First long weekend out of Singapore: LANGKAWI
Trip Start Jul 01, 2009
50Trip End Sep 20, 2010
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Where I stayed
We wanted to stay around Cenang as there's a lot to do/eat and it's a popular beach. I didn't want to spend much on a hotel b/c we wouldn't be there hardly at all. For that location though, I'd recommend choosing Sunset Beach Resort just south at Tengah as it's all within walking distance anyways. The location wasn't that important after all as we ended up renting a car. Had the expected weather forecast been sunny we would have rented scooters.
It did rain off and on but we didn't mind as it kept things cooler. I was a bit bummed that due to the uncertainty of the weather we were not able to go to the canopy course! Nevertheless we found plenty of other things to keep us busy.
On Friday afternoon, we rolled up to the hotel, there were a bunch of ox having a rest just over in the field next to our place. We quickly checked in, dropped off our bags and went next door for Mexican. (I know...Mexican...but we love it and it was just too convenient to pass up!) Then we drove up to Datai and saw packs of wild monkeys and a huge lizard crossing our street. We stopped at the Datai hotel to have a drink and take in the sunset. (I was driving so I had a delicious smoothie!) It's a very beautiful hotel for those looking for a luxurious, getaway from the world. Unfortunately it was getting too dark for us to walk all the way down to the beach.
We pressed on and headed to the Friday night market. They have these markets pretty much every night, when it's cooler, with each night being at a different location. They were selling clothes, shoes, all kinds of food and drinks. The locals were out in full force with their families, young guys checking out the girls and sellers trying to make a ringgit.
On our way back to our hotel, we tried to find a store that sold contact solution. We only had a big container at home and it was my brilliant idea to by a travel size on an island. No luck that night but I had put some extra liquid in our contact containers to carry us over to the next day. We did stop and have some Indian food which I wasn't so sure would be a good idea (after we ate it) considering that we were leaving early the next morning to be on a bumboat cruise for 5 hours.
Saturday morning we headed to our breakfast buffet before getting picked up for Dev's Mangrove Cruise. We thought about doing the kayak tour but for the same amount of time ya see more on a boat and due to the weather we opted with being chauffeured under a slightly protected covering. The tour guide and driver were great at spotting creatures and we only had another British couple on the boat with us which kept things quite comfortable. On the occasional downpours, they provided us with ponchos and the birds found shelter in the trees so we could see more then usual (so they said!). We saw more of those lizards, a few snakes, different kinds of eagles and birds. We went around learning about the different types of mangroves, saw monkeys, went in a cave and walked by hundreds of resting bats. Then we stopped by the Hole in the Wall, a floating restaurant for lunch. There, the daughter of the owner, took us around the fish feeding farm. She was about 10 yrs old, healthy and hilarious with her feeding skills!
After the day of being out at sea, we had a quick nap. We woke up with a mission to get to Kuah (their city) to find the contact solution (which we did) and walk around their night market. This one was in the "city" so it was bigger but pretty much the same stuff. We tried a delicious breaded fresh peanut butter treat before driving back to see if we could find my cousins' friend. He was not at the hotel but at a different venue. We couldn't be bothered looking for him when we needed to eat dinner (or else Grendel replaces Wendy). Just next door was the Oasis hang out, located on the beach, so we had dinner and drinks there.
Sunday we drove up to Tanjung Rhu and walked around the beautiful beach just before the rain came. We ran back to the car and while we were driving the weather cleared up so we went to the cable car. It was scary high but worth the view of the island. They also had a suspended bridge that made my heart stop a few times.
Just down from there was the Berjaya Hotel, so we went there for lunch on the water and some Chardonnay. I originally looked into staying there as they have villas right over the water but we weren't looking to have a relaxing/lazy vacation this time around. It's a beautiful resort and the Thai restaurant over the water looks worthwhile but it's only open for dinner. We stayed and enjoyed the view for awhile.
Then we walked down the beach to get a closer view of a beautiful lighthouse. We were greeted by a pretty stray female dog but since we weren't sure of rabies and all, we had to keep our distance. We thought she might be hungry so we ran back to some shops to grab some food for her...Indian was all they had...but by the time we got back, she was no where to be found. She didn't look like she was starving so I'm sure someone feeds her but she may have just been lonely. :(
We continued on, back towards our place and stopped over at the go karts for a fun race. Then we went to Lylai's Shack on the beach for some drinks, to enjoy the sunny afternoon and do some people watching. We walked the beach and saw a beautiful sunset, a perfect ending for our last night. For dinner, we went to the Beach Garden Resort, a German owned place with excellent food.
Monday morning we only had a few hours before our flight so we decided to get a massage. However, because places stay open late, we had a problem finding a spa that was open early! On our drive back towards the airport, we tried one last place at the Langkawi Lagoon Resort's Embun Spa. YES! They were open, the scenery was beautiful with villas on the water and we could have a couples massage. PERFECTION!!