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Published: August 8th 2007
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Sunset over Pantai Tengah Beach
A tall ship and a lost submarine? Langkawi - Island of Paradise... After spending too many days in KL's Chinatown (Blog:
Kuala Lumpur / Malaysian F1 Grand Prix), we plotted our escape to a resort on the island of Langkawi. Maybe it was the lack of window in our 'home' of the last 7 nights, but we needed some sun.
We had looked at all the islands in Malaysia before deciding to come here. Many of the lesser known islands involved lengthy boat trips that Jason was not ready to face after our experience in Oz (Blog:
Airlie Beach and the Wetsunday Islands) , so this meant that we were limited to islands that we could fly to. Our budget meant that Langkawi and Penang were the cheapest islands to fly to with AirAsia. After much consideration we decided to try Langkawi, even though it is a well established tourist destination. From the UK, a trip to Langkawi can be very expensive, as it is considered an upmarket/honeymooner's resort compared to Penang. We had the chance to fly and stay there for GBP 150 for 5 days for the pair of us, so we decided to give it a go.We
Dinner at the Matahari
All this can be yours for less than GBP 8. chose a resort that sounded a bit quiter than the main resorts of Pantai Cenang and Kauh, but had enough outside restaurants to chose from. We picked Pantai Tengah.
We had booked a last minute deal on the internet to stay at the 4 star Federal Villa. As our taxi drove through Cenang to Tengah, we were getting apprehensive as to what our accommodation may actually be like, as it wasn't costing us that much. However, when the driver pulled into Holiday Villa, it looked very posh and we had to check we were at the right place. The Holiday Villa has only recently taken over the Federal Villa so at present still keeps the two separate names. The Holiday Villa is the main part, with the restaurant, bars and swimming pool. However, the Federal Villa accommodation is only a short walk through the gardens from all of this and in my opinion looked better than the Holiday Villa accommodation (although isn't perfect).
The hotel was very quiet, as we were there at low season. This suited us down to the ground, as we just wanted to chill out after KL, and I suppose escape the backpackers lifestyle
Wedding on the beach at Langkawi
Notice how a number of sunbathers were gatecrashing! for a bit. The beach was lovely and tranquil, with sunbeds and towels provided and no touts at all trying to sell you anything. All the staff were very friendly and helpful. The bar had a happy hour, that allowed me to sample some cocktails for about GBP 1.40. The swimming pool was quite big, with a jacuzzi attached.
We tended to venture out of the resort 'bubble' that you can too easily find yourself in, going off in search of real life. We found that the Malaysian's here were so friendly. They are well versed in dealing with tourists - they are their life blood. Venturing outside the resort we had a plentiful supply of good quality, specialist restaurants offering great traditional Malay food. We generally went out for breakfast across the road at a place called Cactus. Here we got breakfast for 3 pounds as opposed to 10 pounds at the hotel (although the hotel had a buffet breakfast, so you could eat as much as you liked). As a break from spicy food, we also visted an Italian restaurant called L'Osteria, which was nice but the portions were quite small. There was a good Indian restaurant
Pantai Tengah Beach
Gloriously sunny, sandy and not that many holiday makers. next door to the Italian that was better value. However, our favourite restaurant, serving traditional Malay food was Matahari, which was on a complex where its sister restaurant was serving grilled food and a shop that sold some wonderful home furnishings (not that we bought anything, but we were tempted by the silk cushion covers which were beautiful).
At Matahari you can choose to sit at a normal table or in a 'sala' on cushions on the floor. We chose the latter, as it looked much more inviting. The other unusual feature of the restaurant was the wonderfully, friendly, well dressed he-she's that served us. They put me to shame in my slightly creased travelling clothes. The food was exceptional value. I tried the vegetarian platter that cost about 2.50 pounds, and allowed me to sample a number of Malaysian dishes. Jason had the most delicious chicken claypot dish, amongst other side dishes.
A wedding took place on the beach whilst we were lounging in the late afternoon sun. Whilst we were of course curious and wanting to see what was going on, we couldn't believe the number of sunbathers that gatecrashed in their skimpy, tight speedos! Just
what you'd want at your wedding. One guy got so carried away with taking photos, he was within a couple of metres of the bride and groom, blocking the view of the seated guests, whilst wearing the least of anyone on the beach. It was quite an entertaining sight from our respectful distance!
You can tell the people of Langkawi rely on tourism as their major source of income, as they are so friendly and will go out of their way to help you. This made a refreshing change from KL and added to the relaxation that we needed. We'd thoroughy recommend a visit to Langkawi, expecially if you are already in Malaysia and can get a good deal like we did.
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