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Published: March 17th 2007
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Beauty Beyond Just Beaches
We were definitely a little disappointed that we hadn’t given ourselves more time in Kuala Lumpur because it was such a cool, laid back place but it was time to depart for our last Asian beach experience on this leg of the trip. It’s hard to be really upset about leaving a city when you know you are heading to a paradise of beaches and jungle.
The flight to Langkawi was a short one, as all of our flights throughout Asia have been. We really have learned to love the cheap air fare for Asian flights. Air Asia has all sorts of deals for direct flights throughout the peninsula for which we have yet to spend more than $100 US combined to get to our destinations. You can’t fly anywhere in the US for this cheap, even on the so called budget airlines. In some cases they have special promotional deals where you can fly for less than a dollar…awesome!
Langkawi is a group of 99 islands (most visitors - including us - stay on the primary island) is north of Kuala Lumpur, located just of the western coast next to the
Thailand/Malaysia boarder. It’s kinda funny that we literally flew over the island on the way from Phuket to KL but there is just no easy way to get here from Phuket. This truly was the easiest way to get here without too much hassle.
Kel and I were completely surprised by the number of families with 3-6 kids flying from KL to Langkawi. After the plane took off and the raucous noise that is found on any plane with more children than adults started to die down the pilot came on to welcome everyone on board. Suddenly our questions were answered, “We would like to send a special welcome to all of the children flying with us today, we hope you are enjoying the first day of your week long holiday.” Uh-Oh! We were heading to the premiere vacation spot in Malaysia during a school holiday. Sounded like we were heading for one of my lesser versions of Hades…a beautiful peaceful beach with hordes of wild children disturbing my enjoyment. Oh well, what are you going to do, right?
After we arrived at our hotel/resort and checked into our bungalow (which they funnily enough refer to as a
chalet??) we decided to explore a bit. On our way through the island we had noticed that there was a cable car that headed up into the mountains in the middle of the island. Unlike Ko Lanta and Koh Phi Phi, Langkawi has gorgeous full beaches which are mere meters from mountains that are big enough to truly be called a mountain.
We had been warned to watch out for monkeys while we were on the island. Throughout the jungle, which covers the island, are monkeys that are native to Langkawi. If you feed them they will never leave you alone. The hotel was so concerned about the monkeys that they warn all guests to lock their doors and never feed the monkeys or else they will try to get into your room. Unfortunately we only saw these monkeys on our way off the island, but we were warned and therefore were on constant lookout for these wily creatures.
After a quick tram ride to the cable car, we were on our way up to the top of the mountains. Thankfully, the temperature was much more moderate at the top and the views were spectacular. We took a
bunch of pictures and enjoyed the cool air at close to 1000 meters above sea level and then headed back down the mountain.
On the way back down we noticed that there was a petting zoo which appeared to mostly consist of about 50 bunnies. Kel loves zoos in general so of course we had to stop and feed the bunnies. We spent the next 30 or so minutes watching the bunnies romp while we fed them. Kel found a couple that looked like her pet bunny Rocky who she had when she was a kid.
Don’t ask me why there happened to a wild jungle rabbit reserve in the middle of Langkawi. Kel assumed that it had to do with the fact that bunnies are a self-propagating business model. Get a few bunnies and they will take care of the rest…next thing you know you’ll have hundreds.
We spent the remained of our day resting and getting ready for dinner. Surprisingly the sky stays light in Langkawi until almost 9 o’clock so we almost missed dinner the first night. We completely thought that it was 7 pm when it was actually past 8.
Catching Rays and Taking a Break from Travel
We had plans when we first arrived in Langkawi to do more than we had on previous islands. We were going to take boat rides and rent jet skis. Instead, we were completely seduced by the beauty of the beach.
Our first day we grabbed a couple of chairs on the beach that were shaded by a big thatch roof. We could stare out over the bay in front of our resort. We ended up spending the whole day sitting in that very spot. We read, swam in the ocean some and relaxed. It was so nice that we spent the next day doing the same.
It was an incredibly good time. We would get up late, head to the beach. Catch some lunch around noon. Swim between 2 and 4pm and then head back to our room at around 5. After a shower and some TV time we would get dinner and then head to bed. It was amazing…the beauty of the island coupled with a comfortable atmosphere made for the most relaxing experience on our trip.
Despite the number of kids on the resort, we had
a pretty peaceful go of it. There were a few cases where children would come around and be noisy and break the peace but for the most part the kids were at the pool while we were on the beach. One very cute family of Malaysians came out to the beach each day which proved to be an interesting cultural experience for us. We had heard from our cab driver in Kuala Lumpur that all Malaysian school was taught exclusively in English (this is at least true in KL but we can’t confirm that its true in the north). The interesting thing was this family would come out on the beach to play. The parents would always speak Malaysian to each other but whenever they would speak to any of their three kids they would always speak English. What a great way to ensure that children have a future in the world economy. Each child in Malaysia will be able to speak their native language but will be fully capable of working for a multinational company or getting a job in tourism at the very least. Since English has become the standard language of business worldwide, Malaysia is taking a
huge step towards making sure their country will have a future on the world stage.
Outside of some of the cities that we’ve seen, I would have to say that Langkawi is the best place we’ve visited on our journey. Its beauty is unsurpassed even when compared to the other islands we’ve been to on this trip. Unlike Ko Phi Phi and Ko Lanta, Langkawi is still unspoiled which leaves the beauty intact. Anyone who is looking for tropical paradise, I urge you to strongly consider Langkawi.
Well, hope life is treating everyone well. We’re now in Singapore, exploring all there is too see and do. We miss you all!
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Natalie & Andy Irwin
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Remember us?
Hi Mike and Kelley! This is the Irwins. We are the American family you met at the hotel in Sevilla - Andy used to work for Capital One. Anyway, we just got back from our month in New Zealand. It was absolutely amazing. The Kiwis are very friendly! We used the Lonely Planet travel guide which was on the money as far as picking places to stay. If you want more information, just email us at andynat65@tampabay.rr.com. We have really enjoyed reading about your world travels since we saw you at the very beginning of your trip. Adios and Cheers, mates! Natalie, Andy, Peter and John