LANGKAWI ~ here we go

DAY 1

We arrived around 1.15PM, ignored most of the touts for rental cars and all of them for accommodation, but one tout seemed OK, so we went with him to his nearby office and rented a car from him.  This was a small orange Perodua Viva automatic – Mrs Tropical Expat’s requirement.  It was RM10 extra for the automatic, so it cost RM60 per day – 24 hours. The car was a bit battered but seemed OK for Langkawi. As usual I took multiple photos to attest to the dents already on the car.

 the Perodua Viva – it looked OK, but turned out not to be

We struck out for the roughly half hour drive to Cenang, stopping off firstly to buy petrol as rental cars are always empty, and then stopping on the way again to see the Big Sea Cucumber Oil Bottle, and indeed buy some product.

big bottle

And we checked in to the NR Motel on the Pantai Tengah Road, actually staying in the same room we did last time.

It seemed a good idea to drive into Cenang and buy the beverage supply for the stay, and a few snacks from one of the duty-free stores.  At that time of day Cenang was quiet and parking was easy.  After the early start we didn’t really bother doing anything more, and just had a nap and read for the afternoon.

DAY 2

We decided to swap cars as we didn’t think it was safe not to have a working horn.  While the next car was being cleaned we walked into the nearby park and looked at the big eagle.

Lankawi’s symbol

When we returned to the car rental office we picked up Sam the Nissan Sentra. Again the cigarette lighter didn’t work – no power for the GPS still. Have to rely on an inadequate map.

Sam the Sentra

we drove up to the government agricultural farm. It only took about 10 minutes drive.

Government research fruit farm

They insisted we pay the much higher tourist price to enter rather than the local price.  I am not impressed. When we’d been here a couple of years ago we enjoyed the visit.

tour bus that drives around the farm

Last time a guide rode with us on a small bus (pictured) and explained the farm to us.

dragon fruit trees

We stopped a few times and the guide talked about the project and the trees.

fruit buffet

Halfway around there was a fruit buffet.  And then we continued back with the guide still informing us. At the shop they sold seeds so that you could grow things at home.

view of some of the farm from a tower that only I climbed

This time there was a guide who sat with the driver and only guided us onto and off the bus, but otherwise told us nothing.  And back at the entrance the shops no longer sold seeds – perhaps you can buy them at their KL HQ, we were told. This place is such a disappointment now – RM50 for both of us is a lot to pay for some commonly available fruit, and there were no durian or mangosteen although they are in season.  Their statue shows a big durian and a big mangosteen, too.

The statue shows durian and mangosteen – but even though they are in season they weren’t served.

We won’t return here.

Tanjung Rhu beach

We continued up the road to Tanjung Rhu beach – about 15 minutes drive from the fruit farm.  It turned out that the cloudy sky was an advantage as we didn’t get sunburn. But as there was no sun we also spent most of the time in the water.  It was funny watching the tourists from China who’d arrived on a bus – they had no swimming costumes and just paddled in the water a little and took hundreds of photos.

time for fish and chips

After swimming and sunbathing it was time for Scarborough Fish ‘n Chips.

nice setting on the beach

There is a shower, and then we lunched.  This is also reviewed here.

Galeria Perdana

From Scarborough Fish ‘n Chips it is about a 10 minute drive to Galeria Perdana, a museum where a previous Prime Minister displays many of the gifts he was given.  I believe he was the one who made Langkawi duty-free – and removed this status from Penang.

local price – which they won’t charge you

Again they charged us double the local price – the sign in Bahasa says that adults are RM5, but the sign in English says Adults are RM10.  However, I note there is a senior price.

Jake Blues was there?

my favourite were the cars

I enjoyed this museum the first time, but this time it was exactly the same, so a quick visit was enough, and not so exciting.

night market – which starts late afternoon

It was now about 6PM, so we headed over to the night market that is not so far from Cenang and our accommodation.  This was about a 30 minute drive, or would have been if we had a better map.  We bought durian, mangosteens, bananas and cooked chicken.  All delicious.

Well, back to our accommodation to eat.  That was enough for the day.

DAY 3

For our last day we headed to the west.

It’s nice to see the animals in Langkawi

Past the airport turnoff is a bridge I like.

I like bridges – this one heading west

We bought some more petrol.

Petronas petrol station – with a mosque-like dome

And then we went into the Berjaya resort.

the road into the Berjaya Resort

Berjaya resort is nice, and the price of a coffee or beer is reasonable, considering.

useful advice

Today the weather was perfect.

the beach at the resort

river that joins the ocean at the centre of the beach

Next stop was Oriental village – a couple of minutes drive back east.

Entrance to Oriental Village

There is a duty-free shop there – good for a cold beer.

duty-free

lake at the village

In the evening we went to Pantai Tengah, very near where we were staying, to watch the sunset and paragliding.

quite a few paragliders

you seem to put on a harness, and are accompanied by an expert

one flight around the bay lasts about five minutes

sunset was more or less the end of the paragliding

Day 4

Before returning the car we thought we’d drive to the top of Mount Raya.  It’s only about 15 minutes drive to the turnoff to the mountain road, but it seems to take forever to reach the top. We got to about 6KM from the top, but calculated that we didn’t have the time to get to the top and make it to the ferry in time, so we had to turn back.

We returned the car to their office, they returned our deposit, and they dropped us at the ferry – very close, but we had our luggage.

We made it to the ferry about five minutes before departure, and the ferry departed five minutes late.  Even so, we wouldn’t have made the ferry if we’d gone to the summit of Mount Raya.

the ferry

Our bus was leaving Kuala Perlis at 3PM, so we had about 45 minutes to find somewhere with air-conditioning while waiting. KFC seemed best.