Langkawi, Malaysia
- Tara Larkai
- Dec 7, 2014
- 5 min read
Flying Malaysian airlines was not as scary as we thought. Of course before we booked the flights we contemplated on whether or not it was a good idea given their recent history with flight disappearance and bombing. But the truth is you can die anywhere so we thought we would take a chance after all we take a chance every time we fly on any airline. One thing I found interesting while flying Malaysia was that right before take off, they display a brief prayer on the monitor for a safe journey. Being a Christian, I really enjoyed that. I believe this is also because Malays are predominantly Muslims.
Before I get into our shenanigans, you are probably wondering who or what exactly is Langkawi? Well, Langkawi is an archipelago made of over 99 islands situated in the andaman sea. It's west of Malaysia mainland and adjacent to the thai border. Why did we choose to go there instead of mainland Malaysia or Kuala Lumpur, well because when people visit Malaysia, they often visit the most popular places such as Kuala Lumpur. We wanted to see & experience a different part of Malaysia that most people don't know about. After doing a lot of research it turned out that Langkawi was far more fun than the mainland. Flying from Phuket to Langkawi was a bit tiring as we had a 5 hour layover in Kuala Lumpur. Oh by the way, Kuala Lumpur has one of the best airports I have ever been to. Immigration officers are fairly nice and polite and there is a full blown designer mall inside the airport. Not one of those duty-free stores, an actual shopping mall. It was about an hour and half flight from Kuala Lumpur to Langkawi. Langkawi airport is so cute. But bigger than phuket airport I guess. Taxi service is very controlled at the airport. There is a fare list for every location and bargaining is highly discouraged. I guess it's safer this way. It was late at night around 11pm when we arrived therefore we did not really get to see a lot during our ride to our hotel, Bella Vista in Kuah. One thing that stood out during our drive is that they have a lot of outdoor bars. We call them "spots" in Ghana and they all seemed to be decorated with bright Christmas lights. I guess the Christmas lights is supposed to help them stand out. After checking in, we were starving. We walked out to one of the nearest "spots". Their specialty was the black pepper fish. One of the best things I ever had. We chose a fish, they weighed and grilled it with their black pepper sauce. The sauce tasted a bit like Ghanaian shito. Paired with their seafood fried rice...omg my mouth is watering just thinking about it. It was a great start to our adventure in Langkawi.
Next day, after a very weak breakfast buffet, we headed to our island hopping adventures. I say weak because there weren't a lot of options to choose from. I guess we were spoiled with the breakfast from Bangkok and Phuket. We booked our island adventures with the hotel concierge. They picked us from our hotel to the marina where we boarded a speed boat with a few others.
The weather was not too bad but could have been better as it was a bit cloudy and we needed the sun to enjoy the beach. I can't remember the name of our first stop but it was beautiful. Beautiful white sands, emerald green waters ( well the water looks the same everywhere) but it was secluded. There was nobody there except for the island hoppers. That island is actually a dwelling for monkeys. We saw a bunch of them . They were friendly and completely harmless. Words cannot describe the beauty of this place. It makes you realize how small of the world you occupy. Our next stop was to feed eagles at an abandoned island. We then headed to the pregnant maiden islands. The islands really did look like a pregnant woman hence the name. Our last stop was the Dayang bunting island where we had the option of participating in water sports such as jet ski's, banana boat, snorkeling and paddle boating. We chose to do the paddle boating on the pregnant maiden lake. It was soo much fun. We headed back to the Marina afterwards.
As soon as we arrived, the pictures that we took prior to boarding had been printed on a plate for sale. Damn they work fast! They were so cute, we couldn't help but buy it.
We spent the rest of the day in Panthai Cenang, the tourist part of Langkawi. Things there are much more expensive especially food and drinks but there is so much more to do there. The beaches there were lively and there is variety of cuisines to choose from such as mexican, Indian, moroccan, thai, turkish etc. There's even a Mcdonalds and KFC there. lol
Langkawi cable car and sky bridge are the most popular attractions in Langkawi so of course we were not going to leave without visiting this place. Unfortunately, the sky bridge was closed for renovations. It has been closed for a couple of years now I hear. But it is supposed to offer some of the best views of Langkawi. The cable car ride view was equally as beautiful. This attraction is located in Kedah at Machincang mountains. So there are three stations to the cable car ride. The base station is at the bottom in the oriental village were tickets are purchased for the ride. At this point, you will be given opportunities to take pictures and offered an opportunity to purchase binoculars. Do Not buy them. We made the mistake and spent money on them and didn't even need them. From the base station we were taken to the middle station. Being afraid of heights, it was a little unsettling in the beginning especially because of a little shaking but the view of the mountain and the sea was so beautiful, it made me feel at ease.
We were made to get out at the middle station to take pictures. At 650 meters above sea level. They have professional photographers there and take pictures of you at all angles. The pictures are framed and then sold to you. Make sure to take plenty of cash because you are going to fall in love with all the pictures from each station. They get pricey though. You are also free to explore the middle base. There were several viewing areas where we were even challenged to take selfies.
The top station was my favorite part. The panoramic view of mancingchang was gorgeous. There were stairs leading to the top of mancinchang and a cafe up there. It was such a great experience.
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