Siblings Roadtripping Edition : Chasing Freedom in Langkawi
17:42"See you guys soon."
My little brother couldn't be more subtle as he sped away in his car when he dropped us off at the airport. Ika and I carried our backpacks along with some food to munch on. It was still early in the morning but the airport was already bustling with travellers.
Our flight left Kuala Lumpur at seven forty-five in the morning, heading to Langkawi International Airport. We were re-routed to Penang due to bad weather. After stranded for an hour and half in Penang, the flight jetted off to the intended destination.
We originally planned to go to Banda Aceh but it sounds even better to go travel locally. So yeah, we decided to start with Langkawi this time.
Over the past few days on the road exploring Langkawi, we have scrambled over tree trunks, stood on wild wind-swept Cenang Beach and consumed about galleons of water because the weather was devastatingly hot. My little sister patiently sat on the passenger seat while tolerated my temper when we were stuck in the jam. She'd accompanied me to a place I just had to hunt down and visit after a friend recommended it or after seeing it on Instagram.
"You should turn here, sis. Can you please follow the GPS for once?"
Annoyed, I replied "I did. Can't you see that we're so far away from the place that we're supposed to go?"
or something like "Are you sure this is the right way? We're so far off right now."
Lil sis, thank you for being patient with me.
Somewhere in amongst the dreams of a road trip, the idealization of sunny weather and perfect photographs, reality sets in. And that's how we rolled with reality and dealt with bumps along the way that has helped us become most excellent road trip buddies.
Our trip began as soon as we registered with SB Guide tossing blue-black sticker to plastered on our shirts and pointing the way to urban minivans. After racing through the mid-afternoon streets to a beach, we switched to boats heading towards Tasik Dayang Bunting.
The path was paved and quite easy to access. It was quite slippery and I was sweating under the sun and with frequent photo stops, it took us longer to reach the beautiful lake. The deeper we walked, the more visible the rocky front became and we were stunned by the vast beauty of this famous lake.
"It's majestic!"
My little sister was ecstatic when we finally made it to the lake. We took lots of photo while making some silly antics for the video. An hour later, we were on the boat again to go see a group of eagle feeding on fish. It was an awesome fifteen-minutes experience to watch the predator circling the sky before hurtling towards the water.
"Now, we're going to Beras Basah Island. This is gonna be our last stop before going back to mainland." Our guide finally spoke.
We detoured to the island where every single person on the boat become swimmers. My sis and I walked around the beach with small backpacks on our backs. We passed some shacks and some animals before we stood in front of a small jetty, perfect for a photo or two.
This is Langkawi. Langkawi is faded with city lights and has cool, bright white beaches, just like in Krabi or Phuket.
We reached our hostel in the evening with a warning of heavy rain. My sis was pondering an idea of having dinner at Kuah Town but I was really exhausted by the dinnertime. We went out and bought some foods to our liking at pasar malam.
There were juices and fried chickens and a good book to look forward to. We were like children, eating on the bed while talking with our mouths full and unpacking our 55 liters backpacks.
I stayed awake. Cairo on one side, San Francisco on the other. I was awake and the wind was blowing hard as I sat on the front porch at three in the morning. I was no longer searching for the context in which I was there. If an entire people in Langkawi can be more than one thing, so do I.
I am an avid traveler, a mostly-good driver, a medical student and a part-time Malaysian blogger.
And I have to drive again in a few hours.
Adios.
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