Langkawi Weekend in Paradise

Langkawi Weekend

The Symbol of Langkawi. Amazing birds, if you want to witness an interesting
Animal event  a tour out to see the sea eagles is always interesting.

When Ruth ended up flying back to NZ in January we had a weekend on Langkawi planned, we were going to fly over and chill out for Chinese New Year. With the change of plans we were able to change our plans for Langkawi and fly on another date.

So early February We flew over for a relaxing few days on Langkawi. We had booked a room at a new hotel , The Sheraton Four Corners, this is very close to the airport, but a little distance from Kuah and also a short drive to Cenang Beach. We had decided that we would hire a car for the 3 days we were on the Island. SO for us this was not an issue. We arrived at the airport and hired our car from there. There are loads of options all have similar deals and we did manage to get a reasonable price for a late model Nissan hatchback which was more than adequate. It also gave us freedom to explore some new parts of the island.   We were early in the day so we drove into Kuah and found a place for breakfast and a good coffee. We managed both after a bit of a drive around. We would havbe been better to drive to Cenang  Beach, because there were more options there.

A local fishing boat at Pantai Kok.

The hotel was superb. A spacious room with sea views, breakfast included. A superb infinity pool, looking out over a nice little manmade beach.  The staff were very helpful most of the time. Except for on our first night when we had a rather strange phone call from someone saying they were reception. We were sound asleep at 1:00 am when our phone in the room woke us.  The woman’s voice at the other end wanted to know if we were in our room as she said there was a woman saying that she was from our room and had locked her key in the room. I was not really all that happy to woken up for that reason. In the morning we checked it out with reception and there was nothing logged about this. I was left wondering what might have happened if I had not answered the phone...would we have had an unwelcome visitor?  Strange and a little concerning for us.

We drove up an interesting road that just kept going up and up through rain forest.
On the way we stopped to watch a troup of the Spider Monkeys. 

THis little hut beside the beach could make a great place to stay.

Having a car meant we had a lot of freedom to explore. We chilled out for the mornings breakfast and a dip in the pool. The afternoons and evenings we spent driving and exploring Langkawi Island.

We found a great place to have fish and chips, Scarborough. This was on the side of the road out towards Tanjung Rhu. It is right on the beach. The evening we were there the beach had loads of locals who were enjoying flying their kites.  The Fish and chips were superb with a great salad as a side.  RM 15.00, with a couple of very inviting cool beers to wash them down with.  After dinner we enjoyed a walk along the beach as the sun set. There were lots of opportunities for photos of kites and beach scenery. This beach is a little out of the way but well worth the effort. It was a place where you could relax without noisy boats and jetskis racing up and down.  There were people swimming.

Our favourite beach of the weekend.

A boat returning to shore as the sunsets.

Families flying kites in the evening breeze.

As the sunset the kites continued to sail in the breeze.

We also took a drive to Pantai Kok which is another area that was very popular amongst the locals. The beach is not really that flash but there were some nice areas to laze around beside the water. There are couple of resorts here with an interesting mariner development, complete with a replica lighthouse. Once again this provided some great photos opportunities. This is on the way to the Sky way cable car. We have been on this previously and although the weather was good we noticed it was very busy in this area so we did not bother about going up this time. I would recommend this experience to anyone going to Langkawi for their first time.

THis very photogenic lighthouse caught our eye near Pantai Kok

Cenang Beach has really developed since we first visited Langkawi 6 years ago. It is very popular amongst tourists and there are plenty of tourist things to do. It is a little like a Malaysian Phuket in the making.  There are numerous bars and restaurants in the area and as the evenings turn into night this area does get busy.  We had a delightful meal in the Thai Padi restaurant. This is set off the road and in amongst rice Padi. With bird , monitor lizards and water buffalo providing some interesting entertainment.

We flew back on Tuesday evening around 8:00 pm so having the car meant that we had a moving base for Tuesday. 

We had some time to kill on the Tuesday so we made our way to an animal wildlife centre on the island. You buy food as you go into the centre and you are able to feed most of the animals and birds. 

This guy makes great coffee. First he eats the best coffee beans.....
Weasel coffee comes out of these civets.

An Egret quietly enjoys his very own Padi.

The Hornbilll. I still find it difficult to understand how they can fly with such a heavy looking head.

These kites were keeping so many people entertained.

Amazing hands on this very gentle monkey.

Do you notice the budgie that wants more than bird seed?

This is the bird that glides majestically through the skies of Langkawi

Water Buffalo are such amazing gentle beasts. These two were having a fun tussle.

All in all Langkawi offers a pretty good place to relax with just the right mix of action and relaxation for us. We will return.