling up we first stopped at a view point looking over the Langkawi airport. The view was very nice and gave us our first glimpse of our next stop.
Next up was the Langkawi cable car. Although we were able to get on the cable car another day our first attempt was foiled by strong winds.
The third stop was a harbor filled with boats of various sizes. While in Langkawi we were lucky enough to meet a few people who spend their days sailing the world, living on their boats. Its a lifestyle we hadn’t had much contact with before. The notion of spending your days on the open ocean seems romantic. You have to adjust to spending a lot of time alone and once you have made that adjustment it can be difficult to undo. We met one lady who has a particularly interesting relationship with her boyfriend. They both spent a number of years living alone on their boats before they met. They tried moving onto one boat together but found that after so long on their own they couldn’t cope sharing their limited space with a second person. These days they each have a boat of their own and rendezvous periodically as they travel the globe.
After the harbor the rest of our lap of the island was fairly uneventful. We ran into a little rain that gave as an excellent excuse to stop for a little food in Kuah, the biggest town on the island. After our lunch stop we completed our lap and headed back to the guest house.
Did you have an international driving license or a motorbike driving license at all? I will go to Langkawi in December and I have none. From my research, driving a scooter in Malaysia requires a driving license, and since Malaysia has almost no international agreements regarding driving licenses, an international driving license is required.
I actually have an Australian motorcycle license and an international drivers license. Getting an international drivers license is pretty straight forward. In Australia all you have to do is go into an RAC office and they’ll issue you one on the spot. You just need to provide a passport photo and show your local drivers license. I don’t recall how much is was but it wasn’t much.
how was the traffic on langkawi. do you need international licence.
thanks
peter
Hi Peter, Thanks for reading. Yes, you do need an international drivers license. If you get caught, you will be driving illegally. Or, if you have an accident, your travel insurance won’t cover you otherwise. The traffic was quite light around the whole island except for a the touristy areas like Pantai Chaweng. Enjoy Langkawi!