2 DAYS ON PANGKOR ISLAND

HEADING TO PANGKOR ISLAND

Leaving Panang, we headed to Pangkor Island, as instructed by the dice.

If you haven’t seen the video of this decision and the resulting experience, then check it out below!

THE JOURNEY

We got an Uber from Georgetown, to the bus terminal on the mainland, in Butterworth, bought our bus tickets and made our way to the Lumut ferry terminal.

The bus ride took around 3 hours, costing 18RM (approx. £3 each) and was really comfortable.

Once we arrived at the ferry terminal in Lumut, we found the ticket office and bought return tickets to Pangkor island for 14RM (approx. £2.50).

The boats leave roughly every 45 minutes, so we didn’t have to wait long until we could board.

The boat ride itself was around 25 minutes, to Pangkor island and was quite a calm and scenic ride; passing the coastline of Malaysia and spotting a number of naval ships on the way.

We arrived at the ferry terminal in Pangkor and were immediately swamped by taxi drivers wanting our business.

We agreed on a price and jumped into one of their taxis – all of which were pink minibuses, which I dubbed the ‘pink Pangkor’. I thought this was genius.

MONSTER ROOMS

This is where it got interesting.

We were staying in a place called Monster Rooms. Strange name.

We arrived at the location, but it was completely deserted. A new complex of holiday apartments, with no reception area.

After wandering around the complex for a while, I walked into the construction project management office and asked them for help.

Fortunately one of the guys there had the number for the guy who rented the rooms out and gave him a call.

It turns out he wasn’t on the island at the moment, but would send a colleague to check us in.

Waiting around for another half an hour, finally a lady on a scooter turned up and showed us to the room.

There was a real language barrier and she didn’t have change, so we underpaid for the room. Winning. Perhaps what we deserved for the very strange check in.

The place, although totally deserted, was actually quite a nice place to stay for a couple of nights.

A huge, spacious room, with all the amenities you need and – the best part – a lush, brand new pool, with no other guests to contend with!

There was a lack of sun-loungers though!

GHOST TOWN

I knew it was quiet season in Malaysia, but this was crazy.

Once we’d checked in to the hotel, we took a walk around the local town, looking for something to eat.

This was harder than it sounds. We found one place open, by the beach, but the rest of the town was a total ghost town.

Hopefully these pics sum up the post-apocalyptic feel of the place. I loved the atmosphere of it, to be honest.

THE BEACHES

It turns out that it wasn’t 100% deserted everywhere, but we were located at the area that was definitely the quietest.

We were staying at the Southwest point of the island, but there was an area which was expected to be busier further North.

We took a cab up there on the second day of our stay and hung out on the beach at a restaurant called Daddy’s cafe.

This area was still really quiet, as the vast majority of restaurants were closed, and this place seemed to have the monopoly on the nearby tourists.

They served great food and drinks though, so it was a great place to spend the afternoon / evening.

The beach here was also spectacular.

We hung out here for dinner, a few drinks and to watch the sunset over the water.

A really great, chilled out evening. Here’s a few obligatory sunset shots:

Later that evening, we walked down the deserted darkened street in hope of finding a taxi back to our end of the island. It wasn’t easy, but after half an hour of searching we managed to bag one.

ONTO THE NEXT STOP – CAMERON HIGHLANDS

After two nights on Pangkor island, it was time to move on again and this time we were heading to the Cameron Highlands.

It was an interesting two days on the island and I’ll specifically remember how quiet it was. I’ve never known anything like it; especially for such a beautiful place.

Read on for the Cameron Highlands!