Langkawi

Following a couple of days in Penang (which in all honesty wasn't fantastic) we dragged ourselves out of bed at 7.30am through the rain and got the 3hr ferry north to the island of Langkawi (Eagle Island).

After Kasia had finally got over her sea-sickness, we got a taxi from the port over to the main beach area, Chenang, where we found a chalet right on the beach. (pleased it isn't tsunami season!)



It was a big contrast to anywhere we'd already been to. Clean, quiet, good roads, nice beaches and the sun was actually shining! I also thought my bargaining skills were going great as I'd got us the place for 'ay-eee ring-e' or 18 ringet which is about 3 quid per night.


I later found out this was actually 80 when it came to paying but compared to the 5* spa resorts each side charging 150 quid a night, we decided it wasn't so bad. Kasia was very happy there and really didn't want to leave the place.

The first day was spent lazing on the beach, drinking cheap beer and following Kasia as she sampled the local fruit, ripping unripened bananas and coconuts from the trees.

Ironman Malaysia is held on the island (no coincidence there ;) ) in Feb and I wanted to hire a bike to ride the course having done no execise at all for the last week. Unfortunately though the choice of rental bike came down to a rusting old BMX or a shiny moped. I chose the latter :) Apart from the heat and humidity, it would be a great location for a race. Maybe one to do in a couple of years time. Steve? Dan? ;)

Whilst on the beach, we met Kevin 'Come on Man!' the entertaining chinese fella who had learnt his english watching episodes of "Friends" on cable tv. He set us up with a cheap afternoon island hopping boat trip which turned out to be great.
Some swimming in a fresh water lake, eagle feeding and an encounter with a bunch of monkeys on a small island beach.

We rounded the day off in a nice bar down on the beach, breaking the bank with some cocktails watching the sun go down whilst stuffing our faces on indian curry. Ahhhhhh.. :)