Langkawi (also known as the jewel of Kedah) is best known as a resort island with a handy duty-free status. It is a very popular destination for honeymooners and has stunning tropical forests that were recognised by UNESCO, awarding it World Geopark status. Before we moved to London for a couple of years, we thought it would be good to fit in one more trip to a tropical island. The alternative was to spend the last three days in Malaysia gorging our stomachs at hawker stalls - so it was a tough choice.
Langkawi Ferry Services
The ferry to Langkawi didn't compare with the sailing experience in a historic tall ship (Solway Lass) in the Whitsunday islands that we had enjoyed three months ago. It fit its purpose as a means of transport and docked at the port during the evening. This resulted in a scary taxi ride in darkness (Langkawi lacks good street lighting) to our hotel. Scary is a relative term on the island - whilst there is less traffic than the mainland, there are more driving hazards - cows walking freely across the roads, tourists let loose on scooters and a lack of mobile phone reception to call for help if anything did happen. We witnessed our taxi driver doing a hit and run on a cat.
Awana Porto Hotel
We stayed at the Awana Porto hotel based on recommendations from friends that had visited for their honeymoon. On the first night we took advantage of Langkawi's duty free status to buy up a stash of supplies and then hang out on the promenade while the mosquitoes feasted on our legs. The hotel's atmosphere was fairly quiet as we were travelling in the low-season and located away from the main tourist strip. This wasn't an issue for us as we were ensured privacy and perfect for a romantic relaxing stay.
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| The promenade outside the hotel |
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| View from our hotel room |
Panorama Langkawi Cable Car
An affordable form of transport around Langkawi is to hire a taxi for the entire day for a set rate (5.5 hours for 100 Ringgit) organised through the hotel. It was a very special day for the hotel as the Sultan of Kedah was arriving for a visit. We considered hanging around like a groupie and waiting for his grand entrance; but decided against it when we saw the fleet of police and security - little chance for any commoners like us to get anywhere near the monarch.
Our first stop was at the cable car attraction that has the reputation of being the steepest in the world. The cable car had two stations, the higher one leads to a viewing platform where we had excellent views of the Machincang mountains.
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| Stunning view of the mountain range |
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| On top of the world - at a sightseeing point after the first cable car trip |
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| Mei smiling innocently before trying to rock the car cabin |
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| Its a long way down |
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| They sky bridge- designed to inspire vertigo |
Langkawi Crocodile Farm
The next stop was to visit the crocodile farm - an interesting experience to see these huge specimens up close. Each day the handlers showcase the tricks they have trained the crocodiles to perform. This takes a lot of hours of practice and trust that the reptile isn't going to have a change of heart and not bite your head off.
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| Trust between man and man-killer |
Floating Seafood Restaurant
The third attraction of our sightseeing day was to visit the floating seafood restaurant for lunch. The restaurant is accessible by boat that is provided by the restaurant free of charge. As it also doubles as a fish farm, the ingredients used in the dishes was fresh and tasty. |
| Lunch at the floating seafood restaurant |
Red Sky Restaurant, Pantai Cenang
Our night in downtime Langkawi was spent at the main entertainment strip - Pantai Cenang. We stopped by the Red Sky restaurant where after almost two weeks of spicy Malaysian street food, we were overjoyed to eat comfort style western food including lamb shanks. Red Sky had some amazing cocktails on the menu that we sampled with enthusiasm.
Awana Porto Spa Services
Spending a day nursing a hangover is always made better by booking into a 5 hour couples spa treatment for 480 Ringgit (approximately $160 AUD). We were massaged, scrubbed, pampered with facial treatments - a relaxing experience that we both fell asleep on a number of occasions and left the day-spa feeling very relaxed.
Duty Free Shopping
We headed out for some duty-free shopping in the town of Kuah. The Billionaire shopping group sold cans of Heineken for 1.80 Ringgit which is $0.60 AUD and a 1 litre bottle of Johnny Walker Black for the equivalent $75 AUD. This was all tempting and Olie considered what clothes we could jettison to get the weight of our luggage to accommodate another 4 litres / 4kg. However, in hindsight it was lucky that we didn't make the purchase as our final weight on check-in at KL Sentral on route to London tipped 49kg (~ 4.5 kg over for each of us) and we were lucky we didn't get booked for excess baggage.
Hawker Food
On our last night in Langkawi we were very conscious of what we ate, as the possibility of an upset stomach from eating street food (that seemed a good idea at the time) on a long flight to London was something we wished to avoid. Dinner was at a hawker store selling Chinese food that had the tourist bus trade covered. Busy and clean - it ticked the boxes for what you should consider when eating out in Asia. Prawns and pork, fried Chinese vegetables tasted delicious and we headed back to our hotel to pack for an early Air Asia flight the next morning.
Air Asia Flight to KL LCCT Airport
Our Air Asia flight was short and comfortable, aided by the additional comfort pack of eye patch and blanket that took away the budget edge. Our arrival into KL's LCCT airport coincided with the Malaysian Grand Prix. Luckily our bus was heading back to the city for one more night in Mei's relative's house; as opposed to the queues of traffic down the highway from the Sepang circuit. We saw people who ditched their cars in the 3km traffic jam and chose to walk to the circuit.
Malaysian Airlines flight to London Heathrow
On our last night in Malaysia, we felt a bit anxious that the day had finally arrived when we would be heading to London - and neither of us had travelled to the UK or Europe before. After a night of packing, weighing, unpacking and getting rid of 5kg of clothes that were suitable for warm Malaysia but not early Spring London - we felt ready to leave.
At 7am the next morning we were on our way to KL Sentral to catch the train to the airport. As we were flying the national carrier, we were able to check in our luggage at the train station. This gave us more time at KLIA to spend the last notes of our currency (on blocks of swiss chocolate) - no turning back as we were finally on our way to London.
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The buzz of alcohol gave us the courage to continue the night at a Karaoke bar attached to attached to the hotel - Eagle Rock. A live band was providing the background beats whilst tipsy patrons were attempting the vocals - which is exactly how we ended up singing two of our requests in front of the crowd - Smooth (Rob Thomas / Carlos Santana) and Living on a Prayer (Bon Jovi).
We gotta hold on to what we've got
It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not
We've got each other and that's a lot for love
We'll give it a shot
Spending a day nursing a hangover is always made better by booking into a 5 hour couples spa treatment for 480 Ringgit (approximately $160 AUD). We were massaged, scrubbed, pampered with facial treatments - a relaxing experience that we both fell asleep on a number of occasions and left the day-spa feeling very relaxed.
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| Our day spa |
We headed out for some duty-free shopping in the town of Kuah. The Billionaire shopping group sold cans of Heineken for 1.80 Ringgit which is $0.60 AUD and a 1 litre bottle of Johnny Walker Black for the equivalent $75 AUD. This was all tempting and Olie considered what clothes we could jettison to get the weight of our luggage to accommodate another 4 litres / 4kg. However, in hindsight it was lucky that we didn't make the purchase as our final weight on check-in at KL Sentral on route to London tipped 49kg (~ 4.5 kg over for each of us) and we were lucky we didn't get booked for excess baggage.
Hawker Food
On our last night in Langkawi we were very conscious of what we ate, as the possibility of an upset stomach from eating street food (that seemed a good idea at the time) on a long flight to London was something we wished to avoid. Dinner was at a hawker store selling Chinese food that had the tourist bus trade covered. Busy and clean - it ticked the boxes for what you should consider when eating out in Asia. Prawns and pork, fried Chinese vegetables tasted delicious and we headed back to our hotel to pack for an early Air Asia flight the next morning.
Air Asia Flight to KL LCCT Airport
Our Air Asia flight was short and comfortable, aided by the additional comfort pack of eye patch and blanket that took away the budget edge. Our arrival into KL's LCCT airport coincided with the Malaysian Grand Prix. Luckily our bus was heading back to the city for one more night in Mei's relative's house; as opposed to the queues of traffic down the highway from the Sepang circuit. We saw people who ditched their cars in the 3km traffic jam and chose to walk to the circuit.
Malaysian Airlines flight to London Heathrow
On our last night in Malaysia, we felt a bit anxious that the day had finally arrived when we would be heading to London - and neither of us had travelled to the UK or Europe before. After a night of packing, weighing, unpacking and getting rid of 5kg of clothes that were suitable for warm Malaysia but not early Spring London - we felt ready to leave.
At 7am the next morning we were on our way to KL Sentral to catch the train to the airport. As we were flying the national carrier, we were able to check in our luggage at the train station. This gave us more time at KLIA to spend the last notes of our currency (on blocks of swiss chocolate) - no turning back as we were finally on our way to London.
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