My birthday! It has become my tradition that I need to travel and go to places that I haven’t been. Preferably..outside the country. I was supposed to be traveling on a 11 day overland tour from Myanmar to Laos to Hanoi in Northern Vietnam as an exit. Unfortunately, Covid altered everything. Everyone was stuck. I really felt that my so-called tradition will be broken. I am losing hope. So instead of wallowing, I thought of checking the other states of Malaysia. After all, that’s one of my goals - to visit all the 13 states.
When I heard about the bubble travel in Langkawi, I immediately asked my friend Mike if he would like to tag along. By the way, Mike was the one who referred me to work here in Malaysia. We were workmates in the Philippines for more or less 8 years. I am also the godfather of his daughter and one of my travel buddies here. He only uttered, when and let’s go! Hahaha
Our flight was 10:30AM but it was consensus that we have to go there atleast 3 hours before our flight so that we have ample time to do whatever procedures that we need to undergo.
Travel time is approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes. The aircraft was a bit small compared to the regular ones. It was almost full. I was assigned in the middle and Mike was in the aisle seat. Fortunately, the person assigned to the window seat didn’t show up. I moved seats. I was like a kid given a happy meal from McDonalds hihihi.
I didn’t notice the time as I was enjoying the view. The islets, the dark blue waters. Everything. We safely landed and got out of the immigration at 1PM. The airport was small. I can compare this to the Terminal 4 in Pasay City. Though it was small, it was surrounded by duty free shops.
We booked a grabcar and went straight to our hotel, Cenang View Hotel. It was an awesome 8km trip as we drove by the shoreline. The hotel is a few cart wheels away from Underwater World Langkawi. The room was spacious, even the toilet and it was clean.
After we settled in, we decided to take our late lunch and ate at McDonalds. Then we walked to Pantai Cenang Beach. It was a sunny day. Many people were swimming. You can truly say that they were having a good time basking in the sun. We sat in one of the restaurants there and ordered desserts and just gazed at the surroundings. I ordered cendol (it's like our halo-halo version) and Mike ordered vanilla ice cream. We killed time until sunset. Mike enjoyed taking pictures as he loves the sunset and a photo enthusiast. When it was already dark and we're hungry, we roamed and looked for a place to eat.
Since we were both tired and exhausted that day (because we only slept less than 4 hrs the night before) we decided to eat at the hotel. We ordered pizza from Pizza Hut in front of Cenang Mall. As we ate, we were watching a soap opera. Though, we didn’t understand anything, we enjoyed watching it hehehe. I wasn’t able to finish my large beef pepperoni pizza as I was full already. Reserved for my breakfast hahaha.
We woke up early to go island hopping. We paid 30rm each for a 4-hour trip. We were fetched by a small van in our hotel. Another 2 middle eastern looking guys joined. We traveled around 20 minutes going to the jump off point. We were 12 and were separated into 2 groups.
In our boat, there were 6 passengers and we’re the only non-locals. It was a 15-minute boat ride from Jetty Kuah. Actually, it was a speed boat. It was really fast. The boat was like floating on the water and we were bumping most of the time. We were laughing the whole time. Splashes of water on our bodies and bags - we were all wet actually.
Pulau Dayang Bunting or Lake of Pregnant Maiden Island
It bears a resemblance to the silhouette of a reclined pregnant lady from afar. You have to use your imagination. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture. The island has mystical powers and is said to boost fertility in women who swim in or drink its waters. Once you’ve reached the jetty, it’s a 15-minute hike to the lake via a concrete stairway through a canopy of trees. Everything is green and I’m at peace. Mike had difficulty as he had a knee injury. But he said it was tolerable. He just needs some time.
When we reached the oval shaped-lake, I noticed that the place was surrounded by limestones and trees. I can recall the Twin Lagoon in El Nido, Palawan. The only difference is - this is freshwater. There were a lot of people swimming. I noticed also that there’s a shop selling snacks and souvenirs. But I went straight and queued to go kayaking. At first, we were enjoying it and we thought that we were in a race. It was not my first time and for Mike it was his. After a few rounds, we were exhausted and decided to go back.
While we were waiting for our boat, we took a lot of pictures as it was scenic. Lots of monkeys roamed around and they were really comfortable with humans.
Singa Besar Island
After a 20 minutes boat ride we then reached the island. It was inhabited by eagles, hornbills and monkeys. We didn't go out of our boat. We will feed the eagles. The boatman will catch the attention of the eagles and will be rewarded by raw pieces of chicken so you get a closer vantage. The sight of these birds flying around is rather spectacular. Frankly, that was the first time I saw a flock of eagles in my entire existence.
Beras Basah Island or Wet Rice Island
This was the last destination of the Island hopping trip. The island is ideal for swimming. Long shoreline, white sand and lots of water activities such as banana boat, parasailing and lot more. We had our lunch there. But I opted to just eat snacks as we wanted to eat in the mainland. I swam a bit and later on, just enjoyed the view.
Notes:
- There are lots of tours operators offering Island Hopping
specifically on the Cenang beach area. - You can always haggle
- Entrance Fee to the Lake is 16RM including all the activities.
- Toilets are available in the area (Pulau Dayang Bunting or Lake of
Pregnant Maiden Island) - Monkeys are all over, they might steal your food.. Also any valuable
items as they might think as they were food as well. - No toilets in Beras Basah Island or Wet Rice Island
- Bring enough cash as there as shops that offers foods and souvenirs
Thank you for taking time to read my article. Until next time. Let's wander the wonders and be on the loose.