A couple of weeks ago, Joe and I flew out of Subang airport in KL for the first time. It was close and so convenient that we decided to go on another trip. Our 31st anniversary just happened to be coming up, so that was a perfect excuse to head to Langkawi!
A short 1 1/4 hour flight, and here we were! I looked at Trip Advisor to find a hotel. The Danna was rated #1, so that is where we stayed. Good choice! This was the view from our room.
The view from my pool lounge chair
I have never taken a picture of a hotel bathroom, but how nice is this? The bathroom was open to the outdoors, with a very nice fountain.
I just wanted to show you where Langkawi is. See how close it is to Thailand? More on that later. And if you look south of it, that is the island of Penang, where I was two weeks ago.
We arrived in Langkawi on Thursday, late afternoon. Joe and I spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening by the pool. The next morning we headed to the cable cars, which take you to the Sky Bridge! That is our destination, all covered by clouds. By the way, it was a short taxi ride from The Danna.
These three nice Malaysian ladies were our cable car companions. You need to ride two cable cars to get to the top. One of these ladies went no further than the first stop. Caution: this excursion is not for those afraid of heights!
Clouds above and below
There were beautiful views everywhere we looked. Langkawi is made up of 104 islands. Here are a few. We had to be a bit patient for the clouds to clear up so we could see.
"The Longest Free Span and Curved Bridge in the World". Completed in 2004, this suspended bridge is built on top of Machinchang mountain. Accessible from the Top [cable car] Station, the bridge is suspended from a 82 meter high single pylon. And it sways in the wind. If you are planning to see the bridge, make sure it is open. It is closed to visitors when it is too windy.
Great views all around!!
There was some climbing involved, so wear comfortable shoes. It seems like I say this a lot, but I always see women wearing high heels on these excursions. We were lucky to be here at an uncrowded time, and this was an experience not-to-be-missed!
Back at The Danna, it was beach and pool time. I have stayed in my share of nice hotels, but I have never had a sunglasses-cleaning service! At 1:00 every afternoon, Windi, or one of his co-workers, will clean your sunglasses or reading glasses. At 2:00 you get a fruit ice, 3:00 a cold towel, and at 4:00 a snack. The service overall was outstanding! Many of the staff called us by name. By the way, Joe and I are known as Mr. and Mrs. Hol-mes over here. Two syllables.
The beach at The Danna. This was my only disappointment of the weekend. The water was not as clean as I would have liked. I was reminded that the ocean on the eastern coast of Malaysia is a lot clearer than that on the western coast.
But we still enjoyed a very nice walk on the beach.
Interesting trees with the soil around the roots eroded away. I have never seen such small pine cones.
After our walk, hammock time.
Another beach option. We pretty much had the beach to ourselves. I believe this is the beginning of monsoon season, though we had wonderful weather most of our stay.
We had a delicious dinner at the hotel. Then a glass of wine and live music in the lounge. Side note: while the hotel was not inexpensive, we found the food and drink prices very reasonable. One of the reasons for that is that all of Langkawi is duty free!
On Saturday morning, we took a mangrove boat tour. I took this picture while waiting at the dock for the tour to start.
First stop on the tour was this bat cave. Because of the tide, we actually had to wade to this point.
Bats. I actually could have done without the bat cave.
Mangrove trees. Fact: Langkawi was the first island to be affected by the 2004 tsunami. Three things protected the islands from destruction. First, the ocean around Langkawi is relatively shallow. Second, the tsunami hit during low tide. And third, the mangroves helped protect the islands.
Jerome, our very knowledgeable guide.
We made several stops along the trip to get a close look at a viper snake, a boa constrictor, blue kingfisher birds, some dingoes (or wild dogs), and a monitor lizard.
As we got closer to this building, we very clearly heard birds. You can't see them, but there were swallows flying to the left of the roof. There is a microphone on the roof, amplifying the swallows' sounds. This then attracts more swallows. The birds fly inside though a hole in the roof. They build nests in this concrete building, and the nests are harvested for bird nest soup, a Chinese delicacy. It is a booming business in southeast Asia.
Thai fishing boat. Langkawi is really more Thai than Malaysian.
Thai fishing boat, house and farm
Floating fish farm
We all had lunch at this floating restaurant!
Tom Yum soup and fried rice, a simple Thai meal. And our canned soda of choice. :) I love prawns, or shrimp, but I don't often order them. I did here, and I knew what to expect-- the whole head and eyes.
After lunch we went by the eagle feeding ground. There are spots where the eagles are fed to attract them so tourists can get a close-up view. Jerome did not approve. The chicken fed to the eagles contain growth hormones that cause birth defects. The two types of eagles found in this area are the White-Bellied Fish Eagles and the Brahminy Kites. These were the Kites.
The boat then went at high speed and we got a closer look at some of the surrounding islands. Beautiful. So ended our mangrove boat tour. A great tour!!
I had asked Jerome for the best spot to see the sunset. Our hotel was not it. He said the best spot was airport road. Sure enough, we saw people parked all along the road by the airport. Many had a picnic supper and were waiting for the sun to set. We were actually driving to the second best spot-- The Cliff Restaurant. I took this blurry picture of a rice paddy, the first one I have seen. I wasn't fast enough to get a picture of the water buffalo we saw resting in the water.
Here is Cenang Beach, about a 25-minute taxi ride from The Danna. This is one of Langkawi's most popular beaches. It was packed! Not nearly as relaxing as The Danna's private beach, but the scenery was spectacular!
Where we ate dinner. Very good and reasonable. We actually got a free glass of wine with our entrees. I have never seen that before.
The reason we left our very comfy pool to drive across the island. I took these pictures of the sunset, but the pictures do not do justice to the beauty of this whole area.
Wonderful weekend! And being so close, we will definitely come back!!
No comments:
Post a Comment