Currency:
Malaysian ringgit

Highlights:
Milo in a can, finding our own private beach, parasailing

Our Adventure:

Lara and I jumped in an early morning cab to the airport and boarded flight from KL to Langkawi. Langkawi is known as the "jewel of Kedah" and is world famous island for it's intriguing legends and the many wonders of nature that make up this awesome island.

Langkawi comprises a group of 99 tropical islands lying off the northwestern coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The main island is known as Puala Langkawi and the islands are shrouded with an intriguing heritage of myths and legends, which features ogres and giant birds, warriors and fairy princesses, battles and romance.

Day 1:

Upon arrival and after negotiating a price for our rental car (which was soon nicknamed "Dinkie" ) we loaded up our bags and headed for our hotel located a stones throw away from Pantai Tengah (or Tengah Beach) called the Kedawang Beach Inn.

We checked into our room and dropped off our bags and stumbled a few metres from the hotel and into the Oasis of the Beach which is a bar / restaurant that looks out onto Tengah Beach.

As a natural paradise the islands are perhaps unmatched anywhere else in Southeast Asia. The fine beaches offer sun-filled days of complete relaxation and the clear emerald waters around the islands are perfect for a host of watersports and recreational activities.

We had a stroll along the beautiful beach and realised that it was hot. Very hot. So we grabbed a spot in the shade at the Oasis of the Seas and had a lovely lunch looking out on the beautiful stretch of beach and consumed a good few ice cold beverages to try and cool down.

With it maybe even being too hot to lie out on the beach (something I never thought that I would hear Lara or I say) we headed back to the room for a very chilled afternoon in our lovely air conditioned room and only emerged again once the sun had set.

We took a long stroll up and down the road that runs along the beach front which is lined with bars and restaurants. After exploring we finally picked the Little Mexican Restaurant and Cafe for a well deserved ice cold beer and margarita and some great Mexican food before hitting the sack.

You can view our photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=369294&id=713415257&l=a269e5abd8

Day 2:

We woke up the next morning and jumped into "Dinkie" and hit the road for what was going to be a day of exploring the island of Langkawi. First stop was for breakfast on Pantai Cenang (Cenang Beach) at Little Lylia's Chillout Café which was another great spot that looked up and down this long stretch of beach.

We jumped back into "Dinkie" and headed for Kuah which is located on the south-eastern tip of Langkawi and is the islands main town with Kuah Jetty being the take-off point to neighbouring islands. The name Kuah is a Malay word meaning "gravy" and is associated with an ancient legend of two battling giants who overturned a gigantic pot of curry at the spot where the town now stands.

Eagle Square (or Dataran Lang) is Langkowi's most prominent landmark for visitors arriving by sea. Situated near the Kuah Jetty, the main attraction of the square is the reddish brown eagle that is majestically poised for flight. According to local folklore, Langkowi derived its name from the eagle or helang. In old Malay, kawi denotes reddish brown hence Langkowi means reddish brown eagle.

We then headed up the east side of the island where we ventured off the beaten track and we were greeted with Langkawi's natural, undisturbed state. We came across rice fields and grazing buffalos which all give the island its rustic appeal. The landscape of the island is also characterised by limestone outcrops which are blanketed in emerald rainforests. Beautiful.

When we reached the north of the island where we were again driving on the coast line and after discovering a little pullover area we jumped out of the car and decided to do some exploring on foot. We were greeted with the most amazing beach which we had all to ourselves. We lay on the beach, swam, read and relaxed for the better part of the afternoon.

After having our fill of the sun and needing some more air conditioning we jumped back in "Dinkie" and headed to the north west part of the island which was home to the 5 star hotels of the Andaman (Nelson Mandela stayed here on his visit to Langkawi) and the Datai. As the Datai was set in a rain forest we decided to explore this hotel and we walked through the hotels beautiful rain forest setting and onto the beach.

Back on the road we drove past the Langkawi Waterfall which is the highest man-made waterfall in the country at a height of 67 metres. Unfortunately when we drove past there was not so much water and hence there was no waterfall whatsoever which was a bit of a disappointment.

Next stop was the Oriental Village in the Langkawi GeoPark which is home to the Langkawi Cable Car which is described as:
"A must visit place where your journey takes you up a 550 million year old mountain"

The cable car ride was exhilarating and took us to the top of Gunung Machinang where we were greeted with marvelous views of the Andaman Sea and the Langkawi island group, as well as overhanging cliff walls and isolated pinnacles.

The Langkawi cable car ride is 919.5 metres long and it also has one of the steepest gradients in the world at 42 degrees - which is always nice for someone like me who has vertigo.

It was however absolutely breathtaking and well worthwhile and at the middle and top stations there are walking trails and viewing platforms that offer panoramic views. Another impressive attraction here is the 125 metre suspension bridge which is a remarkable feat of engineering and links the cable car station to the Machinang mountain range.

As it was almost sunset we descended the mountain, jumped back in "Dinkie" and headed for Burau Bay and then onto a great hotel called Bonton, which besides having a cool name, is an awesome 5 star hotel. We sat in the garden of Bonton where we had sundowners and treated ourselves to a very nice dinner before heading home to crash after a great day out and about exploring Langkawi.

You can view our photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=369317&id=713415257&l=2be53c984e

Day 3:

As we had discovered Langkawi is perfect for doing everything or nothing at all and it allows you to enjoy nature-based activities or you can simply laze by the beach. Since we had already done all of our exploring, our last day in Langkawi would consist of chilling out on Cenang Beach.

We started the morning off with fresh pineapple juice and toasted ham and cheese sandwiches at Haroo and then we headed to Cenang Beach where we claimed some sun loungers and caught up on our reading. Lara did however take part in some watersports and one of my presents to Lara for Christmas had been to go parasailing which was exactly what she did. Awesome.

We then headed to Perlago Beach Resort where we snuck in a swim at their pool and enjoyed a nice BBQ lunch before heading back to the hotel for some late afternoon chillout time.

Our last dinner in Langkawi began with a lovely walk down the beach and a stop at the Lighthouse where we enjoyed sundowners and a lovely dinner to say farewell to the jewel of Kedah.

You can view our photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=369320&id=713415257&l=c7f794f149

Jumpa lagi (see you again) Langkawi!

Leise + Lara