off the beaten track

We just spent three days in Langkawi. My dad's in Switzerland (and France and Italy, grrrr...) for his brother's birthday and he's been to Langkawi more recently than we have, so we decided to go. Our last trip there was 12 years ago, and almost nothing looked familiar.

From the airport, we took a cab to our hotel on Pantai Tengah, which supposedly has the best beach on the island (more later...), and a little further from the touristy area of Pantai Cenang. The hotel itself is pretty - grounds were gorgeous but it lacked the famed "Malaysian hospitality", especially when we compared the people with those we met in Thailand and Bali. A little unfair, maybe...but anyway, the view from our balcony helped make up for it.

We left to go check out the cable car thing. Standing at the base of the island's second tallest mountain and looking up at where I would be in less than five minutes kinda freaked me out a little. What was freakier was the ride from the middle to the last station, which although doesn't go much higher, goes across from one peak to the next. That's also where this crazy suspension bridge is and if you stand completely still, you can feel it swaying slightly. Once you get over the initial WTF AM I DOING?! phase, the view is quite spectacular. On a clear day, you are supposed to be able to see Thailand (more later...).

Getting around the island is fairly simple. They have an extremely organized taxi fare system so you know you won't get cheated (unless your taxi driver tells you he'll wait for you and later charges you an additional 10 ringgit...), but the fares add up to quite a bit unless you're staying in your hotel and not moving at all for the duration of your holiday. A better idea is to hire a car - you pay 50 ringgit for a day and drive yourself around. There are signs everywhere so you can't get lost even if you tried, and the roads are really good. Watch out if you're driving at night - some places don't have streetlights and out of nowhere, a herd of black buffalos decided to cross the road. We found a gorgeous Malay/Thai place for dinner in Kuah.

For the next day, we had hired a guide to take us on a mangrove tour. What most tourists do is hire anyone who will do the usual, including a visit to the Bat Caves and feeding eagles. We found someone who doesn't believe in feeding the eagles and agreed to let us tailor our itinerary to what we wanted to see. If you're ever in Langkawi, don't go with anyone who feeds the eagles. This is unnatural and the poor things are conditioned to associate boats with an easy meal. Our guide was the man - he knew the scientific names of everything he showed us - the different species of mangrove trees, random plants, wildlife...

We took a route that bypassed the tourist traps, seeing otters, two types of monkeys, a HUGE monitor lizard, mudskippers and eagles. We went into Crocodile Cave (in our boat) - other tour operators just show you the cave and tell you that the boat won't be able to fit in. We also went to this Langsuyir place (can't remember if it's called a lake) and to Pulau Anak Tikus to check out some fossils. I loved being on the boat. After a while, I hopped onto the front and didn't move for the rest of the trip. Going out to the open sea, our guide pointed out Thailand in the distance. Phones started beeping - "Welcome to Thailand! Call home to Malaysia..." - hilarious. We had an excellent lunch in Barn Thai, literally in the middle of the jungle. I'm sure there's a road, but we got there and left by boat. Later that day, we headed back into town to visit the Eagle Square which I wanted to skip in favor of the beach, but my mum and brother insisted. That was followed by more duty free shopping which was kinda depressing cuz Cadbury chocolates here are twice the price of what they are there, and let's not even talk about the alcohol.

Back to the hotel for sunset on the beach. The waves were massive, bigger than the ones in Bali where we went body-boarding. The sand shifted to quickly that one minute it was shallow, the next, deep. Right before the next wave, when there's this whooosh and all the water and sand gets sucked away, standing at the edge of the ocean, the waves were taller than me. Dinner was in this amazing little place across the street. The ceiling is made up of boards that have messages written in chalk on them, from all the people who have visited over the years. While waiting for your dinner, you get entertained by magic tricks and sated with plates of peanuts. Dessert was complimentary watermelon slices.

The next morning we spent chilling by the beach and in the pool. There were these strange sluggy things with thorns all over the beach and in the water, and they didn't look too friendly so we stayed away. Our flight back was later that afternoon and we went for an excellent lunch a few minutes walk away.

Everywhere you go in Langkawi, you're surrounded by mountains. I'm guessing that explains the lack of a breeze - it was intensely hot. Not that it's much better in KL - bloody global warming. But the island takes laid-back to a whole new level. The roads we travelled on had just two lanes and no traffic whatsoever. Opening my eyes on the way back home from the airport, civilization kinda freaked me out. All the buildings and the cars and the lights. There, it was totally unnecessary to even know what day of the week it was. I miss it already.


Pictures are on Facebook and more will be on Shutterfly. If you're important enough, you'll get a link.