Simply could not resist the $70 per person return airticket to Langkawi on AirAsia, and spouse and me ended up spending 4 days 3 nights there in the last week of May!!
It has been more than 20 years ago since we last set foot there (stayed at the Pelangi Beach Resort, which is still around after all this time!). While much of the island remains like last time, there have been some major tourist attractions added since then. We visited these places (e.g. cable car, skywalk, Kilim Geoforest Park) and skipped other tourist attractions/activities that we would usually do (like island hopping, snorkelling, Lake of the Pregnant Maiden).
Overall, it was mainly a relaxing beach holiday and having yummy and cheap seafood 🙂
Some photo highlights below, that might entice you to go too!
- Skywalk/cable car area/7 wells waterfall (north of airport, near Pantai Kok)
We spent a full day around the cable car area. Most tourists would definitely visit this location on a trip to Langkawi – it’s very scenic and has several activities in one convenient place. Included in the basic ticket is an entry to the 3D trick art museum (worth a visit, see pictures below), and two other “immersive” shows (a roller coaster 4D experiential type ride, and some space related movie – just keep your expectations in check and you can still enjoy it!).
Next stop was the 7 wells waterfall, further up from the same road that brought us to the cable car area (we had a scooter, so it was very easy to move around – more about that later). The waterfalls are visible from the cable car, and there are two parts to it if you go – the lower part of the falls (left picture) and the top of it, where the “wells” are. The “wells” part is another 10 min walk up stairs to reach from the lower part, but was worth the climb to see the views of the surrounds and to soak in the small pools (i.e. wells) after a sweaty climb.
2. On our second full day there, we visited the mangrove area in the north eastern part of the island. This was another interesting place to go, as we were brought to see several different parts of the Kilim geopark, by boat.
It seems the whole of Langkawi island became the first national park in SE Asia to be given a UNESCO geopark status, in 2007, but it had some trouble during the renewal of its status in 2011 (see this article – Trouble in Paradise). But, it looks like things have been sorted out, and the status is good until 2019, when another assessment is due … (haha, only found this out as I wrote this post!)
It seems part of the problem (of the renewal) involves those very activities that were included in the boat tour – eagle feeding, bat cave … (related to how humans are disturbing the natural habits/habitats, and question marks on sustainability, in essence) …
Over fifty eagles swooping down to feed what the boatman threw into the water!
Bats that have gotten used to lights shining on them, in the Bat Cave
3. During whatever free time, especially before dinner, we just chilled at the nice beaches, and watched the sun set. It helps a lot to either stay at Pantai Tengah (further south, where we stayed, and a quieter beach) or at Pantai Cenang (adjacent beach, just north of Pantai Tengah, and a much busier place if you some nightlife) as these beaches are along the western coast of the island which make for great sunset viewing.
4. Yummy food is a given whenever we go to Malaysia (or anywhere around the world!), but the main difference is how it is almost like eating in Singapore, but costs so much less … 😛
Yup, all in, a very nice short getaway for 4 days for the spouse and me 🙂
And here are some things that might be useful for independent travellers, as we learnt from this trip –
- transport to/from – from where we stayed in Pantai Tengah, we used GRAB, which was really convenient and cheap (RM13 one way)
- Moving about – car rental and motor scooter rental is the way to go, as both rental and petrol costs are really low, and there is no public transport in Langkawi (excluding taxis/GRAB). We had a car for RM75, and scooter for RM25 on each of the full days, excluding insurance (above rates are from 9 am to 9 pm, but can also be for 24 hrs for a small extra fee). The roads are mostly quite empty of traffic, which made it ideal for me to ride the scooter and to make use of my motorbike license from 5 years ago!!! (see for example, this post from 2013-2014).
- If you stay in Pantai Tengah, this place is a pretty good one to do the rentals – T Shoppe – it looks to us the major place to rent around the area, but of course, at other locations, there will also be rental available.
- Choosing a private/group tour to visit places – there are the usual travel agents lined along the streets that advertise tours, and hotels can also do the booking for you. Prices seem to be pretty standard, but it always pays to do some homework before booking.We had a rather unpleasant experience in that our group tour, that included transport to/from hotel that we booked from the hotel, did a no-show on us!! Luckily, there was no issue/fuss at all giving us the full refund at our hotel reception, and we then took to renting a car to visit the mangrove area on our own (and doing a private boat tour too, instead of a shared one).
This actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as it was not too much more expensive, and we got the use of a car for the rest of the day after the mangrove tour!
- So, it may be good to book from your hotel instead of those agents along the streets, if there is not much price difference especially, in case something unexpected like what we experienced happens! Or, at least, try to book from somewhere that you can return to easily to seek redress should things not go right.
And when something “bad” happens, see how it can still be turned into a positive experience! 🙂
While I Live, I Learn 