Beaching On A Budget — CAROLYN LU YOGA

How did I end up on the beach?
Due to the events of the Coronavirus in China, all yoga classes in Shanghai has been suspended until further notice. That leaves my situation very uncertain. I happened to have a flight out to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, because I was asked to assist a 4 day Acroyoga Immersion that took place from Feb 1-4. When the immersion ended, I had to decide if I would catch my return flight back to Shanghai, or if I would miss it. Since the studio back in Shanghai is still closed and the cases of Coronavirus seem to increase, I decided not to go back and missed the return flight. So the next decision I had to make was… Where will I go?? I didn’t want to spend too much money traveling to faraway places. Singapore was my next choice but they have a travel ban on anyone who has traveling to China within the last 14 days. So… no Singapore for me. Then I remembered years ago hearing about an island in Malaysia called Langkawi. Knowing nothing about it, I decided to go check it out. I hopped on a flight with zero exceptions and landed in Langkawi. To my wonderful surprise, this ended up being the cheapest beach vacation I ever took!

Big spacious tent for 15 ringgits per night

Accommodation:
I saw on booking.com that there’s a a place called T Star Cottage. They have these cute bungalow looking rooms for 50-100 ringgits. That is very cheap! Then I saw they have tents you can stay in for even cheaper. If you book it online its like twenty something ringgits. If you come directly and book at the desk, the tent is only 15 ringgits per night! That is $3.62 USD! So I decided to try the tent. It was great. Inside they have a fan, lights, bed, table, and power outlet. But you must shower and pee in the porta potties. The whole environment of this accommodation feels so green and natural. Monkeys walking around and birds chirping in the air really added a peaceful touch!

Enjoying wine and live music during dinner

Food:
I ate two meals a day. Brunch and dinner. The cheapest meals I had were 12 ringgits for a full breakfast set. The most expensive dinner I had was about 60 ringgits for soup, food, and wine with live music. During the day I would snack on fruits. A plate of mangos cost 6 ringgits. Overall, food on this island is very cheap and delicious!

Swimming besides the natural Temurun Waterfall

Activities:
I mostly just hung out on the beach the majority of the time. The beach is about a 5 minute walk from my accommodation. Going to the beach is FREE! The one day I didn’t want to sit on the beach, I decided to go to the SkyCab which is a beautiful cable car ride. Apparently the steepest cable car ride in the whole world! I took a Grab (it’s kind of like Uber) there for about 25 ringgits one way. Then the entry ticket was 89 ringgits. The ride was beautiful and you can hang out on top at the viewing platforms and/or cafe for as long as you’d like. The other non beach activity I decided to do was go visit a waterfall. I read that there are SO many beautiful waterfalls on this island so I just randomly picked one to visit. I went to the Temurun Waterfall. It cost me about 55 ringgits each way for a Grab. Then once I arrived the entry is free. It’s only a 5 minute hike to the waterfall and you can swim for as long as you’d like!

Facing my fear of heights on the SkyCab cable car

Flights:
I flew from Kuala Lumpur to Langkawi with Malindo Air for about $40 USD. This was because I booked it very last minute. If you book it a few days in advance, it’s only $23. Then to leave Langkawi, I booked a flight from Langkawi to Singapore on Air Asia for $18 USD. These were both direct flights.

Conclusion:
All in all, I had a lovely 7 days/6 nights on the island of Langkawi! The total cost not including flights was only $150 USD! If I include the price of my flights, the total cost of this Langkawi trip would be $208 USD. This is the cheapest beach vacation I ever had! The funny thing is, I wasn’t even planning a budget beach trip. It just sort of happened!