i went with another 5 of my course mates to these islands from 8/5/2008-12/5/2008 after a long long planning.
although the trip was planned long ago, the schedule is a mess and everything is decided there and then.
PENANG
we spent 4 days and 3 nights at penang. i wonder how did we spent so much time there when there is so little tourist attraction there. the most supprising part is my penang course mate actually dont really know the road around penang. OMG. we drive around in penang and a lot of time is spent inside the car, especially KOMTAR. we turn around that complex more then 20 times in that few days there.
conclusion: one of the worst place to drive in. traffic lights are so confusing and the roads are even worst. motorists are extremely dangerous and u can knock down a few of them in one day. the food there is quite ok but every where u go there will be a 3rm parking fees which is quite expensive especially when u will only stop at that place for a few minutes.
LANGKAWI
it took us more then 6 hours to go to langkawi from penang. we have to change so many types of transportation to get there.
balik pulau-bus->penang jetty-ferry->butterworth-bus->kangar-taxi->kuala perlis-ferry->langkawi
by the time we reach there, we are already half dead. luckily we rented a car and it is very easy to move around in this island. this is a very nice place to drive in since it is not so busy and there are very few roads. so it is not so easy to sesat. went almost all the tourist attraction on the island within a few hours. went to all the beaches around the island-tanjung rhu, pantai kok, pantai cenang, pantai beringin, black sand beach.... the best seaside in my opinion is pantai kok. the water is really clear and so peaceful while the best scenery is pantai beringin. a PLKN camp is just by the seaside and the view there is fantastic.
conclusion: never ever take a bus to langkawi. it took so long to reach there and even longer to come back. 11 hours of bus+ferry to come back to melaka. i would have tracelled half the globe if i am on a plane.
