Having been sick of the sleezyness of the late-night crowd in Georgetown's China-town I decided after 2 days to move on to Langkawi about which I saw a documentary once on the travel channel back in Sydney, for a bit of relaxation time and beach life, and cheap alcohol:-) (so much for my detox:-)).
Just about 3 hours off the coast of Pulau Pinang (i.e. Penang) heading north lies a beautiful limestone cliff and forest archipelago consisting of 99 islands, some of which are mere rocks that vanish at high tide. They islands are part of Malaysia's Keda state in the Andaman Sea, but are adjacent to the Thai border.
The biggest and best known of these islands is Pulau Langkawi which means "Eagle Island" in Malay. It's a duty free island where even locals from Georgetown or Butterworth go every now and then on a weekend-escape from the busy city life, and to buy cheap goods such as alcohol and tabacco. The island comprises a landmass of around 480km2, about 65% of which is covered by rainforest.
Legend has it that the once sleepy island was under a spell cast by a princess, Mahsuri, who lived in the 14th century and was unfairly executed for adultery (white blood was seen gushing out of her wound during execution). With her dying breath, she laid a curse on Langkawi that it would remain barren for seven generations.
Locals believe that Mahsuri's curse did take effect, for Langkawi was soon invaded by the Siamese. To starve the invading soldiers, all rice on the island was collected and burned. However, it was a foolish move, for it backfired on the islanders who were themselves starved to death.
Maybe an interwinging of fact and fiction, Langkawi appearantly stayed desolate for seven generations, and has only recently become one of Malaysia's premier tourist destinations.
But enough of mythology...
I arrived on Langkawi at around 11:30am after one of the worst ferry trips some people might have ever experienced. Half of the passengers if not more were vomitting because the sea was so choppy, and another few spewed up because they couldn't stand the smell. I was lucky, as I had taken a sea sickness tablet an hour before the ferry set off, and was so tired because I didn't catch much sleep the night before, that I fell asleep after only 15 minutes from take off, and hence got told about the action on the boat by the English couple (Fran & Richard) sitting in the row of seats next to me when we arrived.
Fran, Richard and I shared a cab to Pantai Cenang (Cenang Beach) which supposedly is one of the prettiest beaches on the island (it's nice)including a street lined with expensive resort hotels, restaurants, clothing stores and all the rest of it. In case you plan to go there, make sure you have got enough cash on you since there's no ATMs, and there's only one money changer that will change your traveller cheques for a rate that is, of course, much less than on the mainland or in Penang.
We booked ourselves into Gecko's, the only budget accommodation we've heard of, and not listed in any of the travel guides I have nor the accommodation brochure we were handed out at the ferry terminal on arrival. Staff there is a little 'different' (find out for yourselves:-)), but nice, and the place is clean and has a pretty beer garden where the TV junks can even watch England play soccer if they really can't do without it for a few days...
I got myself a little A-frame wooden chalet with ensuite bathroom (note this is VERY simple...but ok) for 35RM a night. The price included putting up with pet-monkey Anny who not only stole my cigarettes, my inscent sticks and candles, but also seized my hammock and knocked over my drink on MY verandah...:-) She probably made my stay...:-)
Day 2 we went to the beach and of course all got sunburnt even though applied 30+ and it was cloudy...so no beach on day 3:-)
There's an Irish bar called Debby's Place which holds a loud welcoming ceremony everytime a new guest enters the premises, and does yummi pizzas for a reasonable price. Also, just opposite Gecko's on the other side of the road (by the beach) is a Chinese seadfood place I can warmly recommend. I had the biggest tiger prawns I've ever seen in my life (realised when they served the meals why it said on the menu you have to order at least '3'...as was wondering which idiot would only order 3 prawns anyway?).
I did a half-day island hopping tour on a speed boat where we visited Pulau Dayang Buntin, Pulau Singa Besar and Pulau Bras Basah in about 4 hours.
Pulau Dayang Buntin is the second largest island of the group, has a unique deep fresh- and salt-water lake, whose appearent 'ice-cold' waters are believed to aid conception if a woman drinks from it. The name translates into "Island of the Pregnant Maiden" and is based on a story of a princess that fell in love with a male genie after he tricked her into it by putting the tears of a mermaid from the sea on his face so she would feel empathy and repricocate his feelings. They married and spent a lot of time in the beautiful spots in and around the lake, and at some stage the princess fell pregant. But unfortunately the child died after only 7 days which is when she found out her marriage was through tickery. She burried her child in the lake and blessed it with magical fertility powers to allow any woman with the genuine with of falling pregant to be able to do so by drinking the lake's water.
My discussions with some island-folk confirms the story is true and the magic spell works, but I can tell you for SURE that the water is NOT ice-cold...maybe need to send the travel book writers to Switzerland for a holiday in the mountains for some time:-)
Whether true or not, the island actually has the physical form of a pregnant woman lying down and you can make out her head, breast, pregnant belly etc. from the boat when you approach. And the lake is nice to swim in! Watch the cheeky monkeys they will take anything off you they can get hold of!!!
We then moved on to Pulau Singa Besar which is a bird and animal sanctuary to see dozens of brown sea eagles feeding (they obviously got allured by the boatsman who threw some small fish into the water for bait - but I got some pretty good shots out of it, so no complaints - not sure the wildlife department is happy about it though...).
Last stop was Pulau Bras Basah, an extremly pretty island with fine white sandy beaches where we stopped for an hour of swimming and sun baking. Really peaceful...
On my second last day I hired a car and did a bit of driving around the island to see what else it has to offer.
I went to pay a visit to the island's Art & Cultural Center to see how hand drawn Batik is made. Note that Batik is not only used for clothing but nowadays also for colourfully decorating curtains, pillow covers, paintings, bags etc.
Hand drawn batik uses a small copper cup and fountain pen like 'janting' with melted wax to draw across the length and breadth of the cloth (usuallyh silk or cotton). Next step is to dye the fabric with batik colours that were originally made of flowers, roots etc. The waxed areas resist the dye, giving the cloth it's unique pattern. The material is then boiled in hot water in order to remove the wax after it has been soaked in a chemical fluid that makes the colour stay permanent.
I've been told that original i.e. hand-drawn batik can be identified by making sure that the patterns and colours are of the same intensity on both sides. Machine batik is coloured on one side only.
I ended up buying a fairly big wall painting of sun flowers drawn on cotton which caught my eye as soon as I entered the gallery. It's just gorgeous! You have to come and see it once I figured out where to live!
Then I headed to the north-west of the island to take the cable car up Gunung Mat Cincang which is the highest peak in Langkawi with 708 meters above sea level. There are two platforms that allow for a 360 degree view of the Andaman Sea and appreantly offer spectacular sunsets but I had nothing but fog and clouds when I got up there:-( and being from Switzerland the cable-car experience didn't really make up for it either...
Next day I went to the northern parts of the island to do some beach hopping. The first beach I got to was Teluk Temurong and it was pretty, picturesque and quiet, i.e. I had it all to myself...awesome! Then moved on to Black Sandy Beach which got it's name yet from another myth of a goddess having turned the sand black after getting upset about a fisherman that lived on the bach and who didn't keep a promise. Final stop was Tanjung Rhu which is a secluded northern beach nestled among mangrove forests and is very scenic and fameous for being the perfect spot for sunset photography.
There's lots of other things to do on the island but I just simply ran out of time...or once again was missing that one person to share the experience with me...and the cost:-) If you can afford it, hire out a sailing boat for an afternoon and sail between the islands, or go diving at Pulau Payar, a marine park only 1 hour by boat from the main island (I couldn't as am still on stereoids due to the eye infection I had back in March...and I really don't want to tempt faith here in South East Asia).
Long story cut short: Langkawi is a beautiful place!
