So as my mother decided to book a last minute trip to Singapore, I thought it apt to book a cheeky weekend away to Langkawi for us. I was a little restricted with dates as we could only fly Saturday to Monday, which made flights far more difficult than anticipated (direct flights and times are not ideal for a non-Fri to Sun trip), so we actually ended up taking a stopover flight, which effectively turned an hour and a half flight into a 4 hour journey.
We flew Malindo air, via Kuala Lumpur and were very pleased with the airline and the plane. Our stop over was rather brief and we were in Langkawi before 2pm, so had the whole afternoon to ourselves. We jumped in an airport taxi over to our hotel Casa De Mel, which was on the beach and had outstanding ratings. We got there to find out we had been upgraded to a suite, which was a huge win. That afternoon, we got our swim gear on and went straight in the sea, to then top it off with a pool swim and Jacuzzi. This hotel was just incredible. Whilst drying off from our swim, the staff walked around giving out fruit, rose champagne and topping up our infused water. It really was a slice of paradise.
The hotel offered an option to dine on the beach (note: a proposal dinner is a readily available option on their menu, so must be relatively common here) but we opted to check out the sights. We wandered along “the strip” where there were tons of holiday style shops selling sunglasses, t-shirts, bikinis, with a couple of restaurants dotted along the way. We settled down in a little Chinese shop to eat, which was unbelievably cheap (35 MYR, around S$11) and the food was delicious!
The next morning, we had booked on to an island hopping tour – the more popular version of this is the jetski tour, but with a mother who isn’t a keen swimmer the boat tour it was. The tour was booked via an information point we stumbled upon on the strip and cost just 35MYR per person (increases to 50MYR in peak season) for a four hour tour to three different islands. These run twice a day with a morning and afternoon option. We opted for the 9.30am collection directly from our hotel.
Dayang Bunting
Dayang Bunting, otherwise known as the pregnant lady island, was our first stop. The reason it is nicknamed the pregnant lady island is if you look closely enough, it does in fact look like a pregnant lady, and even if you can’t see it, once the tour guide points out her “lady lumps” it’s all you can see. There are also rumours that women who have drunk from the surrounding lake have become pregnant….
Here we got off and were given an hour to roam the island and to take a dip in the fresh water lake. There is an admission fee which isn’t included in the package price (and also failed to be mentioned previously to us) but was small at 12 MYR for non-Malay visitors. The walk to the lake is about 15minutes and can be a bit of a challenging climb with some steep stairs (but can be done in flip flops), so it is important to leave enough time to return.
Once we reached the lake, you can jump in for a dip (note: it’s pretty deep and I have no idea how far down the bottom was) or you can rent a life jacket and just float around for a while. This was definitely a highlight of the tour for me.
Pulau Singa Besar
Pulau Singa Besar is a water stop, where often the captain of your boat will entice eagles by throwing raw pieces of chicken so they come closer to your boat. Our captain/guide chose not to do this as there’s a slight environmental issue in that the eagles have almost given up the natural hunt, evident by a nearby island being overrun with snakes (nightmare). However we still managed to get some fabulous views of the eagles (not that the pictures really do much justice in that department).
Pulau Beras Basah
Pulau Beras Basah, the wet rice island was the last stop on our tour. This was a picture perfect island (heavily dependent on tourist trade) and we were given free time to explore and swim. The beach was white sand and perfect for those wanting to get their tan on. As I am already the brownest I have ever been in my life, I thought it best to avoid the sunbathing and opted to run straight into the sea. Be warned, despite the white sand, there are some very rocky patches as you go in, which basically led to be tripping and going straight under the (very shallow) water. So much for not getting my hair wet! There were some great waves and the hour we had, quickly disappeared. There are also many trees under which shade can be sought, and some people had thought ahead and brought along some lunch, which actually is a great idea. After quickly drying off, we jumped back onto the boat and head back to the island of Langkawi.
After returning from our island hopping tour, we were all geared to go, and decided to head north to check out the cable cars of Langkawi. There are a few packages available and three options of gondolas which can be taken:
Normal Gondola (45 MYR)
Bottom Glass Gondola (95 MYR) – not for the faint hearted or those scared of heights!
VIP (550 MYR)
All of the above include a complimentary visit to the SkyDome, which is ultimately a 10 minute stimulation video in an outdoor dome. We were treated to a 360 degree 3D image projection of being on a roller coster, which was impressively realistic. So much so that I stood up feeling a little dizzy! We had opted for the cheap and cheerful normal gondola, which took us from the Base Station (at the foot of the Machincang Mountain) to the Middle Station and then an additional 1,700 meters up to the Top Station (imaginative names).
From the top and the viewing platforms you can see panoramic views of Langkawi and its surrounding islands, which is very picturesque.
That evening we wandered back down the strip and went to a cute little Mexican/Italian restaurant called Three Amigos. Their vegetarian burritos were amazing whilst the pizza was subpar. The ambience of the restaurant was lovely, and the staff were more than friendly. Food came quickly, and the Mexican portion would definitely be recommended.
To round of the trip we decided to treat ourselves with a full body massage and scrub. The Langkawi Beauty Parlour was on the same road as our hotel (Jalan Pantai Cenang), and was very reasonable at 60 MYR (SG$20) – my mum thoroughly enjoyed her experience, I was however left unsatisfied. My masseuse seemed awfully distracted and didn’t seem to take any of the direction I was giving. She also covered me head to toe in scrub and when it came for it to be taken off, she was nowhere to be found. Mixed with a cold shower and my hatred for being touched, this was not a very pleasant experience for me. But like I said, my mum really enjoyed hers, and it may have been the luck of the masseuse.
All in all Langkawi was a very pleasant place to visit. Did I love it? I wouldn’t say I did, however I didn’t do the jetski tour, and I have repeatedly been told that, that is amazing. I also found it quite difficult to find things to do in the evening. There were very few bars or late night restaurants, so the evening entertainment was limited to roaming the area and shopping. I felt as though it would be a great resort location, but little else going on around it. Next time if I were to revisit I would look to stay in an alternative area, and seek out more entertainment aspects.
