7 – Langkawi

After a short flight from KL we landed in Langkawi to sun and heat.  It was 37 degrees. We took a taxi to our hotel which was close by.  Took about 15 minutes.  The hotel was very small. Twenty rooms all chalet style.  No other amenities on site but plenty restaurants and bars close by.  Due to my dodgy stomach we decided to have a quiet day for the first day and headed down to the beach.  We paid for an umbrella and two sunbeds and lay in the sun and paddled in the water for a few hours. 

 We both were feeling a bit hot so set off up the beach for a walk through the water searching for somewhere to have a drink and something to eat.  We found a nice little beachside bar where we had a cool drink and some nibbles.  Further along the beach are the posh hotels so we decided to go for a nosy.  They are really plush, but a bit out of our backpackers budget.  We headed back along the road.  We didn’t realise how far we’d walked.  By the time we got back to the hotel we both looked like lobsters.

We decided to hire a car for a couple of days.  The traffic in Langkawi is non-existant, and this is supposed to be high season.

Intended to be up and out early this morning because we have the car but after a restless night I finally fell asleep around 5am then we both slept until after 9am.  After a quick shower and cup of coffee we set off to the cable car.  We found the roads quite easy.  They’re very quiet so no hassle.  The access to the cable car is through the oriental village.  Today is a beautiful day so the scenery is stunning.  We got off the cable car at the lower level and walked down to the the viewing bridge which goes out into the middle of the scenery.  It was quite scary knowing there was nothing between you and the extremely long drop to the ground below except for some steel and concrete slabs.  We then continued up to the top by cable car.  The view was amazing.

 We were really lucky with the weather and could see all the islands for miles around.  You could stand and look forever, but the sun got too hot and we headed down.  We then drove to “Telagh Tujuh” which is a beautiful waterfall – well seven actually.  You have to climb up the mountain to the top if you want to see them all.  We decided to go to the lower level.



 We’re still suffering from too much sun yesterday.  We cooled our feet in the cold mountain water then went back down.  Our next destination was to see the beaches on the north of the island.  You can view them all from the road but we decided to stop and have a walk along the waters edge.  The sea at this end of the island is much calmer.  The water is turquoise.

  We then stopped off at Langkawi Craft Complex where they create and sell local products – clothes, jewellery, batik wall hangings and various other handicrafts.  There is also a museum which tell the history of the crafts on the island.  They have another museum which shows the different types of marriage dress and ceremony carried out due to the many different religions which are practiced here. 

We decided to head back to the hotel but then detoured to “Mardi Agro Technology Park” which is actually a working orchard. As you can see we ended up working, picking the fruit. Plenty sunshine and rain sure makes a difference to the size of the fruit.

 The boss was a bit of a taskmaster.

The orchard produces lots of different fruits which you get to taste.  We had melon, pomello, pineapple and star fruit.  Delicious.    

The last day with the car started quite overcast but we set off only to stop after a short distance when the heavens opened and it poured with rain.  We decided it would be safer to stop until we could actually see the road.  About half and hour later the rain stopped and we started off towards Kuah – the main town on Langkawi.  It rained off and on all the way there.  We stopped in the car park near to the jetty and then decided to get out and have a look about. 

 Eagle Square is the landmark of Kuah Town.  It is situated next to the jetty.  There is an enormous eagle statue looking out to sea.  Next to that is Legends Park. 

 A nice bit of greenery in an otherwise disappointing town.  There are the usual shopping malls but little else.

We decided to just go for a drive about.  We stopped off for a drink and then drove past the Black Sand Beach and Shark Bay then on down to the marina where we stopped and looked at the boats and had lunch.

When we first hired the car we were told to watch out for animals on the road.  We saw lots of monkeys along the road side, but we were delayed getting back due to cattle on the road.  Fair enough let them have right of way but at least teach them the green cross code.

Think we did eventually travel all the main roads in Langkawi.

For our last full day in Langkawi we booked an Island Hopping Trip.  It’s a half day trip.  We were picked up at 9am and transported to the harbour where our little wooden speedboat was waiting. There was probably about twenty of us on this boat.  The driver certainly liked the speed. We were bumping up and down all over the place. 

The first stop was on an island where you climb up about 200 steps to a fresh water lake where you can swim or paddleboat or just take in the view.  Today is quite overcast so it was reasonably cool thankfully. 

After a while we made our way back to the boat and were transferred to another island area where they feed the eagles.  Lots of them about but the view was limited. All of the boats have a canopy to shade you from the sun so you could only see those that were visible to the sides.  Our third and final stop was a beach where we could swim or sit in the sun.  It was then back in the boat for the trip back to the harbour where the bus took us back to our hotel.

We had a really great time in Langkawi. Beautiful place.