Island of duty-free

And so I am back from my holidays in Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia. It turned out to be one of the nicest vacations, thanks to the low traffic and crowd on the island. Even though it was the Labor Day weekend, driving around the island and town was a breeze. That is always a priority for me. A holiday would not be a holiday if time is wasted in traffic and worse if I have to shove my way around crowds just to catch a glimpse of whatever was interesting at tourist attractions.

My boyfriend and I had a couple of arguments along the way. It was not at all pleasant. All arguments are never pleasant. It was over some menial issues that would not have occurred if our "egos" had not surfaced. Ask me now and I am unable to remember what we argued over. Besides, who needs reminding. Let bygones be bygones.

We toured the island with a rented car for the duration of our short holiday there. Most attractions were easily located with numerous signs along the road. The only drawback is the coastal roads which were mostly one-lane. If one missed a turn and wanted to turn back, one had to take a detour into someone's front porch or gravel road on the side. My advice: Stay at 60 kph and you will not miss your turn. Plus you also won't run risk of hitting animals which decide to cross the road at odd times.

One of the attractions that stood out was the Langkawi Sky-bridge that stands atop a mountain. It was built in 2005 and offers views of the Andaman Sea and islands surrounding Langkawi. The bridge can be reached by taking a cable car. At the final stop of the cable car station (also the peak), one needs to climb some steep steps to reach the bridge. All the hard work and sweat will be rewarded with breathtaking views around the mountain and sea.

 

 

Another attraction that was a nice surprise was the Langkawi Underwater World. Even though most around the world have more species of marine life, this one offers a trip to habitats of the marine, tropical rainforests, freshwater aquaria, coral and even some pond sections. It even has an antartic section which displays penguins bred in Malaysia. Penguins! Who would have thought penguins were available and bred in this country.

        

We visited many attractions on this trip and bought lots of chocolates coming back. It was after all, duty-free purchases. We will return again for island visits next time and do some boating, snorkeling and diving. There are as many as 100 islands surrounding Langkawi and while most are uninhabited, some have been designated as tourists spots and we hope to have the opportunity to see the beauty the islands have to offer.

Cheers.

Images via own collection.