Langkawi is an island chain on the north east side of Malaysia, very near to Thailand. There are actually 99 islands (101 at low tide) but only a couple are inhabited.
We rented a car so we could see the island at our leisure. The island is quite small and can be driven around in less than a day. Rick had the joys of driving on the opposite side of the road. I had the joys of trying to navigate using the tourist maps which are not a substitute for a road map. Somehow, we found our way to a lot of very interesting destinations.
The biggest town is Kuah, where we stayed for a couple days. We moved over to the beach for the last few days of our stay. Kuah is the location of the night market which is much smaller than the markets we visited on our previous stops. We enjoyed some more satay and "potato springs" and did a little bargaining on our visit. On our first night, we happened upon a great Chinese restaurant. It is located on the corner of 2 very quiet streets. The restaurant is very busy and when all the seats are taken, they set up tables and chairs in the little park across the street.
We stayed in 2 beach front hotels. In one, we had a room looking out onto the sea. It was great to have a dip in the pool or in the ocean at the end of the day. Rick and the kids rented a jet ski one day and went exploring to the neighbouring islands.
One of the highlights of Langkawi is the Cable Car. It was too cloudy and threatening to rain on our first trip, so the ride was closed and we spent the day at Oriental Village at the base of the mountain. There is tons to do at Oriental Village and we enjoyed our day. We all took advantage of the fish spa. It is a creepy, ticklish feeling to have the fish nibbling on your feet. The kids enjoyed the pedal boat around the lake in the center of the village. We also fed the deer and the rabbits. On our next visit to Oriental Village, we managed to get to the top to enjoy the beautiful view of almost the entire island.
Myths and legends abound in Langkawi. According to one legend, the fairies became quite enamoured with Telaga Tujah and made the 7 wells their bathing location. We climbed the steps up the mountain to the top of the Seven Wells. Water cascades down from one well to the next and the rocks have been smoothed out over time. On the internet, the location is described as a natural waterslide. The kids were eagerly anticipating their chance to slide down. Zoe came away with a monster bruise on her leg and she grabbed Chase just in time to save him from a worse fate. After that, we contented ourselves with basking in the wells and watching the monkeys. We never saw any fairies but the view was spectacular just the same.
Another island legend involves Mahsuri, a beautiful princess who was wrongly accused of adultery for which the punishment was death. According to legend, the villagers made many attempts to kill her with their knives, but she would not die. Finally, they used her knife and when she died, she bled white blood. Before dying she put a curse on the island dooming it to be barren for 7 generations. The seven generations have now passed, and as the islanders are quick to point out, Langkawi has now become a popular tourist destination. They have erected a mausoleum at the site of her tomb. It is fun little tourist trap where they have built replicas of traditional houses of various eras. Of course there is also a little museum featuring supposed artifacts from Mahsuri - even the knife that might have killed her and a suitcase belonging to someone who might have known her!
One day we drove to the highest point on the island - Gunyang Raya. The long and winding road was in pretty good condition, but since it was a rainy day and July is low season in Langkawi, we didn't encounter another car. At the peak is a 5 star hotel. We got out of the car to take a couple pictures and the hotel manager came running out to us. He invited to come to the observation tower and offered us a tour of the hotel when we were finished enjoying the view. He toured us around to the rooms with the best views, obviously very proud. The waitress in the restaurant shared her photos with us while we had a small snack. While there were no other cars on the road, there were cows and monkeys. We encountered a small troop of dusky leaf monkeys. They are black with white around the eyes and are quite beautiful. We stopped to try and get some photos without much luck. One was on the power pole at the side of the road and leaped off to a tree several meters away. He looked like he was flying through the air - and then he was gone.
Actually, monkeys were everywhere in Langkawi. The most common were macaques and we saw them almost everywhere we went.
We booked a boat for a fishing trip one afternoon. It was the first time that Zoe and Chase have been fishing and they would not let the impending thunderstorm spoil their enthusiasm. The sinister looking clouds rolled in just as we got on the boat and headed out. The thunderstorm did not take long to roll in and the thunder echoed through the islands all around us as the lightning crackled. Our boat captain took us out to his favourite fishing spots and very patiently baited our lines, unsnagged us and took our fish off the line. I don't think he spoke a single word of English. Chase excitedly caught the first fish. Just when Zoe was becoming discouraged at her lack of luck, she managed to pull in several right in a row. Rick caught the biggest. I caught one so small that I didn't even know it was on my line until I reeled it in when we were changing locations. In all, we caught about 28 fish which we gave to the captain.
On one of our island drives, we ended up across the island from our hotel at the sea. We were greeted by a friendly gentleman who attempted to sell us a boat trip. It was a 2 hour boat ride with several hokey sounding highlights. Since he agreed to lower the price, we decided to give it a try. In the end it was a lot of fun. We started in the mangrove forest and watched the eagles feeding. We went crocodile cave - named for the shape of the cave, not because there are any crocodiles. Bat cave however is named for all the bats. We stopped off at a fish farm where the kids patted a stingray and held a horseshoe crab. The highlight here was the archer fish. They leap out of the water to catch their dinner and we all had the chance to put bread on our fingers which they pulled off. If the food is too high, they spit at it to knock it down. I have never been spit at by a fish before! Back on the boat, along the shore we saw lots and lots of monkeys.
On our last day in Langkawi, we got up early and went to Island Horses for a horseback ride through the jungle and along the beach. Again, it was a private tour with a guide in front and following behind. Chase felt a little unsure, so he had someone walking along leading his horse. Zoe felt confident enough to go for a trot along the beach.
Here's the link to our Langkawi album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/rdzcadventure/Langkawi?authkey=Gv1sRgCNmG4omX0ZHnJg#
We spent the last 3 weeks of our holiday in Cambodia - Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. More stories to follow...
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