Pulau Langkawi is one of the island which is made up of an Archipelago of 99 islands, exactly where the Straits of Malacca meets the waters of the Andaman Seas. The island is part of Kedah States in the Northern Malaysia.
Langkawi is combination of 2 Malay Words (i.e. 'Lang' derived from 'Helang' which meant Eagle and Kawi is a name for the local manganese stones).
Normally the weather and climate in Pulau Langkawi are sunny, hot and humid, tropical climate with temperature of about 32 degrees Celsius. It showers occasionally throughout the year. The rainy season is during August and September.
Two-thirds of the island is made up of forest-covered mountains, hills and natural vegetation. It is a heaven for Nature Lovers and also a great place for Getaway.
UNESCO has given a World Geopark status to Pulau Langkawi on 1st June, 2007.
Pulau Langkawi is a popular holiday destination among the locals and also as well as foreigners from Europe and Japan. Pulau Langkawi offers a lot of island activities such as island hoping, sailing, snorkelling, mangrove tour, jet skiing, diving, kayaking, jungle trekking, air trekking/canopy adventure, biking and etc.
I decided to join in a Day Tour - Langkawi Nature Discovery with Green Heart together with Chee Wah, Mary Teo, Sau Fei, Wai Ho, Jaime Chan and Yimei on 19th December 2010 (i.e. Sunday) to discover the wondrous creations of Mother Nature on the island and the day tour cost RM350 per pax. This tour is releated to Travel with a Green Heart Campaign with the objective to create awarness on Respect our Environment and Unique Cultural Heritage and also helping responsible travellers to satisfy their thirst adventures in our paradise lands of Pulau Payar, Langkawi and Penang.
Itinerary of Langkawi Nature Discovery as follows:-
0715 - 0755 : Hotel pick-up from Scheduled Pick-Up Points.
(Note : A Fixed Schedule)
0730 - 0800 : Check In at Swettenham Pier, Penang.
0815 : Depart for Langkawi by Ferry.
1115 : Langkawi Nature Tour on Van sharing basic.
(Note : Entrance Fees Included)
* Eagle Square.
* Eagle Watching, Mangrove Jungle and Cave Adventures.
* Langkawi Cable Car.
(Note : Visit Underwater World if Cable Car is closed)
* Set Lunch on table sharing basic (A Fixed Menu)
* Set Snack on take away basic (A Fixed Menu)
1700 : Check In at Kuah Jetty, Langkawi.
1715 : Depart for Penang by Ferry.
2015 : Arrive at Swettenham Pier, Penang and return pick-up to Hotel.
1.0 Swettenham Pier, Penang.
We all met up at the pier entrance which is located opposite of Fort Cornwallis, along Jalan Tun Syed Sheh Barakbah as scheduled (i.e. 7.15 am).
The Sun was shy and still hiding behind the clouds. We anticiptated that it would be a cloudy day for whole day during our tour and our photographs would not turned out well.
View of the Clock Tower - Queen Victoria Memorial Clock Tower is located near
Fort Cornwallis and the entrance of the pier in the wee morning hours.
Waiting Area in Swettenham Pier, Penang.
The Ferry which transported us to Pulau Langkawi, departed the pier at 8.15 am sharp.
The normal journey will take 3 hours to reach Pulau Langkawi if the weather is fine.
The Ferry dispersed some tourist at Pulau Payar.
2.0 Ferry Terminal of Pulau Langkawi
Upon arriving at Ferry Terminal of Pulau Langkawi, the weather was fine but
the sun was still hiding behind the clouds.
The passengers were making their ways to the exit of the Ferry Terminal.
View of the Eagle Squre from the Ferry Terminal.
The Welcome Signage of Pulau Langkawi can been seen from the Ferry Terminal.
The daily activity at the Ferry Terminal.
The Lighted Box Map showing the interesting sights of Pulau Langkawi on your left hand side
as you are leaving the Ferry Terminal of Pulau Langkawi.
We left the Jetty Point for nearby Charlie's Place Restaurant & Bar/Royal Langkawi Yacht Club with a van.
3.0 Charlie's Place Restaurant & Bar/Royal Langkawi Yacht Club (RLYC)
The Charlie's Place Restaurant & Bar is located not far away from the Ferry Terminal. As we were travelling along the direction towards Sheraton Perdana Langkawi, we turned on our right into the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club which has 200 beth marina and Charlie's Place Restaurant & Bar is adjacent to it.
Charlie's Place Restaurant & Bar is an eatery built facing the beautiful marina front and the surrounding islands.
View of the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club.
View of the Royal Langkawi Yacth Club with the ideal yacths.
The activities at the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club.
View of the ideal yachts infront of the the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club.
The sun was playing hide & seek while we were trying to capture the beautiful scenic view.
Charlie's Place is adjacent to the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club.
When we reached the restaurant, food came into our mind and our stomach started to growl.
We had a quick meal as stated in the attinerary.
While we were sipping our fruit drinks, we enjoyed the panoramic view infront the restaurant.
The Meal was started off with Tomato Soup followed by Nasi Goreng Kerabu / Club Sandwich / Beef or Chicken Burger or Spaghetti Napolitana and Dessert.
After having our hearty meal, we made off to Langkawi Oriental Village.
4. 0 Langkawi Oriental Village
Upon reaching the Langkawi Oriental Village, the weather was still very cloudy and unfavourable for Outdoor Photography at that moment.
The Langkawi Oriental Village is a concontemporary village which was constructed with Asian Architectural Design together with a little touch of English and French designs.
View of the Main Entrance of Langkawi Oriental Village.
The Layout Plan of Langkawi Oriental Village is located not far away from the main entrance.
The general view of Langkawi Oriental Village.
The above pictures showing the activities at the Langkawi Oriental Village.
Althougth the Langkwai Cable Car is located within the Langkawi Oriental Village, we could not manage to obtain tickets to go on aboard of it because of the long queue at the ticket counters and we have to detour to Kilim Karst Geoforest Park for our next destination.
Our hearts sank when we learned that we had to miss the amazing panoramic view of the surroundings forests, the Telaga Tujuh (Seven Wells) waterfalls, main island as well as the many surrounding islands and the sea from the platforms of the stations.
5.0 Kilim Karst Geoforest Park
Kilim Karst Geoforest is one of the popular tourism areas and also main conservation areas within the Langkawi Geopark. It is a great place for exploration and adventure because of it is so rich with green mangrove forest and spectacular natural landscapes.
The Signage of Kilim Karst Geoforest Park and Notice of Reminders.
A Map showing the Kilim Karst Geoforest Park.
The Package Price List for the Tours at the counter.
Sceneries at the Jetty Kilim.
5.1 Fish Farm
The Fish Farm is located along the Kilim River and it was our first (1st) destination from the Jetty Kilim.
View of the Fish Farm on pontoons.
On the Pontoon, we experinced a close relationship with the marine life.
There are two (2) main attractions to witness at the Fish Farm.
One is where the friendly Stingrays will let someone to stroke on the its heads and hand feed.
The other one is Archerfish/Spinnerfish (Ikan Sumpit) will leap out of the water and grab the food from your finger.
Too bad, we could not stay on at the Fish Farm for too long and have to move on to
our next destination (i.e. Eagle Feeding Site).
5.2 Eagle Feeding Site.
The scenery was spectacular as we cruised along the Kilim River towards Eagle Feeding Site.
The Eagle Feeding Site has been the home of
Brahminy Kite Eagles and White Bellied Eagles for many years.
As we entered into the Eagle Feeding Site, we noticed that
there were about 10-20 eagles circling the blue sky.
One of the hovering eagles began screeching and
swooping down across the water to grap up the food.
At that moment I wished I had a DSLR Camera with me instead of Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 to enable me to capture sharper images of the magical moment at the Eagle Feeding Site.
It is a great site for enthusiastic bird photographers to capture the eagles in action and add them to their fine collections. One day I will come back to the Eagle Feeding Site
with a DSLR camera.
5.3 Gua Kelawar (Bat Cave).
Gua Kelawar is named after its mammal inhabitant, the Malaysian Fruit Bat and also known as Bat Cave. It is located along the Kilim River and accessible by Boat. A wooden platform through a mangrove swamp, leading directly into the Gua Kelawar/Bat Cave is provided from the Jetty. The length of the cave is about 100 meters.
We have to pass by the Jetty Kilim to get to the Gua Kelawar/Bat Cave.
As we cruised along the calm winding Kilim River, we enjoyed the scenic and spectacular sights of Green Mangrove Forest, Karst Formations, Hanging Gardens and unique magnificently formed Landscape of Limestone Hills with pinnacles of various shapes and sizes before we reached the Jetty.
View of the Jetty before the Gua Kelawar.
Wai Ho was trying to tell us not to feed the monkeys after seeing the signage on the railing.
The Location Map of Gua Kelawar/Bat Cave and Informations before the entrance of the cave.
Kindly take note of the 5 Don'ts below the Location Map.
The atmosphere is very dark and scary inside the Gua Kelawar/Bat Cave.
It is advisable to carry a torch light with you when you enter the cave for better vision.
Before the entrance of the cave there is a notification indicated that no camera flashes are allow in the cave.
Bats were found hanging from the ceiling of the cave.
View at the end of the Bat Cave.
The sunlight was trying to penetrate through the thick leaves of the tall surrounding trees.
The stalactites and stalagmites of various shapes, sizes, and beautiful sculptures
are found on both sides of the railings.
The bats' droppings were found on both side of the railings.
Therefore, do not touch or hold on to the railings while you are walking on platform.
We were going back to the Jetty through the opening where we entered to go another attraction.
The Underwater World Langkawi is located at Pantai Cenang and contructed to create awarness on the importance of conserving our precious gifted aquatic life forms. There are Freshwater Fish Section, the Seashell Display, the Koi Pond, the Mini Reptilian and Invertebrate Section, the Seashell Display Section, the Coral Reef Section, Tropical Rainforest, Temperate and Sub-Antarctic Ecosystems under one roof of Underwater World Langkawi.
Upon reaching the Underwater World Langkawi, we were given 45 minutes only to view inside the vast building with 60,000 sq. ft built-up area. I felt that it was too short and rush to do so. It requires at least 1 hour to view the displays.
The general exterior view of Underwater World Langkawi from the Car Parking Bay.
A cute penguin cartoon greeted us as we entered the main entrance and
the view of the Lobby inside the building of Underwater World Langkawi.
The Mini Reptilian and Invertebrate Section.
Freshwater Fish Section.
Tropical Rainforest Section.
Sub-Antarctic Ecosystems Section.
The gigantic 15-meter long walk-through tunnel.
The Coral Reef Section.
The Temperate Ecosystem is the major attraction and it was packed with a large number of foreign as well as local tourists to watch the well trained Harbour Seals performing tricks which were instructed by the Seal Keepers.
Some of us managed to get out of the Underwater World Langkawi's mammoth building just in time or else we will miss the ferry back to Penang.
Due to shortage of time, we had to forgo visiting the Eagle Square as per itinerary.
7.0 Check In at Ferry Terminal.
We got 15 minutes left to check in the Ferry Terminal and I made a quick dash into one of the shoplots in Jetty Point to get a few packed of chocolates by Hershey's which are one of my children's favourites.
Not fogetting that the Malaysia Government has duly declared that the whole entire Pulau Langkawi as a Duty Free Zone. All goods sold on this island are exempted from government tax. For your information you only need to stay in Pulau Langkawi for a minimum of 48 hours to take one bottle of liquor and one carton of cigarettes back home.
We shoved our way through the thick crowd to the entrance not to miss the ferry and all of us managed to get on board of the ferry.
8.0 Depart for Penang.
As the ferry leaving from the Ferry Terminal, the weather was still cloudy and the journey took another 3 hours for us to reach Swettenham Pier, Penang.
Finally we were heading for Home Sweet Home.
This time we were lucky to on board a ferry with upper deck and
all of us took the opportunity to capture the sceneries from the upper deck.
Smile and say 'Cheeeeeese'........ Chee Wah, Mary Teo and Jaime Chan.
View of the upper deck.
Although the sky was cloudy, I managed to capture a few dramatic sunset over the horizon of Andaman Seas and Straits of Malacca.
Suddenly the weather changed and started to drizzle.
Everyone quickly made their way to their seats and leaving a few on the
upper deck under the shed.
We were remained in our seats until we reached Swettenham Pier.
Everyone quickly made their way to their seats and leaving a few on the
upper deck under the shed.
We were remained in our seats until we reached Swettenham Pier.
9.0 Arrive at Swettenham Pier, Penang.
As the ferry berthed at the Swettenham Pier at 8.00 pm. the sky was already dark.
It was memorable and tiring tour.
I could not hardly wait to wash myself and jumped into my bed to have a good rest before facing the Blue Monday on the following day.
Conclusion :-
Although the 'Day Tour' was just liked a Walking Marathon with 12 hours non-stop, I found it rather interesting and did enjoyed myself very much because I could visit 6 interesting places (i.e. The Royal Langkawi Yacht Club, Langkawi Oriental Village, Fish Farm, Eagle Feeding Site, Bat Cave and Underwater World Langkawi) in Pulau Langkawi within 12 hours in a short hours without wasting my precious time as I set my feet on the island.
This 'Day Tour Package' to Rainforest of the Sea Discovery in Pulau Payar and Langkawi Nature Discovery are suitable for those who love to be closed to nature/ adventures and also would like to squeeze their getaways in between their tight schedule of works to unwind themselves.
For those who are interested & would like to make further enquiries or to purchase your ticket(s) to Langkawi or Pulau Payar, please do hesitate to contact the following below:-
Wow~ You have written it in a beautiful way. Love that eagle preying shot. Well done~ :)
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Thank You for your likings & kind comment(s). :)
ReplyDeleteI see my friend jaime in your pictures!! :)
ReplyDeletenice pictures btw..
oic....your fren Jaime was with us in that tour. :)
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