Langkawi, Malaysia – Tuesday 27th March

Langkawi Islands - early morning

Langkawi  (or more correctly Palau Langkawi) is the main island of a group of 99 in the Strait of Malacca off the northwest coast of Malaysia and within view of Thailand.  It is reported as having been a peaceful island of fishermen and farmers until it was granted duty free status in 1987 and the airport was opened.  In 1990 the Langkawi Development Authority was formed by the Malaysian government to transform the island into a major tourist destination.  It has certainly got all of the attributes to become one, and lots of world-class spa resort hotels have been built, but luckily to date it has not been over-developed and its inherent tropical beauty still shines through.

One of the many beaches

The boat anchored offshore and we took the tender into a small marina from where a shuttle bus drove us to a nearby beach where there is a duty free shopping centre and Underwater World, which was reported by other passengers as being a fabulous aquarium rivalling any they had seen.  Being keen we arrived  before anything was open and had planned to spend some time swimming and sunbathing on the beautiful beach.  We  had been warned about jellyfish by other passengers and called in at a hotel to ask about the danger – the receptionist replied that there was nothing to worry about as ‘only one guest had been stung yesterday and he was now out of hospital’  So there is a down side to paradise!  We decided not to take the risk and checked out some of the other options.  We were too late for most of the boat trips but we met a guy who said we could charter a motor boat belonging to his friend and go on a three hour tour  - which is what we did.

The inland waterway

The boat and friend turned out to be on the other side of the island, about half an hour away but it was interesting to see some of the interior and realise that the roads are in good condition and very uncrowded – there is no public transport so hiring a car would be a viable option for a holiday.  The trip followed a standard route but was none-the-less exciting for that – on the way we caught up with some of the other tour boats but felt quite privileged to have one all to ourselves.

Local Eagle

First we followed a creek inland through mangrove swamps – and marvelled at the beautiful scenery with craggy rocks and untamed jungle coming right down to the water.  Our first stop was to feed eagles – both small red ones and larger sea eagles – they swooped down to pick up chicken skin / tidbits  thrown by the boat drivers.  We weren’t too sure about the ecological correctness of this but decided that at the moment this is a very small operation and probably doesn’t have too much impact – it was great to see the eagles close up anyway!

Local Monkey

We carried on inland and passed through a very low tunnel in the cliffs, all stalactites and stalagmites  – it was like a Disney ride  but this one provided by nature – then we came across a pack of monkeys who were also being fed by the boat drivers  - they were climbing all over the boats and of course were very cute.  At our next stop we left the boat to walk through a cave full of roosting fruit bats.  I should have worried more about disturbing them if I hadn’t seen the ones happy to roost just a few feet above our heads in the walkways at Singapore zoo,  even so it was disturbing to see people taking flash photos when there were signs forbidding it!  Finally we called at a floating bar/restaurant (balanced on a lot of oil drums) which also had a lot of pens with different types of local fish, some of them huge – presumably you can eat  them in the restaurant.  Our trip finished with a high speed drive through open sea back to the starting point where the original guy was waiting to drive us back to the ship – we had been slightly nervous that he might not bother as we had handed over all of the money, but we should have been more trusting.  Obviously the locals are out to make money out of tourists but they do seem to be genuinely nice people as well and we certainly didn’t experience any hassle at all on this island.

Rainclouds gathering

We only saw a small part of the island, but we glimpsed lots of secluded beaches on our tour – and there are other small islands that can be easily visited.  There is also a cable car which takes you up over the rainforest and a Cultural Foundation and Crafts Complex.  I think  Langkawi is a super holiday destination – worth visiting soon before it gets over-developed but if we go we will look for a place with a swimming pool as the jellyfish seem to like these waters.