Langkawi trip – Prologue

Among the destinations in Malaysia where the budget airlines fly directly to, I'm left with Langkawi and Miri. I booked the airtix way back in Nov last year when Air Asia was having the zero airfare promotion. I always didnt managed to get zero airfare tickets in the past promotions but this time round, I managed to book zero airfare for the return trip. The ticket inclusive of taxes and administative fees cost S$94. It's a pity that Tiger Airways has ceased flight to Langkawi otherwise I will have a choice.

There are 4 weekly flights from Singapore to Langkawi i.e. Mon, Wed, Fri and Sun. We will be departing on Fri and returning on Mon as spending at least 4 days in Langkawi is recommended. In fact, we only have 2 1/2 day in Langkawi as we will be arriving at around noon time and leaving in the early morning.

YQ went to Langkawi before but I didn't, so he has the chance to revisit again, hehe... I feel that Langkawi has lost the charm that it once possessed a decade ago. It used to be one of the more beautiful beach resorts around the region but Redang, Phuket and Krabi are the preferred beach destination nowadays.

Langkawi is an archipelago of 99 islands with additional 5 islands surfacing during low tide. The chinese name of Langkawi is 浮罗交怡 and I'm puzzled as to why this is the Chinese name?? Langkawi is also known as 兰卡威 which in my opinion is a direct translation of the pronouncation of Langkawi. Pulau Langkawi is the largest island in the archipelago and one of the 4 islands which is inhabited. Langkawi was a sleepy backwater until it was granted duty free status in 1987. This coincides with the curse laid by Mahsuri and was lifted with the birth of her 7th generation descendant.

Langkawi can only be reach by sea and air. Langkawi was granted World Geopark status by UNESCO on 1 June 2007. Three of its main conservation areas in Langkawi Geopark are Machincang Cambrian Geoforest Park, Kilim Karst Geoforest Park and Dayang Bunting Marble Geoforest park (Island of the Pregnant Maiden Lake). The peak season to visit is from Nov - Feb and middle of the year is the period to avoid.

Map of Langkawi

There are a variety of hotels in Langkawi ranging from budget guesthouse to luxury resorts. After researching on the accomodation, I decided to book the first 2 nights stay at Casa Fina Fines Home which cost RM158 a night. I wanted to book Azio Hotel as the rates published on the website is cheaper but I didnt knew that 16 Sep is a Malaysia public holiday hence the rate is RM145 a night. I choose to stay at Casa Fina Fines Home as it is located at Pantai Cenang where there are more choices of eateries than Azio Hotel which is located at Kuah. For the last night, I decided to pamper ourselves by staying at Bon Ton. I wanted to book the Blue Ginger room but it was reserved hence I settled for Yellow Orchid which is the 2nd cheapest at RM590 a night. It is the outdoor bath tub which attracted me to stay at Bon Ton.

I intend to rent a car at the airport to get around Langkawi since there are no public transport on the island. Taxi is expensive and a ride can be almost a quarter of the daily car rental cost. From my research, car rental range from RM50 – RM150 a day and petrol is dirt cheap, RM30 is sufficient to go around the island for 2 days.

While researching on Langkawi, I realised that there are quite a number of attractions there which I don't think that 2 1/2 days is sufficient to explore the whole island. After eliminating some attractions, I come up with the following itinerary:

Day 1: Reach Langkawi at 12.15pm, Telaga Harbour Park, Oriental Village, Cable Car Ride & Hanging Bridge, Tanjung Rhu
Day 2: Island hopping, Galeria Perdana Museum, Lagenda Langkawi Dalam Taman,
Day 3: Laman Padi Rice Garden and rest of the day idling at Bon Ton
Day 4: Depart Langkawi at 8.55am

Budget for this trip is RM1,100 ~ S$450:
- RM450 for accomodation
- RM150 for car rental & petrol
- RM100 for admission tickets and tour
- RM200 for meals
- RM200 for shopping

>>Day 1: 16 Sep 11