Our Last Day In Malaysia...

Our last day in Langkawi. Our holiday is coming to an end. We take a taxi down to Pandai Kok and the Telaga Harbour Park for a bit of last minute sightseeing. It is a beautiful sunny day and the free roaming buffaloes are enjoying the green grass near the marina. It is amazing to see them there. The harbour is filled with many expensive looking yachts, further down near the Headland Watch Tower, a few fisherman's boat are also tied up along the piers.

Perdana Quay

Along this promenade, plenty of restaurants and bistros and a few retails shops and offices.

Free Roaming Buffaloes

The Marina

 The yachts and the rusty fisherman's boats tied alongside the pier

Headland Watch Tower

The Beach with Fisherman's Boat against a backdrop of mountain and rainforest.

We make our way back to the resort to check out of our room, our transfer will be here later to take us to the airport. It is a shame we have run out of time as there quite a few more areas of Langkawi to explore. It's certainly, a tourist's paradise and quite different to Penang.

It has been a wonderful holiday with plenty of new experiences, sightseeing and shopping. The people here are so helpful and friendly, they work hard for a living but seem happy with their lot.

That is it, I have enjoyed putting this blog of our trip together. Still have plenty of photos to go through, but I think I have included some of the best of what we have seen. See you for now, until our next adventure.

More from Day 11...

This afternoon, we took a taxi to Kuah Town to do a little souvenir shopping. We walked down to the jetty , then went and had a closer look at the Lang Eagle; a very popular tourist destination. Bought an ice-cream at the local shop and we had to eat it quite quickly as with the heat it was melting and dribbling everywhere.  We took a short walk through the lovely Legend Park, very peaceful place. We manage to find a beautiful leather bag for Richard at the Langkawi Fair Shopping Mall. Then back to our hotel by taxi. The trip by taxi cost 36RM one was, which we thought was very reasonable considering the distance traveled. All fares are set by the government; all the different areas that you want to visit have a set fare attached to it. 

Kuah Jetty

Lang Square' Eagle

Legend Park

Back at the resort for a little downtime, before returning to the Oriental Village for our dinner. This place is so peaceful and relaxing, it will be a shame to leave it. But leave we have too as I trip is coming to an end.

The Entrance Road to Berjaya

Berjaya Resort Beach

Wild Goose at the Oriental Village

This little monkey came down to check out the Oriental Village

Day 11...

Breakfast at the Dayan café where we see little squirrels clambering all over the tree branches. Last night on our way to the village, we came across a family of monkeys which had just come down from the rainforest.

Little monkey

Joined by family

We make our way back to the oriental village to get on the Langkawi cable Car. The cable car will take us to the top of Mat Cincang Mountain. It's an awe-inspiring journey and we get a panoramic views over Langkawi and neighbouring Kedah Provence. The car takes us up 709 metres and the journey covers 2.2 km  at an incline of 42 degrees. It is quite an exhilarating ride to the top as we see the beaches and the islands retreat into the distance. It is a shame that the humidity in the air has created a typical tropical haze, reducing some of the views.

Riding up to the top on the cable car

To get to the hanging bridge, we have to descent some very steep stairs. The view from the bridge is also breathtaking. We had to make a few stop on the way back up as my legs were aching from the strain. We grabbed another car to the second viewing platform. The views from there are even more exhilarating.

Hanging Bridge

This afternoon, we will be taking a taxi to Kuah Town for a bit of sightseeing.

Day 10...

As we are being picked up at 11am for the airport, we decide to have a late breakfast and spend some relaxing time in our room till then. 

The airport is undergoing some reconstruction, so things are a bit messing and confusing but we get through to the ticket counter and security and then have to wait quite a while as our flight is a bit late for boarding; we are a bit frustrated while waiting as not much information is given.

Waiting for our flight to Langkawi

Berjaya Resort Reception

A very short flight and we are in Langkawi. It is so different here, quite the tropical island with plenty of open space and rice paddocks. The traffic is calm with good roads, but still plenty of scooters around with sometimes three sitting onboard, the kids don’t seem to wear helmets around here either. 

Our driver takes us to our hotel “The Berjaya Resort”. Our little chalet is in the middle of the rainforest, well appointed with all the modcond. The weather is now quite hot and humid but we are refreshed by a complimentary fruit juice and then taken to our chalet by shuttle.

Resort in middle of rainforest

Relaxing on the balcony

Later, we make our way to the Oriental Village to get our bearings, look through some of the shops and decide to go back there for tea. To our surprise, by the time we come back, most of the shops and cafes are closed, but we do find this friendly cafe in the foodcourt which serves up a delightful plate of prawn fried rice.

Oriental Village

More images from day 9...

After spending some time at the Kek Lok Si temple, our driver takes us through the narrow street to next impressive temple of Wat Chayamangkalaram. This temple has the largest Reclining Buddha statue in the world, around 33 metres in length. There is also some exquisite statues of Devas and other mystical creatures around the temple grounds.

Kek Lok Si Temple

Golden Statue

Wat Chayamangkalaram Temple

Reclining Buddha

Exquisitely decorated statue

Just across the road, is the Dharmikarama Burmese Temple. This temple is the favoured venue for the Songkran festivities -Thailand's traditional New Year Day - celebrated in April. Absolutely beautiful, I wish we had a bit more time to have a better look around. But the tour must go on.

Burmese Temple

A visit to a pewter factory, where we purchase a gift for Tom, then onto an exclusive chocolate factory where we get to tryout some amazing chocolate.

This has been quite a day and we are glad to get back for a great cup of coffee and another swim in the hotel pool. Later in the day we take a quiet walk along Tanjung Bunga beach, down to the Floating Mosque. Malaysian first floating mosque which can accommodate up to 1,500 worshipers. 

The Floating Mosque

Day 9...

Today we are doing a tour of the Penang Hill and some of the temples around the city. Unfortunately we have to take a jeep ride up to the top of the hill as the funicular train is being upgraded. The ride up is amazing as the road is quite steep and narrow. A few monkeys appear on occasion.  It is quite a panoramic view from the top; it is a shame that there is a lot of haze covering most of the view over the sea and the mainland. A quick drive back down to the bottom to our awaiting driver, and we are off to our next destination of the Kek Lok Si Temple.

View from Penang Hill

Thirumurugan Temple, Penang Hill

Temple Statue

The drive to the temple takes us through the busy city streets, past the Chinese heritage Centre and the State Mosque. The Kek Lok Si Temple is an amazing complex, the seven-storey handcrafted “Pagoda of Ten Thousand Buddhas was completed in 1930. The Pagoda is considered one of Penang most beautiful architectural wonders with its Chinese octagonal base, Thai middle tier and Burmese Crown.

The Pagoda

Inside one of the temples

We make our way to the Funicular train to get to the top to view the bronze statue of Kuan Yin which was completed in 2002.

Taking the funicular to the top

30.2m Kuan Yin Bronze Statue

completed in 2002

That's it for tonight, but there's more to come...

A few more images from George Town...

Kapitan Keling Mosque

Teochew Temple

Street Of George Town

Corner shop

Chinese Quarters

On July 2008, George Town was awarded UNESCO World Heritage status. Founded 200 years ago, the city certainly has an impressive collection of historical buildings representing the cultural heritage of Penang's various ethnicities: Chinese, Indians, Arabs, Malays, Siamese, Burmese and Europeans.

We are surprise at the differences between the pristine colonial buildings and the Chinese Quarters with their narrow streets, lack of pavements and open sewers. At times, the noisy, busy streets and the varied smells are quite overpowering.

Further walking through the street of George Town before we find the spot to catch the bus back to the hotel. A nice swim in the pool to finish the afternoon off, then we get a bit adventurous and decide to take a ride on a jet ski. What a thrill, well worth the 60RM.

We go back to our little café for our tea, as yesterday the service is great and so is the food.