Day 18 - Langkawi

I don't know what has happened to our body clocks on this trip... I'm up at 7am and the sun has not yet popped up from behind the mountains to the east so I grab the tripod and head down to the rocks just 50 metres away.

Already people are on the beach for their morning jog but there are several with cameras ready to catch the sunrise. It's pretty spectacular and up here it seems to take on a whole new light not seen back home. That's not to say we don't get good sunrises but it's different.

After breakfast we organise a rental car like we did last time here. We go for a small car and end up with a tiny box-like car and I wonder if it will make it up Gunung Raya, which is the highest mountain on the island at 881 metres, and which has a lookout and a hotel on the summit.

We head off for the day and immediately fall in love with our little banger... it has plenty of up and go and plenty of room... it will suit us fine and is all we need for exploring Langkawi. We rented it from the guy at the hotel and while it may be a little more expensive than the flock of car rental places at the airport, the cars are in good condition and reliable.

First stop is the shopping mall at Kuah, the island's largest and only real city. Amazingly this must be the only shopping mall in South East Asia that Liz hasn't visited! I need some socks and she discovers they even have a Big Mens store... what a think to say!!! But I'll come back and maybe get some shorts which are easier up here in the heat.

We then head towards Black Sands Beach, the TomTom leading the way across the roads which criss-cross the island. Of course I stop every now and again for a photo opportunity while my pretty assistant holds the cameras and scouts the map for other possible sights.

While driving through small kampongs (villages) and rubber plantations, we are reminded that most of Langkawi is untouched by tourist development. The main tourist place is Pantai Cenang (Cenang Beach)... it's as if Surfers Paradise has been transplanted... very touristy and gauche... not my cup of tea at all.

We head up the 12 kilometer climb up Gunung Raya and the little banger (I don't even know the make of this car!) zooms upwards with no trouble... passing rainforest and monkeys along the road until we reach the summit where you can see the whole island and Thailand to the north.

It's pleasantly cool up on the top of the mountain and we enjoy the views before heading back down and stopping to try and take some shots of the camera-shy monkeys who gather in groups beside the roadway as it winds through the rainforest.

We arrive at Black Sands Beach where I shot some scenes at the fishing village during our last trip. Liz was at the pool that day so this is the first time she's been here and as there are beachside stalls she investigates. But her pressing need is a toilet and after finding only squat ones she decides to wait until later. It's a girl thing!

I see some potential shots along the beach front so that's me sorted for the next 20 minutes and then I punch the airport into the TomTom where there definitely will be western toilets for Liz. 

I really want to get some sunset shots this trip... last trip here it was overcast every day so I missed out but I am determined to get them this time. So we head to Pantai Cenang Beach... absolute bedlam and Liz comments that even though some of the top hotels on Langawki are located here, the crowded beach and main street don't appeal to us. We are more than happy with the Berjaya... it is out of the way but no crowds and a better outlook. We scout for potential sunset shoot locations and make a mental note of a boardwalk at the northern end of the Pantai Cenang.

I recalled seeing last trip some advertising saying the best place to see a sunset was from the Lighthouse Restaurant, a couple of kilometres north so we drive there and find that the beach is not as packed as Cenang but there are 2 or 3 parasailing outfits operating along this stretch of sand. 

The front deck of the Lighthouse Restaurant does indeed look inviting... maybe we'll have dinner there one night... but Liz is content to sit on the sand and watch the antics of the parasailors who come dangerously close during someof their landings... while I set up the G2 on the tripod and fire off a shot every few minutes as the sun works its magic on the clouds and water.

A couple of young guys from Dubai ask if I can take some shots of their impending parasail flight... they have more guts than I do... there is no way I'd harness up and take off one one of those contraptions after a 5-minute instructional chat! 

But I get some fabulous shots as the towed-parasail passes across the face of the sun... I even manage some burst shots of their less than delicate landing and they seem thrilled with the results.

 

I'll email the photos to them... who knows, they might be Arab oil billionaires who might treat us to an all expenses paid holiday in Dubai... well, we can but dream eh!

As the sunset really starts to get going and the colour in the western sky becomes a golden glow, I continue firing shots... it all looks amazing and hopefully I'll get a couple of good ones from the batch. It is hard to process the images in Lightroom on the small screen of my notepad so I'll wait untilI get home before working on the shots. It will be a tough job picking the best... in the LCD, every shot looks amazing. 

We couldn't have wished for a better sunset... it all just fell into place. I'd love to come up herefor a shoot with The Jolly Boys + One... we'd get some amazing shots here boys and girls.


We had planned to eat at Wonderland in Kuah, with it's amazing grilled prawns which are almost 12 inches long, or according to TripAdvisor, the best restaurant on Langkawi, the Priviledge at the new Perdana Quay. Perdana is just a few minutes from our hotel whereas Kuah is 19kms in the other direction. So, we give the Lighthouse a miss for tonight and head to Perdana Quay. 

Liz reminds me that we've been out and about all day and we both probably stink from the perspiration... maybe the Priviledge won't let us in... she is dressed for the beach but I'm wearing smart casual (probably still reek a bit). When we finally find the restaurant, they tell us that without a reservation they have no room... Liz reckons it's because we looked and smelled like a couple of strays! But the maitre de recommends Mare Blu down on the boardwalk and it too looks packed but they find us a table. 

We overlook the marina and there are some seriously expensive cruisers moored here... not much change out of quite a few million for these Big Boys Toys. And they hail from ports all over the world... maybe the Dubai guys own one!  




We are hungry, having skipped lunch which we tend to do while on the road... breakfast is big and it's too hot most of the time for lunch other than a cool drink. Liz grabs a G&T and I order a mug of icy cold Carlsberg... bloody beautiful, and cheap too. The food here is good too and you tend to forget that side dishes here are bigger than the usual postage-stamp-size dish of sauteed muchrooms etc at home, so we are swimming in food which we cannot finish. My duck breast is simply delicious and Liz's salmon equally so.

Big sheets of lightening light up the whole mountainside and marina, but the tropical storm heads out into the Andaman Sea and we crash into bed after parking the banger in the carpark and walking back to our chalet.