Day Trip @ Pangkor Island, Malaysia

Pangkor Island, a tranquil little island that I have not visited in the longest time, almost forgetting how it really is.  It ‘s still a little old-fashioned, basic; but I like it because it has not been taken over by commercialization.     

The trip starts off with a 30 minute ferry ride from Lumut Jetty to Pangkor Island.

We rented our motor bike at the Lumut Jetty at RM 50 per day and got a Pangkor map before we even reached the island (the lady that collects the ferry tickets seems to be doing a part-time job as she sells motor bike rentals too!)

And yeah ! Pangkor Island, here we come !

There are loads of pink vans waiting at the Pangkor Jetty if you are not planning to use a motor bike.

Our bike was a not-very-powerful-manual motorbike but we managed to climb all the uphill with the good old turtle helmet.

Pangkor Island is rather small you can really go around the island in a day, visiting a few attractions along the way, like the Dutch Fort (aka Kota Belanda) with 300 years of history;

the fish satay factory where you get all sorts of sea goodies for you to snack along the way – dried cuttlefish snacks, fish crackers, prawn crackers, fish satay, salted fish, anchovies and rarer items like sea cucumber and fish swim bladder;

the sacred rock (batu bersurat) which are two pieces of sheltered, huge rocks, with carvings of a tiger carrying a child, believed to be a Dutch general’s child who went missing;

a few viewing towers here and there;

and of course the various beaches including Nipah Beach and Coral Bay next to each other with long stretch of white sand and glistening blue waters.

Water activities like jet skiing, banana boating and island boating are available but allow more than a day if you are planning to do the activities.

Sight seeing always comes with a bit of souvenir shopping.  The puffer fish specimen should be an interesting one!

 

While thinking that the seafood should be cheap and good on the island, unfortunately our seafood lunch at Sea View Hotel was a bit disappointing and prices were hiked up as it was Chinese New Year.  Hopefully I will find a better restaurant on Pangkor Island next time.

With the seafood craving not satisfied on the island, on the way back to Ipoh, we stopped by Sitiawan for Seafood, at Kampung Cina.  Now that is some awesome seafood there! Highly recommend it if you have time !

PS:  Other places you might be interested in on the island would be Fa Lin Gong Temple that has a miniature Great Wall of China and the Suspension Bridge set amidst the lush green hills of Pangkor Island.  Missed these two places during this trip but that gives me something to look forward to next time:)