Turning 50…Next Stop Langkawi Island, Malaysia!

After two phenomenal days in Singapore, we were ready to enjoy the pool and beach on Langkawi Island. Flying in we could see the beauty of this small island. The blue was breathtaking. As per usual, we chose a mid-range hotel on the beach and were not disappointed. The view from our room at the Holiday Villa Beach Resort was of the pool and ocean. We quickly put on our suits and hit the swim-up bar for a lemongrass mojito. There is a pool club for a nominal fee per day that we chose to use for our lazy days because of the comfy lounge chairs and it was quieter than the main pool although we did use the main pool/swim-up bar on days that we had other activities planned. The hotel is located in a great area within easy walking to shopping, dining and even a Starbucks. We walked to dinner the first night and ended up at Colonial India and fell in love with the Chicken Tikka Butter Masala and ended up here again a few nights later for the same dish.

We divided our time on Langkawi with two days of activity and two lazy pool days. Our first activity day started out meeting our guide Othman at our hotel and driving out to the Panorama Langkawi Sky Cab. We rode in a glass-bottom gondola (you can purchase tickets online or in-person, I purchased online) to over 2300 feet above sea level to Langkawi’s second highest peak of Mt. Machinchang. Due to the wait time, we decided not to walk across the sky bridge (you do need a separate ticket for this) but if you have the time it looks like it would be a lot of fun.

I had mentioned that one of the items on our to-do-list for the day was to find spices and Othman asked if we would like to go to his house where he grew peppers, we agreed. He let his wife know we were coming and she was so gracious and met us with a bunch of adorable kitties and a delicious drink made with limes from their garden. After touring their gardens, Othman asked if we had ever seen a cobra tamer in action…we had not. He was in the Guinness Book of Records for snake taming in 1999. He showed us how he worked with his cobra and is sometimes called to remove snakes from houses.

Our next stop was Kilim Geoforest Park and a one-hour boat trip through the mangroves and a walk through the bat caves. (cost was 250MR or $60 USD, Othman booked this for us and we paid MR cash when we arrived – this does not include our tip for the Captain). Kilim Geoforest Park is one of the three geoforest parks associated with the Langkawi Geopark. The other two are the Machinchang Cambrian Geoforest Park and The Dayang Bunting Marble Geoforest Park. Langkawi Geopark comprises the whole of Langkawi Island, which is one of the districts of Kedah State, Malaysia. Langkawi started as a fishing village until its revelation as a UNESCO Geopark. We even saw monkeys and a feeding frenzy of eagles…so cool!

Eagle Feeding Frenzy in Kilim Geoforest

Our last stop of the day was to do some spice and souvenir shopping and visit Dataran Lang/Eagle Square before heading back to the hotel. If you are looking for the perfect way to see this amazing island then please make sure to book the day tour with Othman.

We had originally planned on going diving but the weather was not cooperating which affected visibility underwater. We decided to see if we could get on a boat and try and escape some of the light rain and we found a small group tour catamaran trip with Crystal Yacht Holidays. We departed from the marina with pretty gray skies but we were given yummy drinks and found a comfy spot on the boat. It seemed like we were to get lucky and our Captain knew the secret sunny spots. Once we sailed into the protected waterways between some small islands the crew announced that the “jacuzzi” was open and asked if anyone wanted to try it. I had no idea what this meant but being always up to try something new I jumped on. It is basically a net at the back of the moving boat that you lay on and hold on tight! So much fun! After this excitement, we sailed to a private beach where the crew had set up lunch and more drinks. The most fun of the day was watching a couple of the guys from this group of flight attendants keep falling out of their kayaks after too many rum punches. We headed back to the mainland after a fabulous day on the water.