Cenang Beach

Well folks we have moved from the remoteness of the Tanjung Sanctuary down to the very chilled Cenang Beach.

As we had no accommodation booked it was down to the lonely planet guide and gut instinct. While traipsing along the road like a total novice with our heads buried in our lonely planet, which we could barely read with the sweat pouring in our eyes, a local collared us to look at his v v v cheap accommodation. We have to admit the snobs in us came out when we had to walk past the rabid dogs, chikens and ox in the garden to even get to the "chalets", which weren't more than tin huts 8ft by 8ft. We did the typical British thing and politely said we'll think about it and come back.....aye right !!!

We eventually managed to find ourselves a lovely wee beach hut for about 10 pounds a night which we meant that we could wake up each morning, stumble onto the beach without having to look where we were going, so we booked in for two nights.

The first afternoon was glorious and we just took it easy (he he he) strolling along the beach and signed up for a Island hopping tour for the next day. We soon discovered that this was more our kind of place, with plenty more things to see and do but at a chilled pace (you might even say a Sloths pace).

The second morning we woke up to wind and rain, so Dovey gallantly got the Kag in a bag on and marched to find the boat man and needless to say the Island hopping trip was cancelled. Thankfully the weather picked up in the afternoon and we set sail. On the tour bus on the way to the jetty it had already picked up a passenger who decided to become our new best friend. Her name was Julia and she was reekin !! more about her later.

Our first stop on the tour was Miracle lake which was a fresh water lake and as with everything in Langkawi, held a local myth. The lake itself is set behind the Pregnant Lady Mounains and legend has it that a chidless couple, after 19 yrs of unsuccessful effort, they had a baby girl after drinking from the lake. Mum - as I promised I didn't go for a swim or drink form the lake ! When we landed on the Island there was signs to advise against carrying food in plastic carrier bags as there were some rather friendly monkeys waiting for us. But no, one family had failed to read this and a rather chubby child had a bag of Macdonalds, enough to feed a small army (we still can't figure out where he got it from !). I'm sure you can guess where this story is going, yes the monkeys attacked him and torn in about is quarter pounder, meanwhile we were like children trying not to snigger.

The second stop was the eagle feeding, as we mentioned in our earlier blog they are somewhat of a gaurdian and certainly don't feel like an endangered species in Langkawi. We pulled into a small cove and the boatman threw scraps into the water and soon we saw several Eagles swoop in for a feed, quite cool to see.

The third stop was a small Island with another beautiful beach, so no sooner had we landed we were stripped off and in the sea only to hear screams from Julia (we did say we'd get back to her). As we looked back from the water we could see her wrestling for her bag with a couple of monkeys. Everyone piled out of the water to grab the bags as suddenly the beach was bombarded with the rest of the family (monkeys not Julias..thank god). So that was our beachside bliss ruined for the day. Throughout the whole day this Julia women was that drunk that she continually asked us the same questions over and over again mean while we were trying to escape so that it didn't look like we were with her. So Dovey and his slyness (yes Ma Dove your son can be sly) "accidently" got back on the wrong seat on the boat when we boarded to come back so I had to endure the bevvie smells and chat !!

We decided to stay and third night at Cenang so we could soak up some more rays and leave for Penang the next day. Woke in the night to a thinder storm and yes in the morning there was another day of rain, but this time the wind had picked up big time and when we looked out of our window the waves looked mighty big !! (kinda like the movie a Perfect Storm - well we all know I like to exaggerate now and then). We spoke to a women in the travel shop who advised that the weather would add on an extra hour to the ferry trip so that gave us the excuse to say another night and not venture on the high seas.


So after night four we woke up and yes it was raining again but this time we were feeling braver and decided to head to Penang.

We will fill you in on Penang once we have a chance to explore.


We have included a couple of pictires of the fishing villiage the we sailed from and to on the Island hopping tour, it looked like something out of the National Geographic.

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