Beautiful Langkawi

Despite recent happenings, I managed to find some time to chill out at Langkawi Island for a few days recently. Its definitely a beautiful place to be. If the weather wasn't that cloudy, it would have been total bliss.

The cable car complex is located at Oriental Village, a faux shopping center designed to mimic Malaysian and Oriental architecture. I reckon the buildings are too modern to be authentic, but thats just me. Its dotted with souvenir shops and eateries.

Some of the stuff here isn't Malaysian, like these made in China plastic fans. And no, I can't see myself using one.

Langkawians are mostly an interesting, beach loving lot to hang out with. And they're relatively content with their surroundings despite the absence of large shopping malls and night clubs.

The Petronas yacht club. Sail boats of various sizes lay silently moored here amidst the azure blue waters. There are fish and sea urchins easily visible in the waters too.

The Awana resort is one the nicer resorts around here. They surely let you know where the landmark cities are located.

The architecture is a little disconcerting, with various styles and colours. Otherwise its quite a nice place to visit.

You can take a ferry from Langkawi harbour to go to Penang or Alor Setar. This is also the place where you hike a boat to go island hopping.

You can see all the 'wild' eagles swooping down into the waters to grab their share of a measly piece of chicken skin. I wonder how on earth does it satisfy their dietary requirements, but its definitely a sight to behold.

The rock formations are quite impressive, weathered by years of wind and water erosion.

We then entered an underground cavern home to a species of small bats. Its a pity I couldn't really capture these creatures in my photos.

Pulau Dayang Bunting is home to a large lake made from a limestone cave which collapsed thousands of years ago. The waters here are on average 15 meters deep, so its very advisable to be using a life jacket when swimming.

Of course, as a sign of respect, one should say hello to the islands local residents. Just make sure you keep your belongings very close to you, otherwise you can kiss them goodbye.

Its an awesome experience swimming amongst the huge limestone hills.

There is also a separate island where you can go to just to swim and play on the pristine sandy beaches.

On the final island, we feasted on barbecued meat, seafood, vegetables and fried bee hoon and finished off with a refreshing swig of Skol beer.

What a lovely trip indeed :)