It was an early start on Saturday. I woke up at 6.45am to the sound of crashing waves outside the room, and it was still quite dark. S and I decided the night before that we were going to be gungho and go for an early morning run before breakfast. First time I was going to go for a run like that along the beach. It was very refreshing running barefoot along the coast, feeling the soft sand under your feet. A pity that the beach at Berjaya was so short, so we ended up doing several laps to and fro the beach. It is something I would like to do again.
It was then time to sample breakfast by the beachside restaurant. We could pig out by selecting as many dishes as we wanted from the western and asian cuisine, and the staff would make our orders in the open kitchen. Due to the packed morning, 5 of us would have to gobble down breakfast, as a van would be picking us up for our mangrove kayaking trip.
We had signed up with the Langkawi Canopy Adventures company to take us on this kayaking adventure. The operator was a German called Juergen, who had been living on Langkawi since the 80s. He had explored the mangroves himself and had devised this route and tour himself. The trip was going to cost us RM250 per person for a 6-7 hour kayaking tour.
There were 2 to a kayak, and having grabbed our kayaks from the boathouse, we started kayaking through the mangroves. The first thing that strikes you about the mangroves is that it is not swampy and smelly. That was my perception of the mangroves but Juergen started explaining the rich ecosystem sustained in the mangrove and how it is actually very clean. He explained about the fish farms located in the mangrove and also pointed out perched on a branch, what all of us thought was a brownish-red eagle, was actually a kite. 'Lang' being short for 'helang' or 'eagle'. 'Kawi' being the red stone. And these kites were what gave Langkawi its name.
Juergen soon led us off the river and into an opening within the mangrove itself.
We arrived at a cliff of sorts, where we then 'parked' our kayaks and then started climbing up the footpath to reach a cave. We were stomping through branches and that is where quite a few of us started to feel stings on our arms. I didn't really see any insects or ants on my arm, but I could feel these tiny shots of pain on both my arms. I would later see multiple stings on my arm (my left arms suffered the worst, with 16 stings). Our guide explained that we most likely walked through a wasps' nest and the wasps did not take too kindly to us intruding. We arrived at the entrance of a cave.
Armed with lamps to strap on to our heads, we would be heading in to explore the cave. Juergen explained that he discovered this cave on his many exploration trips along these hills, and only he knew about this route in through the mangrove.
We ventured in gingerly into the cave, where we could hear the chatter of bats resting on the ceiling. We could see the formation of the stalagmites and stalactites due to the limestone present in the caves. We were led deep into the end of the cave, where we then stopped. We could see these two separate formations, where pebbles and rocks had been neatly stacked and placed on top of one another. Juergen explained that these were two tombs he had discovered.
Based on his studies, the indigenous people on the island never had such a culture of tomb building with rocks, so this was unique. Another theory of his (which may or may not be far-fetched), is that these two mysterious tombs could somehow be linked to the fabled Yamashita's Gold. The Japanese may have tried to ship the gold through Malaysia, and through Langkawi. This gold may very well have been hidden somewhere here in the mountains of Langkawi, and these tombs could somehow be linked to this mystery.
We then headed back to our kayaks where we paddled down the river some more. We were brought to another cave, where erosion of the soft limestone rock had excavated two large caves near the water. Quite a number of bats were roosting in these caves. As I stepped off my kayak and waded into the soft mud on the floor of the cave, I was just wondering whether the mushy soil was more mud or more gwano.
We continued to kayak around, where we tried to find some snakes in the mangrove. We were unfortunate (or is it fortunate?) to not spot any. Our guide explained that as it was hot weather, the kites would be out and could hunt the snakes so the snakes would be keeping away. During rainy weather, the kites would not be able to fly, and then the snakes would be out in the mangrove.
We then let the current of the river slowly push us back to our starting point where we tucked in to some well-deserved lunch at the fish farm. We were exhausted from all the kayaking, with our shoulders and arms all sore.
The van hauled us back to our resort and a quick shower later, we would be heading to the cable car up Gunung Mat Chinchang.
The cable car is really modern, and the entire system was built by a Swiss company, so we felt quite safe. The ride up was very steep and fast, and we went all the way to the top, past 700m above sea-level.
Due to the windy weather, and it being quite late, we were not able to walk on the sky bridge. In a way, I was kinda glad. I don't think I would have been able to walk on that bridge. My slight fear of heights had already kicked in standing on top of the mountain, with my palms getting sweaty.
The trip back down was exciting. Sortof. It was steep. Very.
The rest of the evening was spent back in Kuah town, shopping for (super cheap) chocolates and (super cheap) alcohol. Can't believe how cheap the alcohol is on Langkawi. A bottle of kahlua is RM40 and gin too about RM40. We were all quite tired out from the day's activities, so it was another relatively early night, with not much drinking at all. It was going to be (surprise, surprise) another early start the next morning.
It was then time to sample breakfast by the beachside restaurant. We could pig out by selecting as many dishes as we wanted from the western and asian cuisine, and the staff would make our orders in the open kitchen. Due to the packed morning, 5 of us would have to gobble down breakfast, as a van would be picking us up for our mangrove kayaking trip.
We had signed up with the Langkawi Canopy Adventures company to take us on this kayaking adventure. The operator was a German called Juergen, who had been living on Langkawi since the 80s. He had explored the mangroves himself and had devised this route and tour himself. The trip was going to cost us RM250 per person for a 6-7 hour kayaking tour.
There were 2 to a kayak, and having grabbed our kayaks from the boathouse, we started kayaking through the mangroves. The first thing that strikes you about the mangroves is that it is not swampy and smelly. That was my perception of the mangroves but Juergen started explaining the rich ecosystem sustained in the mangrove and how it is actually very clean. He explained about the fish farms located in the mangrove and also pointed out perched on a branch, what all of us thought was a brownish-red eagle, was actually a kite. 'Lang' being short for 'helang' or 'eagle'. 'Kawi' being the red stone. And these kites were what gave Langkawi its name.
Juergen soon led us off the river and into an opening within the mangrove itself.
We arrived at a cliff of sorts, where we then 'parked' our kayaks and then started climbing up the footpath to reach a cave. We were stomping through branches and that is where quite a few of us started to feel stings on our arms. I didn't really see any insects or ants on my arm, but I could feel these tiny shots of pain on both my arms. I would later see multiple stings on my arm (my left arms suffered the worst, with 16 stings). Our guide explained that we most likely walked through a wasps' nest and the wasps did not take too kindly to us intruding. We arrived at the entrance of a cave.
Armed with lamps to strap on to our heads, we would be heading in to explore the cave. Juergen explained that he discovered this cave on his many exploration trips along these hills, and only he knew about this route in through the mangrove.
We ventured in gingerly into the cave, where we could hear the chatter of bats resting on the ceiling. We could see the formation of the stalagmites and stalactites due to the limestone present in the caves. We were led deep into the end of the cave, where we then stopped. We could see these two separate formations, where pebbles and rocks had been neatly stacked and placed on top of one another. Juergen explained that these were two tombs he had discovered.
Based on his studies, the indigenous people on the island never had such a culture of tomb building with rocks, so this was unique. Another theory of his (which may or may not be far-fetched), is that these two mysterious tombs could somehow be linked to the fabled Yamashita's Gold. The Japanese may have tried to ship the gold through Malaysia, and through Langkawi. This gold may very well have been hidden somewhere here in the mountains of Langkawi, and these tombs could somehow be linked to this mystery.
We then headed back to our kayaks where we paddled down the river some more. We were brought to another cave, where erosion of the soft limestone rock had excavated two large caves near the water. Quite a number of bats were roosting in these caves. As I stepped off my kayak and waded into the soft mud on the floor of the cave, I was just wondering whether the mushy soil was more mud or more gwano.
We continued to kayak around, where we tried to find some snakes in the mangrove. We were unfortunate (or is it fortunate?) to not spot any. Our guide explained that as it was hot weather, the kites would be out and could hunt the snakes so the snakes would be keeping away. During rainy weather, the kites would not be able to fly, and then the snakes would be out in the mangrove.
We then let the current of the river slowly push us back to our starting point where we tucked in to some well-deserved lunch at the fish farm. We were exhausted from all the kayaking, with our shoulders and arms all sore.
The van hauled us back to our resort and a quick shower later, we would be heading to the cable car up Gunung Mat Chinchang.
The cable car is really modern, and the entire system was built by a Swiss company, so we felt quite safe. The ride up was very steep and fast, and we went all the way to the top, past 700m above sea-level.
Due to the windy weather, and it being quite late, we were not able to walk on the sky bridge. In a way, I was kinda glad. I don't think I would have been able to walk on that bridge. My slight fear of heights had already kicked in standing on top of the mountain, with my palms getting sweaty.
The trip back down was exciting. Sortof. It was steep. Very.
The rest of the evening was spent back in Kuah town, shopping for (super cheap) chocolates and (super cheap) alcohol. Can't believe how cheap the alcohol is on Langkawi. A bottle of kahlua is RM40 and gin too about RM40. We were all quite tired out from the day's activities, so it was another relatively early night, with not much drinking at all. It was going to be (surprise, surprise) another early start the next morning.
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