ITINERARY:
Day 1: Singapore - Langkawi
Day 2: Island Tour
Day 3: Island Tour
Day 4: Langkawi - Singapore
DAY 1 (04 June 2009, Thursday)
On arrival at the Langkawi International Airport at 1030hrs on AK5343, passengers alighted from the open air stairways were made to queue under the hot sun waiting for temperature screening each at a time before they were being allowed entry into the airport building. It was a heaty and sweaty experience for most passengers!
As I got out of the airport, I purchased a taxi coupon to get to Aseania Hotel in Pantai Tengah. The hotel looks like a huge grand palace, like a Las Vegas incarnation of ancient Rome. However, on closer look, it’s an old hotel with worn out furniture and peeling paint on the walls.
The room is spacious, but not very impressive as there’s only 3 television channels.
One reason that I booked this hotel is because of some fantastic reviews I read online, that they have a spectacular outdoor swimming pool, claimed to be the longest in Malaysia at 154m, and an artificial waterfall.
The hotel lies at the intersection at the southern end of Pantai Cenang. So I began my exploration of Pantai Cenang from the south towards the north, with a sumptuous lunch at one of the Chinese seafood restaurant across the road from my hotel.
Pantai Tengah just next to Aseania Hotel is a quiet beach with few resorts and few beach goers. Beach chairs are offered for use at RM10 per chair.
Pantai Cenang is a 2km long beach strip where most of the beach chalets are concentrated. It has a good selection of restaurants, bars, and shops. This has got to be the most happening beach in Langkawi, with holiday makers enjoying a dip in the sea, enjoying the sun, having a beach soccer game, or riding against the waves on a jetski.
At one of the convenience shops, I manage to find a car rental deal for RM60 per day. It was an almost new small little white Perodua Kancil 660-EX with just 4500km on the clock! The Kancil 660EX has a displacement capacity of 659 cc, run on three-cylinder carbureted in-line engine, 29 hp (22.1 kW), five-speed manual transmission, black bumpers and door rub strips at a street price of RM 22,055 in Malaysia.
Street side stall in Cenang in the evening
The Underwater World in Pantai Cenang is just a stone’s throw away from Aseania Hotel. It is Malaysia’s largest aquarium featuring 200 different species of marine and freshwater creatures. I spend like more than 2hrs inside snapping pictures happily.
Sea apple cucumber
Sting ray
Banner butterfly fish
Lion fish
Clown fish
Narrow-lined puffer fish
Yellow sailfin tang
Panther grouper
White spotted jellyfish
Leafy sea dragon
Chambered Nautilus
Giant moray eel
Snowflake moray eel
Blackspot cardinal fish
I headed to Kuah Town for yet another seafood dinner at a Chinese restaurant on an intersection of a dozens duty-free outlets and souvenir shops. Since Langkawi was declared a duty free zone in 1986, the island has received visitors whose intention is for the cheap booze.
DAY 2 (05 June 2009, Friday)
I began the island tour after a hearty breakfast at the hotel. I first drove my little Kancil over to Pantai Kok, where the Oriental Village is situated.
Here in the Oriental Village, you can take a cable car to the top of Gunung Machinchang at 708m above sea level. It offers a magnificent view over Langkawi as well as a nice cooling temperature.
The suspension bridge at Gunung Machinchang is a thrilling walk in the mountains, offering views of Langkawi and the Andaman Sea.
Telaga Tujuh waterfall is 2.5km north of the Oriental Village, and it offers a series of falls (seven to be exact).
After Telaga Tujuh, I was planning to visit Datai beach, but was disappointed that the beach is not open to public. Only residents of the few resorts has access to the private beach at Datai beach. Nevertheless, on the way back from Datai beach, I stopped over at Temurun Waterfall to take a look at Langkawi’s tallest waterfall.
Heading along the clockwise direction on the circumference of the island, my next stop is Pantai Pasir Hitam. This beach is noted for its black sand caused by a spring that deposits mineral oxides.
Just beyond Pasir Hitam at the village of Padang Lalang, there’s a roundabout with a turn-off to the north to Tanjung Rhu. Tanjung Rhu features a couple of 5-star resorts like the Four Seasons Resort with its beautiful private beach.
With Air Hangat Hotsprings Village closed for renovations, I headed to Durian Perangin waterfalls. The short 15mins trek brings me to the top of the falls where a number of kids were swimming at the pool, and some tried to impress me by jumping off the falls when they see me whipping out my camera for photography.
The tallest mountain on Langkawi is Gunung Raya (881m above sea level), and the only access is by a 15min snaking drive to the top. Visibility wasn’t very good when I was up in the mountain as clouds and thick fogs fill the sky.
In the evening, I was back in Kuah Town for a nice seafood dinner at Rootian seafood restaurant (recommended by some locals), before I walked around in Kuah town for some shopping at the duty-free outlets and souvenir shops.
One of the many street stalls in Kuah town.
DAY 3 (06 June 2009, Saturday)
Today is a very free and easy day, so I got up at 8am and took my time at the buffet breakfast, before moving out for more sightseeing at 10am. First on the itinerary is to visit the Langkawi Bird Paradise near Kuah town. The tropical garden houses 150 species of exotic birds, including hornbills and flamingos. It’s the only enclosed walk-in bird park in South East Asia.
Blue gold macaw
White parrot
Lovely parrots
Flamingos
Saltwater crocodile
East African crowned crane
Eagle
White-bellied sea eagle
Smiling ostrich
Cute donkey
Malayan porcupine
I had the entire afternoon free and easy walking around Kuah Jetty and Langkawi Fair shopping mall before I got back to Cenang beach in the evening for some beach fun. Spreading a towel on the sand, I laid on the beach with a couple of duty free beers and watch the beach goers having a game of beach soccer, para-sailing and jetskiing.
On my last night in Langkawi, I had some fantastic seafood at Orkid Restaurant, which happens to be the most popular restaurant in Cenang beach. Food is reasonably priced, and service is excellent.
DAY 4 (07 June 2009, Sunday)
It was check out time after breakfast where I got the hotel to arrange for a taxi transfer to the airport for RM20. From Langkawi, it was a 1hr 20mins short flight back to Singapore on Air Asia flight AK5342.
MORE PHOTOS
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FAST FACTS
Travel Insurance $17
Flight: $79
Accommodation: $106
Transport: $8
Car Rental: $25
Petrol: $7
Tours and entrance fees: $34
Food & drinks: $75
Shopping & Miscellaneous: $19
TOTAL EXPENDITURE: S$370
TRAVEL GUIDES / NEWS / MAGAZINES
Langkawi-Online.com
http://www.langkawi-online.com/
Discover Langkawi
http://www.langkawi.com.my/
My Langkawi
http://www.mylangkawi.com/
Wikitravel - Langkawi
http://wikitravel.org/en/Langkawi
Wikipedia - Langkawi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langkawi
Asia Web Direct
http://www.langkawi-info.com/
MAPS
http://www.malaysiasite.nl/roadmap.htm
http://www.maleisure.com/images/langkawimap.jpg
http://www.langkawi-resorts.com/pelangi/images/map-of-langkawi.jpg
http://www.langkawidiscovery.com/destinations.asp
http://www.apple-holidays.com/images/Malaysia/Langkawi/Malaysia_Langkawi_Map.gif
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