If you’ve been paying attention over the last few years you will be well aware that we have visited Langkawi several times. So we decided it was high time that one of our favourite Malaysian islands got a write-up. This tale will actually incorporate a few trips to give you a better over-all feeling for the island.
Pulau Langkawi is the biggest of 99 islands in the Andaman Sea situated about 30kms off Peninsular Malaysia and is basically on the border with Thailand. In fact the island can be reached from both Malaysia and Thailand by boat. We prefer to hop on an Air Asia flight from KL on a Friday afternoon to ensure we’re in one of our favourite restaurants, with sand between our toes, for sunset beer. The main town of Kuah does not have enough to hold our attention and who wants to stay in a face-less hotel in town when you can be next to the beach? The most popular stretch of beach is Pantai Cenang where there are loads of guesthouses, hotels, shops, bars and restaurants to choose from. Here the beach is long and wide with a whole host of activities to keep everyone entertained.
Our bay of choice is just over the headland at the beginning of Pantai Tengah where there isn’t as much going on, and the beach is narrower, so it is much quieter. In other words there are no big groups and fewer children! Plus it’s one of the best bays for Langkawi’s often spectacular sunsets. We’re already back to that favourite watering- hole, Oasis! Not only is it a super sunset spot but the food is excellent too and we find a weekend is incomplete without at least one meal here! As luck would have it there is a great little guesthouse, Kedawang, just behind Oasis and we usually try to stay there. The added bonus is that we’re then within easy walking distance of the duty free shop to stock up on beers before returning to KL. We’ve sussed out that we can carry home 4 crates of tins plus a bottle each and it often works out that we save the price of the airfare. Just finished the last cargo so it’s fortunate we’ve already got a couple more trips booked soon into the New Year!!
As I’ve said there is plenty to do and see and with so many islands, organised trips are a good way to see what’s on offer. The first time we visited we joined one where the main focus of the day was to visit Pulau Dayang Bunting and more specifically to go for a swim in Tasik Dayang Bunting. This translates to the Lake of the Pregnant Lady and as with most of Langkawi, and its surrounds, has tales, myths and legends attached to it. The water in the lake is amazingly clear and Steve went off for a swim. Not me though – the water was so clear that I could see just how much out of my depth I would be! The trip also included some snorkelling and an area where they encourage the local eagles and kites to come down to feed. Obviously it was great to see the birds so close but I wish they would feed them fish, as they simply don’t eat chicken naturally.
To be honest you don’t have to leave the main island to be able to take is some good sights and find some wildlife. Langkawi is quite big and car rental is cheap so one of our next visits saw us taking in more of the island by car. It only cost us about a tenner to hire a car for the day and fill it with petrol. There are island tours but it’s always better to go where and when you want and to time activities to miss the coach loads. Once away from the main resort areas and past Kuah the roads are fairly quiet and in fact good to cycle on but we’ll get to that later. Our first port of call was the highest point of the island, Gunung Raya, where we hoped to get good views of the surrounding islands. Unfortunately it was very hazy so we’ll have to try again another day. It wasn’t a wasted journey as we saw some dusky langur monkeys on the way and we had the entire road and views of Langkawi to ourselves.
We carried on up the eastern side of the island and popped in to have a look at the mangrove. There were the usual monitors and macques knocking about and of course you can go looking for more on a boat trip. For some reason we’ve not done that yet – I suppose since we’ve done such trips in so many other places. We set off again to go across the north of the island. This coastline isn’t heavily developed as 4 big luxury resorts have got in there first. It means that the beaches and surrounding forests are still pristine but it makes getting onto all bar one of the beaches almost impossible. Tanjung Rhu is probably on the best beach plus you look out towards a couple of small islands and luckily there is a public section of beach there too. The rest of the journey took us through some lovely agriculture, rubber plantation and paddy field areas. Even though we’d been out most of the day we still hadn’t seen the entire island.
During yet another trip to Langkawi we were lucky enough to stay in one of the posh resorts, The Andaman, where the rainforest comes down to meet the beach. We only got to stay there because they had a half price offer on – it was still extremely expensive by our standards but just snuck into the birthday treat category. It was well worth it since we had dusky langurs virtually in our room at the back, and from the front window we could watch loads of birds, lizards and flying lemurs. When building the hotel they tried to cut down the absolute minimum trees and plants so you feel like you’re in the jungle , but of course surrounded by 5* trappings. The pool is particularly well designed and they have left a small island of rainforest in the middle.
It all sounds too perfect to be true doesn’t it?! Well there are drawbacks if your budget doesn’t normally stretch to those sorts of places – the price of food and drinks and you’re stuck in the middle of nowhere. With knowing the island and its taxi fares we knew it would be cheaper to hire a car for 24 hours to get there and back. That also meant that we could sneak our own beer and wine into the mini-bar in the room. The evening meal prices were astronomical and we were seriously thinking it would have to be a pot noodle from the shop when I glanced at the room service menu. Now I always thought that room service came at a premium price but this was reasonable and of course we wouldn’t have to fork out for a glass of wine at their prices as we already had a bottle chilling in the fridge. It turned out to be an inspired move - the meal was wheeled in on a huge table fully decorated just as if we’d gone down to the restaurant. The waiter removing the silver dome to reveal the meal just topped off the experience. Another G&T darling – what, what!!
Meanwhile back in the real world and back to our usual mode of transport – the bicycle. We’ve hired bikes a couple of times to explore the southern coast more but always seem to forget just how poor the bikes are. Our last visit saw us trying again and this cycle tale is the best of the lot. Having conquered Kilimanjaro since the last time we set out on bone-shakers we decided to embark on a much more ambitious loop - 80kms in fact. Initially the bikes didn’t seem to be too bad as they had brakes, the tyres were pumped up and I even had gears. Once we hit the slightest of inclines we quickly learnt that the bikes were of as shocking a standard as ever. Still we were on our way and weren’t going to be defeated by a small hillock.
We knew the first part of the journey wouldn’t be very exciting but we were headed for that lovely beach up at Tanjung Rhu I’ve already told you about. We’d just reached the roundabout near the turn-off when Steve’s chain decided to snap and tumble to the road. Ah good! Never mind there was a cycle repair shop nearby and we soon had it cobbled together and were on the lovely little side lane past the mangrove to our initial destination. Typically we were just over half way down the lane and about as far away from the bike hire shop as we would be all day when the chain snapped again. What to do! We decided to carry on and push the bikes to the beach knowing that we’d be able to get it fixed again on the way back. We had intended to sit and relax for a while but were worried about the broken chain and how we would get back if it couldn’t be fixed again.
Being the kind soul that I am I volunteered to let Steve hold onto my bike as I pedalled the two of us along the lane. In the end it worked better with Steve clinging onto my rucksack but have you ever tried it? It sounds and looks easy and I thought once we got some momentum going it would be tough but not too bad. I have to say it’s one of the toughest 4km stretches I’ve ever cycled! As strong as my little legs are they did not find it easy towing 2 poor quality bikes each with a person plonked on top. We finally made it back to the bike repair shop and as luck would have it they had a new chain. Decision time – do we double back knowing there are plenty of repair shops, should we be unlucky enough to need one again, or carry on with our big loop? You guessed it – we carried on and the journey back was uneventful but very enjoyable; looking at the paddy fields, buffaloes, monitors, eagles, hornbills and macaques. We even managed to persuade the bikes to get up the steeper hills without us having to get off and push or losing any more parts.
This isn’t an exhaustive account of Langkawi as we haven’t tried all the activities ourselves – although I fear I’ll never get Steve on the cable car! Sunset catamaran cruises, go-cart racing, elephant rides, quad bikes and a whole host of other things are available too. However sometimes, after a hard week’s work, it’s nice just to potter around, have a dip in the ocean, people watch and enjoy the sunset. Especially as it’s duty free!
Travel Tips
We have stayed in quite a view places on langkawi and would suggest the following.
Sunset Beach Resort on Pantai Tengah - nice chalets in a garden on a lovely beach. Breakfast included and there is a great beach bar/restaurant next door called Oasis. RM160 upwards.
http://www.sungroup-langkawi.com/sunset/rates.html#rates-title
White Lodge - not on the beach but set in padi fields 2 mins walk from Oasis. Big clean rooms with fridge and kettle. We paid RM 75 off season.
http://www.langkawi-online.com/pages/2-star-resort/white-lodge-motel.php
If you want ot be right on Pantai Ceneng try Malibest resort. loads of different types of rooms from cheap to expensive tree houses. The staff are a bit slow but great location.
http://www.langkawi-online.com/pages/2-star-resort/malibest-resort.php
Right behind Oasis restaurant is Kedawang Beach Inn, so steps from the beach but set in a secluded garden. Big rooms have balconies and fridge, kettlke and tv etc. Also a kitchen available. About RM100.
http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Kedawang-Beach-Inn/Langkawi/19076
The only treat we've had was The Andaman and if you are a Malaysian or Singaporian resident check out their half price deal for RM450 - a steal but take your own booze. it a bautiful hotel in the jungle and on the beach so best of both worlds.
http://www.theandaman.com/
I lie, the other treat we had was a day on a catamaran, an experience not to miss. So go ahead and book a day with Bea and Carl on their yacht. RM 299 a head.
www.rampantsailing.com tel. 1025915836
You must eat at Oasis restaurant on Pantai Tengah and have a beer or cocktail there while watching the sunset. For more beers try Debbie's Irish bar opposite Malibest, about as Irish as me, but great friendly staff. For footy with commentry and cheap beer try Murali's bar (that's the name of the owner and not the name of the bar which is chill out something or other i think)on the junction going down towards the Lighthouse restaurant.
