Let’s start with an exercise. Don’t worry, I don’t want you to stretch your muscles. I want you to stretch your imagination. Imagine a town on the edge of a gorge. Imagine inhabited caves. Each cave is a fully functioning house – there’s a kitchen, dining area, bedroom, bathroom and place for a donkey and some chickens. All in one cave, including a whole family. No running water, only rainwater. No vegetable garden, only tufa limestone. If you want to actually grow something, you have to go to the other side of the gorge. And now imagine 15 000 people living in these caves. Sounds like diseases. Like malaria. And…
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What to do in Langkawi?
You can love Langkawi or hate it. Or just say it’s really OK and has amazing sunsets. I’m in the latter group. I’ve already said that the world doesn’t always have to be a paradise. This time I’m keeping it short and sweet – what to do in Langkawi? A lot. And I present it in random order. Rent a car and go around the island Left-hand traffic and Malaysian automotive industry. Sounds fun, right!? Driving on the opposite lane is actually not that bad on the island (fewer cars) and where you’ll have one more opportunity to drive Perodua Alza or Proton Saga? So go ahead and rent a…
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Langkawi – does the world always has to be a paradise
Vacation. Faraway, exotic destination equals a beach straight from the paradise, right? If the landscape doesn’t look like your laptop’s wallpaper it doesn’t count, does it? Especially if you’re on an island and it’s named Langkawi. The name itself sounds exotic, wild and like from the other side of the world. Vacation in the tropics have to be like from a postcard: white sand, crystal blue sea, empty beach and this funny leaning palm tree. Well, maybe one local inhabitant is ok. Another tourist would destroy this heavenly atmosphere of instagramable vacation. Let’s stop here for a moment and talk about Instagram. Picture perfect destination We’re taking photos of beautiful…
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Kuala Lumpur – welcome to the urban jungle
Kuala Lumpur welcomed us with a warm evening and an accommodation disappointment. The first morning welcomed us with a downpour. Was it a crisis? It was. But we changed the accommodation within 30 minutes and waited for the rain to go away. And everything turned out really well. The story of (not)staying at Regalia Suites deserves it’s own post. The building itself seems to be the most popular place to stay in Kuala Lumpur. All of my friends who visited KL, took a photo in the swimming pool there. Well, I did as well. The story of this stay is a short motivational story of not giving up. From the…
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Cameron Highlands – the Scots in Malaysia
We all enjoy pretty landscapes, don’t we? It’s worth going to a chilly place, suffer in a bus going through a curvy road in the mountains and get wet to see a spectacular view. Especially if this view includes a tea plantation in Cameron Highlands. Is it Malaysia or Vietnam? The bus mentioned above brings us from Geroge Town to Cameron Highlands and I experience a deja vu: It’s raining It’s less than 20 degrees Celsius It looks like a very touristy place in the mountains Is this Sapa? Not really. It’s Tanah Rata, but feels similar. People go to Cameron Highlands to see tea plantations and one night in…
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Penang National Park – will the jungle eat you?
Jungle. I’m not a fan. Frankly speaking, I haven’t encountered many jungles, but I simply don’t want to come close to them. The only 30 minutes of a Thai jungle was enough for a lifetime. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy nature. As long as it’s not trying to eat me. It’s a selective love, I guess. So why jungle? Well, trekking in Penang National Park to the isolated beach is one of the “must dos” when you’re in George Town. And it took me around 3 seconds to decide that it’s not going to my Penang bucket list. Because you know – jungle. But I’m writing about it, so…
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Penang – around the world in George Town
The plane lands on the Penang island and I’m wondering if this really is Southeast Asia. This thought will be in my head during these few days in George Town. Our Grab driver, southeast Asian Uber, keeps repeating “Welcome to Malaysia”. Not because his vocabulary is limited. He’s just kind. Malaysians are kind. It’s evident we’re in Asia. Just one glance is enough to realize there’s no local space development plan. It looks like someone took a few dozen blocks, tossed them up and left where they fell. But the whole George Town feels surprisingly spatial as for Asia. Only a little chaotic, not so crowded, you can walk around…
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Malaysia – expectations vs reality
When I bought tickets do Malaysia, I had no expectations. It was a good deal, I like Southeast Asia, so I got tickets. I had a loooot of time to read about Malaysia before the departure. 10 months. So I did my homework, but it didn’t change a lot. I still had no expectations. I was sure it would be great, I was going on holidays after all. But there were a few things that came to my mind and I wrote them down. Now it’s time to confront them with reality. Like always. Expectation: lots of rain. It shouldn’t be surprising. Malaysia has equatorial climate, so it rains a…
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Apulia: Locorotondo
We didn’t include Locorotondo in our plan. It was 6km from the trullo we stayed in in the middle of nowhere aka olive grove. So we thought: why not. And this is the kind of surprise I like. If Locorotondo is not one of the most beautiful towns in Italy, I don’t know what is. Oh wait. It’s actually on the list Borghi più belli d’Italia, which is a list of the most beautiful towns in Italy. Told ya. Locorotondo was completely EMPTY when we arrived. No tourist at all. No people at all. It was afternoon, siesta time. Everything was closed except for maybe 2 restaurants and 3 cafes.…
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Apulia – what to expect
You may have noticed that I’m writing down my expectations everywhere I go. I did that for the first time when I was going to Thailand, compared with reality when I came back and it was a really fun thing to do. What to expect when you go to Apulia? That’s a good question. I was expecting typical southern Italy – slightly chaotic and with no pressure to rush anywhere. And nothing more. So this time it will be a bit different. I’m skipping my expectations which I had before the trip and I’m leaving you with Apulian reality only. Of course it’s based on my 4 days spent there,…
