Langkawi, Malaysia

The journey to Langkawi from Krabi was one of those travelling experiences which everyone should have at some point to make you appreciate the times when things do go swimmingly!!...We had arranged and booked our journey the day before with a travel agent and it all seemed fairly organised, until the journey actually begun! We were picked up from our respective hotels at 6.30am approx thinking that we were being taken by minivan all the way to Satun port, but when the bus stopped in Hat Yai the bus driver told us all to get off and get all of our luggage. He took us in to a public bus station where he tried to get us on a bus to satun, but the company wanted extra payment from him for all of our luggage (we had already paid in full for our journey) so we all got back on the minibus with our luggage! He drove us to another bus station in Hat Yai and left us there with a guy who was selling the bus tickets. After much chasing and harrassing of the bus driver, who left us here and walked off without a word, he said that this other guy would organise us a bus to Satun port and that it was already paid for etc. But time was ticking and we wanted to get the 1.30pm ferry to Langkawi (as we were told we would) as the next one wasn't till 3.30pm. So we tried to hurry it all along and eventually we got put on another minivan to the port at Satun - although he still wanted to charge us extra for our luggage!! This bus finally fropped us off at the port which couldn't have seemed like a longer journey as there wasn't a centimetre of leg room available to anyone. The port was very organised and at the ticket counter we handed over the small envelope we have been given en-route to the port by some random person on the way - the envelope did indeed have exactly the right amount of cash in it for the ticket!! We skipped through customs and the ferry crossing (3.30pm!) was a very smooth and relaxing hour or so after the tedious journey to get there!

When we arrived at Kuah port on Langkawi we easily got a taxi with some people who had been on this journey with us, to the most lively area of the island (apparently). Vic and Jo looked after the bags on the beach whilst Mum & I went to find us 3 nights accommodation...except it was Hari Raya; a festival to mark the end of Ramadan and therefore a public holiday! After being told in almost every hotel/guest house in the town that they had something available for that night, they were all booked up for the night after!! After Mum and I were exhausted Vic and Jo set off in various directions to also try their luck...and Vicky got lucky! By this point it was dark and about 9pm so we dumped our bags and went to the very colourful "Taj Mahal" restaurant for curry and beer...and boy did we need it!

We had a chill out day on our first day in Langkawi, which suited the public holiday very well and so we managed to have a good walk around the area, a sit on the beach and a lovely dinner on the beach in the evening. On our second full day we went on a boat trip in the morning. We went to see "pregnant lady island" and to a fresh water lake where there was a few monkeys - which were good at stealing food from unsuspecting tourists who passed by. We then drove to the mangroves and were treated to seeing eagles feeding and circling above us. From here we went to a deserted island with beautiful water and cute little sandy bays...and violent monkeys. Just as we were walking to a nice quiet spot of beach a couple of monkeys sprang upon us and ripped an open can of Sprite from Mum's clutches, and at the same time I heard Vicky ley out a little squeal as another of the naughty monkeys ripped a packet of biscuits from her too! We ate the remainder of our snacks actually in the sea!! The next day we left langkawi for Tanah Rata in the Cameron Highlands.