Day 46 - Langkawi Snorkel day

This morning we woke up early to go on our snorkel day trip but when we went down for breakfast the driver was not there - we could actually see him across the street eating his own breakfast!  When the pick-up was 45 minutes late we were finally rounded up with the other tourists and got onto the Greyhound bus outside the hotel.  It took another 90 minutes to pick up the rest of the tourists and then once we got to the Kuah Jetty (ferry port) we waited around for another 15 minutes and by 11:30am we were finally on Pulau Payar Marine Island!

Before being allowed to snorkel we were told not to feed the fish as the baby black-tip sharks are very skilled at latching onto and then removing tourist's fingers and that the nearest hospital was at least 90 minutes away.  We were also reminded NEVER to step on the coral.  Unfortunately both of these instructions were ignored as we could see tourists splashing around and screaming as fish nibbled at them and sharks swam by. 

Our first bout of snorkeling was really challenging; the tide was out so at times there was only two feet of water between the surface and the coral - YIKES!  Our masks were definitely not high quality so after about 20 minutes we had to re-adjust while treading water.  Even the tourists wearing life jackets were struggling; I think a lot of coral died that day!

We took a break for lunch; which was a plastic tub that enclosed a bit of soggy but also dry fried rice, a bag of chips and a can of Iced tea (the best part of the meal).  After lunch we wandered over to the other side of the beach; which was deserted!

Enjoying a rum & coke with my view

Ty snorkeling with the black-tip sharks!

Could have stayed here forever!

Baby black-tips just off shore

After a few hours of snorkeling and relaxing on the undisturbed side of Pulau Payar we did have to go back and again took the 2-3 hour trek back to our hotel.

back to Langkawi

That night we did our best to finish up our the ten dollar bottle of Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum before leaving for Kuala Lumpur tomorrow morning!

Day 45 - Motorbike tour of Langkawi

After reading Tripadvisor we knew we would have to either rent a car or a motorbike to be able to see all of the sights of the island.  Without much traffic we scooted up-island for about 30 minutes  to see the Langkawi Cable Car at the Oriental Village; which was a cheesy collection of shops and terrible attractions.

Cable Car ticket counter

First Station

View of Cenang Beach

Station for making wax replica's of your hand!

No Smoking - thank God!

View from the second station

Excited to get a car to ourselves to the 3rd station

708 meters above sea level

Map of the Cable Car and Oriental Village

We were starting to get h-angry so motorbiked down to lunch at a small place at the beach.  After playing with the two local cats we eagerly ate our fried rice and fried noodles ($5 USD) and then motorbiked to the Telaga Tujuh Waterfalls.  They are also known as Seven Wells and locals apparently claim that fairies reside in the area!

Ty spotted this guy following us while we were climbing to the falls

Posing for me!

Telaga Tujuh Waterfalls

After relaxing in the waterfall pools we motorbiked another 20 minutes to Pasir Tengkorak Beach, a local beach that was rated highly on Tripadvisor.  The minute we pulled up to the beach gate we saw more monkey's!  I paid some money to change into my bathing suit in the bathroom and bought some Coke for our Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum!

Ty and the locals wading in!

Monkeys cavorting behind the locals

As far as I can tell - the best beach in Malaysia!

This guy stole a bag of grapes from our neighbour's blanket!

He was so cocky eating them in front of us!

After a few hours at the beach we made our way back to the hotel.  With only one day left in Langkawi we booked a snorkel trip to Pulau Payar Marine Park ($10 USD each) and then dropped off the motorbike.  

Cows grazing on our way to fatCUPID restaurant

Rated #1 in Langkawi on Tripadvisor - expensive but good food :-)