Lazing in Langkawi

Mar/Apr 2008

Well, that is probably the impression most people have of us sea gypsies as we make our way from port to port or anchorage to anchorage. But our visit to Langkawi would keep us busy. First, we had to replenish our duty free supply of wine as it could be sourced here relatively cheaply – even cheaper than in Australia sometimes – and it is nice to have a glass with dinner or friends or both. We also had to get to Penang, south of Langkawi, to apply for our 3-month Thai visas, to visit the skin specialist, and of course, visit our favourite restaurants. This time though, we wouldn’t be passing through on our own boat but instead caught the fast ferry down and stayed 3 nights in a (cheap) hotel. The visa application would take two working days so luckily for us we had arrived on a Wednesday not realising that the Thursday was a public holiday – the Muslims of the world would be celebrating the Prophet Muhammad’s 1438^th birthday – so not much work that day.

We made the necessary visit to Dr Khoo Siew Swan at the Lam Wah Ee Hospital where Jon was subjected to the usual freezing of various skin blemishes. With an extra day on our hands we decided to do some sight seeing and took in the Cheong Fatt Tze Museum, a beautifully restored Chinese mansion built in the 1890s, and winner of the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Conservation Award for “Most Excellent Project”.

The rest of our time was taken up with lots of walking around Georgetown, the old part of Penang, visiting Chinese tea shops, Chinese and Indian restaurants, and buying more Asian goodies for the pantry.

Back in Langkawi, we still had time up our sleeves as we were waiting for mail from Australia and a package to arrive so decided to take in some cruising round Langkawi, something we hadn’t done on previous visits – we were always too busy having work done or doing shopping. We left the anchorage at Kuah and decided to do a clockwise circumnavigation of the island. We did leisurely day sails and overnighted at Pulau Singa Besar, a smaller island off the SW of Langkawi; Telaga, in an anchorage outside the boat harbour; Teluk Datai on the NW side where we were able to pick up free wi-fi from the resort; and finally The Hole In the Wall, on the eastern side of Langkawi. We mostly had fine days with no strong winds with only a bit of rain on some days. It was when exploring the waters around the Hole in the Wall that we came across a troop of Dusky Leaf Monkeys. We had never seen these monkeys with white eye patches before so we were quite excited at seeing them including one with a baby.

Our package still hadn’t arrived by the time we returned to Kuah so while in town we decided to buy ourselves some folding bikes. They weren’t first class – Made in China – but they would be useful while in marinas and even in some anchorages and they were very cheap!! We’d also bought a secondhand air conditioner when we first arrived so we felt we would be well set up for marina life in Phuket while our boat work would be getting done.