BEAUTIFUL BEACHES, CABLE CAR RIDES, SKY BRIDGES, WATERFALLS, NIGHT MARKETS AND BUFFALO WITH FRIENDS
HEADING TO LANGKAWI
Getting to Langkawi from Kuala Lumpur was quite a trek:
- A taxi to KL Sentral station
- A 4 hour train ride from KL to Arau (cost 98 RM – approx. £18 per person)
- A taxi to Kuala Perlis pier
- A 1 hour boat ride to Langkawi island (cost 18RM – approx. £3 per person)
- A taxi to our hotel, once we arrived in Langkawi
We were staying in a place called BJ Bayview Inn in the Pantai Cenang area of the island, on the West side. We’d booked two nights here, although we were expecting to stay on the island longer than this.
The accommodation was pretty basic and was quite far away from the restaurants and shops of Pentai Cenang town, so I wouldn’t recommend the place really. Uber did make life a lot easier for us though!
It was quite a journey overall that first day and we arrived at our hotel around 8pm, so we weren’t looking to do too much. We headed out for dinner at this place called Rainbow cafe. Decent, cheap eats here, and all home made by a lovely Turkish guy and his wife. Worth checking out.
EXPLORING LANGKAWI
On our first full day in Langkawi, we visited a boutique hotel called Fat Cupid for lunch. They served great Western and Malaysian dishes here and also let us hang out and use the pool for a couple of hours while we were there.
A perfect, chilled out start to our time on the island.
THE BEACH
After lunch at Fat Cupid, we walked down towards the nearby beach.
I have to say, it was one of the best beaches I’ve visited on my trip. Beautiful golden sand. Inviting, warm, blue waters. Smooth, sandy seabed. Rolling waves crashing. Other small islands of the archipelago viewable in the distance.
I’ve never been one to spend too long in the sea, but I could have stayed in here all day. It was perfection.
There’s also the opportunity to try out some water-sports on the beach here. Jet skis, water skiing and parasailing being the main ones on offer.
MOVING HOME
After two nights at BJ Bayview Inn, we decided to move accommodation and booked in for a couple of nights in a new hotel named ‘My Villa’.
This was much closer to the beaches and to the amenities of the town and the room was a much better standard. And it was cheaper!
After moving to the new hotel we spent more time at the beach and wandered around the local area a little more.
Here’s a few snaps taken from walking around the island:
Holly losing patience with the queue…
We stumbled across this bar called the Kasbah, while out walking. This place had an awesome hippy vibe, served amazing burgers and played great reggae music. Such a quality, chilled out place.
There’s often live music here too, but unfortunately I didn’t catch any while I was there.
Check it out if you’re in town, for sure. Assuming they still do it, give the ‘phat boy’ cheeseburger with chilli on top. Delicious!
It was just outside the Kasbah, that I noticed this buffalo, which was tied up to keep it in its field.
I must have walked past it half a dozen times while I was in Langkawi. Each time he always had a crane with him for company. They were inseparable.
Best of friends….
THE NIGHT MARKET
Every Thursday night there’s a night market in Pantai Cenang.
This place is buzzing with the local community. There’s the usual fare of street food to try, arts and crafts, some tat and an incredible amount of fresh, locally sourced fruit.
It’s surprisingly hard to just get hold of fruit when travelling, so this is a great option.
LANGKAWI CABLE CAR
Having heard great things about the cable car ride (or SkyCab, as it’s called here), in Langkawi, we decided to check it out.
We got a taxi from our hotel to ‘Panorama Langkawi’, the area where the cable car system is based.
The area comprises many eateries, lakes, gardens and entertainment for people of all ages. It felt a little like visiting a theme park.
The main thing we wanted to visit here was the cable car ride though, so we got straight to it.
There are three stations in the cable car system:
- Base station, which you access from the ground level of the main site
- Middle station, which takes you up an ear-popping 650m climb, spanning a 1,700 metres journey
- Top station. Only another 60m higher, but with views over the other side of the island.
Tickets for the travel between all of these platforms was 55RM (approx. £10), but a little less for locals, from what I remember.
As soon as we left the base station, the views across the sea were already quite remarkable.
There was a very steep incline, up to the middle station, where my ears were popping every few seconds, as they adjusted to the altitude.
Once at the top, we exited the cable car and made our way up to a 360 degree viewing platform.
The views from up here were awesome. Here’s a few snaps:
From here, we made our way over to the next car, which took us up to the top platform.
Some more amazing views, from the viewing platforms here:
From up here we could also see views of the ‘Sky Bridge’, which was going to be our next stop:
On our way over to the Sky Bridge, we walked across another walkway, where there were hundreds of love locks:
And a little further along, there was this monkey, just hanging out:
The Sky Bridge is built on top of Mount Machinchang at 700m above sea level and hangs out over the landscape, offering breathtaking views of the scenery. It was quite windy up here and you could feel the bridge swaying a little, but it was an awesome experience being up here, looking out over the mountains, valleys and islands.
After leaving the Sky Bridge, we headed back to the cable car and made our descent back to the base camp.
We were lucky enough to visit on a fairly clear day which made the viewing opportunities incredible. If you’re in Langkawi, make sure you go, but do so on a relatively cloud-free day, if possible.
SEVEN WELLS WATERFALL
While journeying back down in the cable car, we’d noticed what looked like a waterfall in the distance.
We checked the map and found that there was a place called ‘Seven Wells Waterfall’, just a short hike away, so decided to check it out while we were here.
There’s two main areas to the waterfall – the base of the falls and an observation deck at the top.
First off we headed up to the observation deck, not knowing quite how far away it was.
A word of warning – this is not for the faint hearted. It’s over 600 steps up to the top.
When we finally arrived at the top, we were greeted to the site of some cool pools, which you could swim in and a rock structure that served as a natural water slide, down to one of the pools below.
After such a gruelling hike up, this cool water was just what was needed.
From the observation deck here, you could see views of the waterfall flowing down towards the base of the falls, with the sea stretching out in the distance.
Once we’d cooled off up here, we retraced our steps back down and headed to the base of the falls.
Quite a sight!
A great day out in Langkawi and one I’d certainly recommend.
Here’s a video below of the day in more detail:
VIDEO – CABLE CAR & SEVEN WELLS WATERFALL
ONTO PENANG
After six awesome days in Langkawi, we were heading off to our next destination – the island of Penang!
As always, please leave any thoughts on the post in the comments section below!
