Langkawi Island Feb 2007

Photo caption: The "Helang" statue is easily seen once you reach Langkawi Jetty.

During this year Chinese New Year, we have friends from Hong Kong, Macau visitted to Malaysia and of course to my hometown in Penang!

Besides touring around Penang island, we also decided to go to Langkawi Island. Shame on me! as a Penangite, this was my first visit to Langkawi island, a small island off the north west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Whenever talking about Langkawi to most of my friends in KL, they would laugh at me that I never been to Langkawi since it is so near to Penang! :)

There are few options to go to Langkawi from Penang by flight or by boat. We choosed the cheapest way - by boat! 2 ways on travelling by boat to Langkawi:

a) taking boat from Swettenham jetty in Penang island, boat frequency: twice / day (8.15am & 8.30am [via Pulau Payar]; and back from Langkawi at 2:30pm [via Pulau Payar] & 5.15pm ); RM50 for one-way; duration about 2.5 hours+

b) Drive till Kuala Kedah and park the car there for overnights, the driving distance took about an hour, along the way, there are scene of the padi fields in Kedah (as Kedah is one of the main paddy producer in Msia), then take the boat from Kuala Kedah, which took another hour+ till Langkawi. There are more frequency of boats to and from Langkawi in Kuala Kedah (almost every 30min.), which only cost RM18 (one-way)

We went there by driving to Kuala Kedah, since we have a total of 13persons for this trip and it would be easier for the more frequency of boats in Kuala Kedah, and also for us to drive up to the border of Thai after this.

Yes, Thailand! We had the initial plan to travel to Thailand, but on the day we departed, there was news about the 29 spots of bombing case in Southern Thai! At last, we had to cancel our plan and wasted on the hotel payment that have been made.... Safety First! (well, recently this is the slogan that I have been hearing almost everyday in my company too...)

Touring around in Langkawi island is very convenient with many car rental services and sign-boards along the roads. We hired a van to "sardine-fit all the 10adults + 3 children! :)

Photo caption: Sunset view (above); Langkawi island; consists of many small island nearby (bottom)
Some of the highlights:
1. Cenang, and Tengah Beaches
2. Underwater world
3. Cable car for the sunset, cold weather and scenic view of Langkawi
4. Galeria Perdana (with just Rm5 entrance fee, visitors are ablel to see the collection of gifts and awards given to our previous Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir, it is like a big muzeum with stuff from the world)
5. Island hopping ( Dayang Bunting Lake, eagle feeding and the Beras Basah Beach!)
6. Duty Free Stuff! (Drinking beer is even cheaper than drinking mineral water there!)