Pulau Langkawi Part 3: Yet another island-hopping boat trip.

(Day 5 (on the island)) 24th June 2015


After three full days on the beautiful island of Pulau Langkawi, I felt it was time to move on, and see a more authentic side of Malaysia that the artificial beach resort of Pantai Cenang was unable to give me. So I arranged for a ferry to take me in the late afternoon onto my next Malaysian destination; Pulau Pinang.


But the ferry was scheduled to depart just after five in the afternoon, which left me with most of a day on Langkawi. Looking to achieve more with my last day than I had on those previous to it, I persuaded the girls I had met in my hostel to do an island hopping tour with me in the morning before I left the island. As we had not been out the previous night, they had little excuse to not get up at 08:00am to be ready to leave at nine.


At around twenty minutes past nine, a minibus rolled up, and we were wedged into the back row of seats, as a smug Chinese group had taken the choice seats. At the ferry pier, we were left milling around with around twenty other groups, with only stickers to identify who we were and more importantly who we had paid.

All the boats!

After we had established which boat was ours, and had been provided with the necessary frowning boatman, we jetted off from the pier, and out into a bay dotted with small islands and surrounded by steep mountains.

After a bumpy twenty minute journey where I with much futility attempted to photograph the surrounding waters and islands, we pulled up to this pier which jutted out from a small island. Of course, our boatman just pointed, said one hour, and then went back to him mutterings.

OK, where do we go now?

With little clue what we were meant to see, we clambered off the boat, and followed the stream of tourists down the jetty, and then up a flight of steps that disappeared over a low hill.

We admired these little guys on the way (ps: he's sitting on the stone).

We found ourselves descending into a hollow where there was a beautifully clear freshwater lake, and we realised that this was the Lake of the Pregnant Maiden (though I am still unsure why it has this title).

When we arrived there, no one was swimming, perhaps because there was a sign saying a lifejacket was mandatory for swimming, next to a stall renting out lifejackets for a fee. But Rachel was soon in the water, as it was getting hot, and there was no breeze within the crater. I soon slipped in as well, thinking I would regret it if I did not.


We then realised after ten minutes that there was no steps or ladder nearby to enable us to get out of the lake (the floating deck was raised around a foot above the water, and there was nothing to grip onto), so we had a long swim around the floating deck before we encountered a ladder.


Regardless of our own short-sightedness, the lake was beautiful and well worth a stop.

Soon it was time to walk back through the jungle to the boat pier, and after some confusion (we had not memorised the boat number, and all of the dour boatmen looked identical), we were reunited with our boat, and headed back out onto the water.

I feel bad for omitting Rachel in this photo...oops...sorry!

Our next stop was to a sheltered bay where we could see eagles being fed. I had expected maybe half a dozen eagles and bird of prey. In reality, there were many, many more than that, swooping, gliding and calling above our heads.

The pictures here I confess are lacking. The speed of the birds, combined with the movement of the boat, and the jostling for space on board made it nigh impossible to take an effective photo. You'll just have to trust me when I say it was an impressive spectacle.


After ten minutes watching ospreys and kites performing aerial acrobatics above our heads, we had to make way for other boats arriving, and we headed to a nearby island for some beach time.

The beach was nothing special and I declined to photograph it. The sand was powdery and soft, and I spent a very pleasant hour listening to the Greatest Hits of Dido whilst enjoying the warmth of the sun.


Moments like that are why I travel. Perfect setting. Good friends. Good music. No stress.


Eventually, it was time to return, and after watching bemused whilst the Chinese group tried and failed to board the speed boat (at least they managed it; one Chinese woman on the boat tour in Krabi was unable to use the ladder for some reason, and had to be almost thrown into the boat by her boyfriend), we skimmed over the waves back to the mainland pier. We asked the minibus driver to drop us off in the resort centre rather than at the hostel, and we had one last meal together (again, at the same restaurant as yesterday) before I walked back to the hostel, showered, and waited for my taxi to take me to the ferry pier.


After a pleasant taxi journey where I was entertained by the driver's stories about his ex-wife, I waited in Starbucks before boarding the pleasantly-empty ferry to Penang. After a few inexplicable delays, we pulled off, and set off into the open ocean.

Goodbye Pulau Langkawi.

Soon we left land (and mobile internet) far behind, I settled down with a couple of podcasts, and whiled away the boring three hour ferry trip south.


As night fell lights began to appear on the horizon, and soon those lights resolved themselves into the glittering skyline of Georgetown, the main city on the island of Penang.

Unfortunately hard to see here, but that's Penang through the window.

Soon we had docked at the island, and after negotiating the sprawling ferry terminal, I emerged in the busy centre of Georgetown.

Penang, and it's capital Georgetown, were places I had wanted to visit ever since I had first read about Malaysia, and I was very excited to discover a more authentic Malaysian city.

Adventures in Penang, coming tomorrow.


DSP


PS: If you want to read about my previous adventures on Pulau Langkawi, there's Pulau Langkawi, Part 2 where I enjoyed the beaches and laid back vibes on the island, and also Pulau Langkawi, Part 1 where I rented a motorbike and discovered just how scary the cable car on the island could be.

I went on a similar boat trip back in Krabi, Thailand, which you can read about in my post Krabi, Part 1: Wet weather, wet me, brooding islands, turquoise sea. Thankfully the weather was better for this boat trip. :)

Useful Information:

• The island hopping excursion only cost RM30 (£5-6, depending on which bank you draw money from), and included the Pregnant Maiden lake, eagle feeding, and a one hour stop at a beach. We were picked up just after 9am, and arrived back at around 1pm.
• The ferry from Langkawi to Penang cost RM67 (£18), and took just under three hours. There are three sailings, departing at around 09:00, 14:00 and 17:00. Remember that from the tourist resorts of Pantai Cenang and Tengah, you need to add in the RM30 taxi to take you to the ferry port.