I mentioned in Part 1 that I do have a fear of heights, didn’t I? Well, Langkawi forced me to face and conquer it, with Mario’s and 2 Hongkong Nationals’ help. 🙂
On our second night in Malaysia, we took a previously-booked train ride to Alor Star. The ride was for more than 10 hours, and it was awfully bumpy! I chose for us to take the train instead of flying to Langkawi to save us a night of accommodation.
The fare for the KTM train ride KL Sentral to Alor Star is about RM 90 for a sleeper per person. This offers a very slim bed with an unsure-if-clean-or-not bedsheet and thin pillow. We were so unfortunate to have been left to choose between beds that are either apart from each other or facing each other but on the top bunks. Sadly, we chose the latter. And more sadly, we were positioned near the door. I almost could not sleep through the trip because people kept coming in and out and not close the door, and I was always bugged by the noise the running train makes.
The sleeper top bunk of the bumpy train ride.
Upon reaching Alor Star, we took a cab to the ferry station to board the fast craft to take us to Langkawi Island.
All the time and money spent for transporting to Langkawi Island is all worth it!! It’s just very beautiful and very tropical! This is where I saw a group of monkeys standing by the road no problems! Once the ferry docks, you will be greeted by the infamous eagle structure in this park. This particular spot is one of the island’s attractions and it’s called the Eagle Square.
Taxi fares in this beautiful place are government-mandated and scheduled. We took a cab trip to our hotel to leave our bags, then went straight to the Oriental Village for our first activity in the island.
The Oriental Park entrance.
The Oriental Village is a home for a number of shops and duty-free products. A pack of cigarette can be bought cheapest than anywhere in Malaysia here. Boxes of alcohol, imported products, souvenir items are also available here. This place also offers an array of recreational activities – elephant ride, horseback riding, a sight of the tiger while sipping coffee and the most exhilarating – the Cable Car ride and the Observatory Bridge walk.
Nailed it!
I was sooo looking forward to this cable car ride, but when I saw it, and when I realized how tall the mountain is that goes to, I chickened out! Haha! I just did not want to disappoint Mario, who is quite the adventurous and brave one, by having gone there but not having tried the ride. So yeah, we took the ride. The car has a capacity of 4 people. To feel a bit relaxed, we opted to share the cab and we were lucky to have shared it with 2 lovely HK Nationals who were a couple, too. They took that shot for us haha! I was eating junk food the whole cab ride up and not looking at anything on our side, I was sooo damn scared!!! i even think I am flushed in that picture. I was so shaky the whole time, but when we reached the station on the middle top of the hill, I felt better and started to look around at the view. It was such a beautiful sight! I could see the mountain and all the other hill that surround it and the white beaches below! We took a few pictures with shaking hands because it was very cold up there.
Finally! Totally not a junkie for heights! Ugh!
What a lovely background!
We were just in the middle station, the top station is still about a hundred meters more of cable cab climb (tears!!!) and I thought I could not take any more of that! Hahaha! Plus my body was extra shaky then because of the cold air. I wanted also to see the observatory bridge and even cross it, good thing that it was closed for maintenance, I don’t have to take the cab ride up again to get to the bridge. haha! But we took pictures of the top station. Lookie!
The top station. I’m sorry this shot does not emphasize how much higher this is from my position at the middle station.
The proud Observatory Bridge connected to the top station.
We hopped back in a cable car for the ride down, and I was feeling better. I actually looked around already to not feel sorry not having looked at the wonderful sight the experience offered. The 2 HK Nationals we rode with to the middle station were being brave to go til the top station. On the ride down, we got to share the cab with a Malaysian who’s into tourism business. He took a picture of us too and gave us his calling card, for vacation needs. 🙂
The ride down. The orange roofs are that of the estabs at the Oriental Village.
On the right side is the stream of cable for cars going up. Bye!
What a great experience! I can’t believe I conquered that sh*t!
After the cable car activity, we roamed around the shops in Oriental Village and pretty much took pictures of its cuteness that’s everywhere!
Geopark Hotel – an accomodation offered inside the Oriental Village.
We were too sore already for having too much fun! So we headed back to our hotel to check in and rest. I picked Mutiara Burau Bay Hotel Resort for our accommodation, which is at the Mutiara Burau Bay (pretty obvious) because the rated there were fairly cheap, and I read a lot of reviews for this hotel. The staff are very accommodating! We were given welcome drinks when we came in. I don’t know what we were given – a ginger tea or a fruit juice that I do not know of – but it just totally wiped away the hot feeling of our bodies due to the weather and activities. For you guys visiting Langkawi, please do check out their website, I’m pretty sure you will love their resort, too! It’s http://www.mutiarahotels.com/burau-bay/. Malaysians are truly the best asians! I almost clapped in happiness when we got upgraded again, for FREEEE!! They upgraded our room to a villa from a standard chalet. Although I was so looking forward to staying at one of their loveley chalets, I won’t say no to the offer, haha!
I wanted to dive in right away! Oh, gorgeous!
I picked this resort because it’s very tropical. It’s a resort within a forest and by the beach. Forest animals like monkeys just suddenly appear anywhere in this place, I personally found this heartwarming. 🙂
Our villa suite!
The chalets I was so looking forward to to stay at. 🙂
This resort is has a very vast area and each room has privacy as they are almost all away from each other. Some rooms are a few steps away from the beach, most are facing the garden, meaning anywhere else. 🙂 I read that this resort needs renovation. I think so, too. But all in all, it’s still good and so worth the money paid. 🙂 After resting, we took a trip to the beachfront and the stilt restaurant to have dinner. However, we passed by a buffet setting in the middle of the garden and asked what that is about. We were told that it’s the usually offered BBQ Buffet, and wow! Who could resist that? There were grilled satai, lamb, pretty much everything, and a table filled with many kinds of desserts. There’s just too much food offered to remember, haha! I can remember vividly though how full we were. For RM 68 per person, which we thought at first was a bad price, we had so much than the money’s worth. One of my best dinners ever. :))
The bar / restaurant by the beach offering a great sight of sunset. :))
The long stretch of fine sand 🙂
Another property sharing this edge of the island is Berjaya hotel, with huts over the water. However, that resort has very limited beach area, almost none.
After dinner, we were meaning to take a dip in the pool, but for some weird reasons, no one can swim in the pool (anywhere in MAS) after 7pm. We just went back to our room for a well-deserved rest.
The next day, we decided to enjoy the beach early, then the buffet breakfast, then the pool, before leaving the place. The breakfast is superb! It offered not just local food but all sorts of food you want to see at your breakfast table. They served omelets, crepes, cereals, pretty much every kind of sausage, pancakes and waffles, and many more. 🙂
We did go to Langkawi for the beach part of our holiday. We were very psyched, up to now, about how beautiful this place is. 🙂
One of my best holidays yet 🙂 Thanks, Langkawi!
And we left to the airport for Kota Kinabalu. 🙂
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