Travel Around Langkawi Island (21 - 23 Sep 2007)

After last year unforgetable trip to Langkawi Island, we planned to go to Langkawi Island again this year as we had a complimentary hotel voucher which helped to save the hotel cost. This time our Langkawi trip's main purpose was to help Boon to practice his photography skills using our DSLR camera and at the same time for us to relax.

:: DAY 1 ::

Our flight was at 10.20am which had been delayed from its actual schedule at 8.45am. Anyway, the delay didn't affect our trip much. We reached the Langkawi Airport about 11.30am. After took our luggage, we then went to rent a car. Like last year, we chosen a Wira with the price RM100 for 2 days. After refuel the car, we then drove about 30mins to our first destination which was the Air Hangat Village. Its entrance fee is RM4 per adult but we entered the village free due to the village was under construction. What we saw only a Malay style wooden house, a few small hot water pools and a 18m-high carved river stone mural, which depicts the well-known legend of the earth-shattering battle between Mat Cincang and Mat Raya. After that we drove about 10mins from Air Hangat Village to the Bird Park (Bird Paradise). The entrance fee is RM12 per adult (by showing the NRIC). It isn’t only a bird park, it also consists of multiple kinds of wildlife. What we saw in the Bird Park was different kind of birds (parrots, flamingos, etc.) and different kind of wildlife (monkeys, bears, crocodiles, ostriches, etc.). Something very amazing and attractive was the ostriches. It was my first time to have a very close look at the ostriches. They were so tall and huge. Unfortunately, the sky was started to raining the time we were watching the ostriches. So pity! There was no rain shelter for the ostriches to rest. They could only sit down together under the rain. After finished visiting the bird park, we went into the Bird Park shopping mall to buy some chocolates and drinks. After that we drove back to Awana Porto Malai to check in. We took a short snap in the room, and then we drove out to Pantai Cenang. We walked along Pantai Cenang to Pantai Tengah to enjoy the sea view. Along the seaside we could see a number of villas, chalets and resorts. There were parachuting and water sports activities (banana boats, jet skis, water skiing, etc.). Due to the weather was a bit blurred, we couldn’t really see the sunset. The sun was hidden behind the clouds. That was bad! We spent more than 2 hours time at the seaside, we then walked back to the place where our car parked to get back to the hotel.

:: DAY 2 ::

The weather was quite good in Day 2 but the sky still looked blurred. We woke up at 8am to continue our Day 2 journey. We went to the Oriental Village which the Machincang Geopark was located in. The sky was so hot in the morning. So we didn’t go to the Machincang Mount as which we had been there in our last year trip. So we were just shooting photos around in Oriental Village. We spent about an hour there, and then we drove towards the Seven Wells Waterfall. On our way to Seven Wells Waterfall, we met a large road blocker which was a cow. =_=” Anyway, we were still able to reach our destination. When I got down from the car, I was shocked seeing so many monkeys around. It was a monkey territory! Scary! Those monkeys were not only blocking the road but also blocking the staircases. We couldn’t continue our steps until those monkeys left. At the moment waiting for the monkeys to left the staircases, Boon was taking that opportunity to take photos on them. They had many funny actions and were caught by Boon. Haha… Finally after 15mins, those monkeys left. We continued towards the waterfall area. The waterfall was looking as beautiful as it was last year. What a hot day! We changed our swim suites and immersed ourselves into the crystal clear water. It was a Saturday. Hence there were a number of visitors to the waterfall. We met people from Seremban and also foreigners from Japan and other countries. After 2 hours at the waterfall, we changed our clothes and left. Our next destination was Temurun Waterfall. On the way to Temurun Waterfall, we dropped by the Pantai Kok. Finally I saw the Summer Palace from far as which I couldn’t able to find it last year. Summer Palace was the place where the film ‘Anna and the King’ set there. Hence, it becomes a tourist place. We didn’t visit it as it needs entrance fee of RM3 per adult. We continued our way to Temurun Waterfall. We could see the 30m waterfall from the car park opposite the entrance to the waterfall. Wow! It looked great! We could hear the sound of the waterfall along the way we climbed to reach the waterfall area. When we reached the waterfall, it was so amazing! The picturesque of the waterfall looked like we were in the fairy tale world. The water looked much clearer than Seven Wells Waterfall. We didn’t take bath there. I only immersed my feet into the water while Boon was busy shooting photos. We only spent an hour there then left. We then went to the Sandy Skulls Beach. Boon likes that beach very much as it was a very clean and with white soft sand. The beach looked bright & charming under the hot sun. There wasn’t a lot of people there comparing to our last year’s visit to the beach. We only spent about 15mins taking photos there. We went back to the hotel to take bath as we wanted to go to the Eagle Square and Kuah town. We reached Eagle Square about 7.30pm. The sky was growing darker and the huge eagle statue was shining with the lights. We spent about 30mins taking photos there. Then we drove to the Langkawi Fair Shopping Mall which was located in front of the Billion Hypermarket and opposite the Legendary Park. We didn’t buy anything there. We only walked around the shopping mall. After that we went to the Kuah town. Boon was planning to buy a pair of sport shoes. We went to a large Nike shop in the town and there Boon was able to buy a pair. After that we looking around the town to find if there was any duty free shop which I could get the biscuits that Collen requested. It wasn’t disappointed me at all. There were a lot of duty free shops selling chocolates and alcohol. I walked to few shops and finally I found the biscuits for Collen. Collen, you were so lucky! It was about RM3 cheaper than in KL. I also bought some chocolates to bring back to KL. Hooo… After finished shopping, it was a bit tired. We drove back to hotel.

:: DAY 3 ::

It was the last day in Langkawi. We woke up quite late as we were not rushing for our journey. Our flight to back KL was 8.15pm. We decided to spend our morning time at Awana Hotel’s area to take photos before we check out. After checking out from Awana, we took our way to Gunung Raya which was the tallest peak in Langkawi. To drive thru the winding road to the peak of the mount, we need to pay RM0.50 per car as the toll fee. Before you drive toward Gunung Raya, please make sure your rented car has enough of petrol to drive about 15km upwards to the peak and 15km downwards to the foot. As from the information I read regading to Gunung Raya, it has a tea house, a museum and an art gallery. But what we found there was, nothing was available for us to see, except the sea view. The lookout tower and the lookout point were not available for us to enter. The Gunung Raya peak was having construction at the time we went there. That was a bad news to us. We could only see the blurred sea view and the cloudy sky. It was a disappointed visit for me. After finished photography at Gunung Raya, we drove to Tanjung Rhu Beach which was our last destination of our trip. We only stayed there for about 15mins as there was nothing to see and we had been visiting this beach last year. So we took a long road to go to the airport. We returned the car and we had our dinner at Kenny Rodgers restaurant inside the airport.

Travel Around Langkawi Island (16 - 18 Nov 2006)

It has been a very long time that both of us not going to Langkawi Island. We were so excited. We spent so much for this trip to get our camera gadgets like tripod, 1GB Memory Card and battery. We really were bleeding a lot! Our flight was at 10.30am. We took cab from our house at about 6am to KL Sentral. From there we took bus to LCC Terminal. We reached LCCT about 7.30am and we needed to wait for an hour for the check-in time, so we went to take breakfast at the restaurant opposite McDonalds. After finished the breakfast, was about the time to check-in. Boon took the camera to shoot few photos before we proceed to the check-in counter. After checking-in, I suggested we could go to the departure waiting hall since nothing to do. Ooo, it was boring there! So Boon was playing with the camera. The airport, airplanes, people and ME became his shooting targets. =_=" Finally, it was time to queue. Wow! Quite a number of people going to Langkawi. This was my first time to take Airasia airplane. The interior was clean but the seats were a bit narrow. Anyway, Airasia is budget airline, can't request much. :-P The flight took about 50mins to reach Langkawi Airport. The first thing we did after entering the arrival hall was to grab all the information brochures provided free at the airport then we proceed to the car rental counter. There has few booths for renting car and also activities packages services for visitors to choose. We rent a Proton Wira for 2 days with RM140.
This was the Airasia airplane that we took.	Finally we reached Langkawi Airport.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Day 1 -----------------------------------------------------------------
After we got the car from the car rental people, we went to the nearest petrol station to refuel the car. We refuel RM60 petrol. Due to we could only check into the hotel at 2pm and it was about 12pm, so we started our journey to Durian Perangin Waterfall which is located at the east Langkawi. Boon drove; I read the map and guided the way. Langkawi's roads are quite nice to drive, less traffic and not complicated. We reached the car park of the Durian Perangin Waterfall about 12.40pm. It was a hot day and only a few cars parked there. There were two Malay restaurants at the entrance. We took a short distance walkway which will pass by a few pavilions for resting purpose to reach the lower tier pool. We saw few kids were enjoying swinging on the cables and swimming in the water. Unfortunately, the water wasn't clear and wasn't able to attract me to jump into it. :-P We just stayed there for an hour and left for the next destination. Our next destination was Tanjung Rhu Beach which was about 15 mins drive distance from Durian Perangin Waterfall. We saw a lot of cars parked nearby the beach. There were two rows of wooden shops doing restaurants or selling clothes. There were people selling activities packages as well. The beach was so beautiful and so clean. The sand was soft and purely white. The biggest attraction to me was the limestone formations of the nearby islands. They looked so cute. We took a lot of photos on the beach until the sky was drizzling. Then we went to 1 of the restaurant there to have our lunch. We enjoyed our lunch there until the sky stop raining. We continued our photos taking session there until 4pm then left the beach. Our next destination was the Black Sand Beach (Pantai Pasir Hitam). Unfortunately, the beach was very disappointed me. It was very dirty and oily. It wasn't well maintained at all. Anyway, there is a small market selling clothes, souvenirs, shoes and snacks. We weren't staying longer there as there had nothing for us to see. So we left and went to Awana Porto Malai to check-in. Before we go to Awana hotel, we stopped by the Pantai Cenang to look for some activity packages for tomorrow. There was a Malay guy who recommended us to join the island hopping which is a 4 hours trip. We agreed to take that trip with RM38 per person. Awana Porto Malai is a 3 stars hotel. It is located at the seaside and it is jetty point for Star Cruises. We were given a King-sized bedroom, but it wasn't facing the sea view. Too bad! We took rest and bath then we went out for dinner at 8.30pm. After the dinner, we straight went back to hotel to save energy for the trip next day.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Day 2 -----------------------------------------------------------------
We woke up very early about 7am. The sky was so bright and clear. We decided to take a short morning walk behind the hotel. The morning sunlight given us a fresh breathe and cheer us up. After a short enjoyment on the morning view, we went to have our free buffet breakfast at the Seagull Restaurant. The buffet breakfast had variety of choices and tasted good too. The environment of the restaurant was well decorated. We were satisfied with the breakfast. After finished our breakfast, we back to the room to prepare for island hopping. 9.15am the driver was there to fetch us to the departure point which was nearby the Awana Hotel. We departed at 9.30am. There were 15 people on the boat. The boat was passing by few small islands which we don’t know the names before reaching the Pregnant Maiden Island (Pulau Dayang Bunting). Our tour guide stopped the boat to allow us to take photos with the Pregnant Maiden Mount. Then only proceed to the Pregnant Maiden Lake (Tasik Dayang Bunting) to drop us there for an hour. This Pregnant Maiden Lake is the largest lake within Langkawi Island. The water was surprisingly clear. There were people dipping their legs into the lake to allow the fish nibble the feet, and there were people swimming. There were water sport activities like banana boat, paddle-boat and water boat available. We paid RM15 for a 45mins water boat riding. It was quite tiring riding but the scenery was so beautiful there. We back to the boat at the jetty to continue the next tour for eagles feeding at an unknown estuary. Our tour guide was throwing some dead fish into the water. Then the eagles were screeching down across the water to grab up the food. Wow! So amazing! After 15mins watching the eagles feeding show, we continued the tour to Wet Rice Island (Pulau Beras Basah). The tour guide dropped us there for an hour to enjoy swimming or sunbathing. It is a white sandy beach. The crystal clear water was attracting us to jump into the sea immediately. We were enjoyed ourselves there. But sadly, the good time passed so fast. It was time for us to back to the boat to get back to our hotel. Anyway, we were happy with this 3 hours island hopping tour. We went back to the hotel to take bath then we went to the Underwater World which is nearby to Awana Hotel. The entrance fee was RM28 per adult. We visited the Underwater World by following the walking trail provided. We firstly entered the Fresh Water Section where we could see different kind of fish and marine life from Southeast Asia, Africa, Australia and the Amazon. Then we entered the Tropical Rainforest Section where we could see the tropical fish in a big aquarium and other rainforest inhabitants such as anaconda, marmoset, flamingos and etc. Next we entered the Nature’s Gallery Section where we could read some displayed information about the natural’s life. Then we could see the Southern Fur Seals from the Seals Section. We could also see the African Penguins at the African Penguins Section and the Rock Hopper Penguins from the Rockhopper Penguins Section. There were Wildlife Gallery Section and Photo Gallery Section for visitors to read some information. We attended the 3.30pm 3D anime show at the 3D Theatre Section where everyone was given a 3D spectacle. But we felt that this show was more suitable for the kids than the adults. There were souvenirs shops and cafes in the Underwater World. After finished visiting the Underwater World, we went to have our lunch at the food court outside the Underwater World but the food there wasn’t tasted good. We left the place at about 4.30pm to go to the Eagle Square (Dataran Lang) at Kuah. For more information about the Underwater World, please visit its official website: http://www.underwaterworldlangkawi.com.my/ Entrance Fee: Malaysian Non-Malaysian Adult RM28 RM38 Child RM18 RM28 Eagle Square is situated near the Kuah jetty which is quite far from the Underwater World. We must go because it is the landmark to Langkawi. It has the huge eagle sculpture which is proudly facing the sea and welcoming visitors to Langkawi. The square is also featured with picturesque terraces, ponds, bridges, restaurants and barrel vaults, made of bricks. Boon was trying shooting the eagle with the tripod from different point of view of the eagle. We spent about an hour there because the scenery was beautiful. We then drove to the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club which was nearby the Eagle Square. The sky was growing darker that time as it was going to rain soon. There were a lot of yachts there and the scenery was taken our breath away. The sky was drizzling, but Boon insisted to catch few photos on the yacht club before leaving there. We then went to a duty-free shopping mall to buy come chocolates to bring back to KL. After that we went to the KLG Restaurant to buy our dinner to eat in the hotel.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Day 3 -----------------------------------------------------------------
Finally, it was the last day in Langkawi. Same as Day 2, we woke up at 7am to have the buffet breakfast at the Seagull Restaurant. The breakfast on Day 3 was slightly different with Day 2 but it was tasted good. After finished the breakfast, we then went back to the room to pack our luggage and check-out from the hotel. Our first destination on Day 3 was the Machincang Mount (Gunung Machincang). Before that we dropped by the Kok Beach (Pantai Kok) to have a look. Nothing was there but the view of few yachts on the sea. The cable car station to reach the Machincang Mount was located at Oriental Village. There were shops selling souvenirs and clothes, and also restaurants. There was a geopark in Oriental Village. The ticket for the cable car to reach the Machincang Mount was RM25 per pax. From the cable car, we could see the panoramic views of the surroundings forests and the Seven Wells Waterfall (Air Terjun Telaga Tujuh), as well as the Andaman Sea. The cable car took about 15mins to reach Machincang top station. The air was cool although it was under the hot sun. There was a 360 degrees view platform but the sky was a bit blur. We couldn’t see the sea and the islands clearly, but the scenery was fantastic. There was a 125m Curve Suspension bridge platform, pedestrian bridge across a deep chasm linking top station with Machincang moutain range. I felt a bit scary walking on the bridge because it was really high for me to look down and I could feel the bridge was shaking when there was a strong wind blowing. =_=” Anyway, it was a great idea to have this wonderful bridge in Langkawi. I think this is a good experience where anyone visiting Langkawi should not miss it. After an hour spending time taking photos and enjoying the panoramic view, we took the cable car to go back to the Oriental Village. We needed to go to the next destination which was the Seven Wells Waterfall. Seven Wells is a series of cascading waterfalls that fall into seven natural pools and is the most famous waterfall in Langkawi Island. When we reached the waterfall car parking area, we saw a lot of monkeys loitering around there. There were few wooden shops of restaurants and selling clothes. We passed by those wooden shops and came to a staircase. We saw another sign board showing waterfall on left side of a tar road. We decided to climb up the staircase first. Oh My God! I couldn’t see the top! It was a very long staircase. We climbed about 30mins to reach a pool area. It was so hot and the pool was so calm and clear. There was a displayed map regarding to the Seven Wells. We found that there was jungle trekking path to reach to the peak where there is a lake for swimming located. We were trying to take the path there but we couldn’t find the trail and we gave up. We were thinking that we need someone to guide us in order to reach the peak. So we took few photos at the pool area then we climbed down. We then went to the waterfall area by following the signboard. It was another long journey with steep stairs but we could hear the waterfall sound. It was so tiring, but when I saw the 90m waterfall I was so excited. It was so beautiful and the air was cool and fresh. We spent about an hour swimming and taking the photos. We really were enjoying at this waterfall. After swimming there, we felt hungry and we took lunch at one of the wooden restaurant. We were very careful of those monkeys while eating. The monkeys were so furious. After finished the lunch, it was about 2.30pm. So we went to our last destination which was the Sandy Skulls Beach (Pantai Pasir Tengkorak). There were a lot of people at the beach. We spent about half an hour taking photos there then left and taking the way to the airport. Our flight which was scheduled at 5.35pm but it was a bit late. Anyway, we were still able to back to KL. After having a 3D2N trip in Langkawi Island, we still couldn’t forget this beautiful island and we hope that we can visit it again.