Our Langkawi vacation – part II

In my previous post, I talked about some of the attractions on the islands of Langkawi, which I visited with my fiancee last December. We took a three-day trip there, courtesy of Air Asia Singapore and Naturally Langkawi.  You can check out the first part of our Langkawi vacation here.

©Nicholas Yong

On the second day of our Langkawi trip, we took a little cruise down the Kilim river to visit Gua Kelawar, or the bat cave. I’m talking about the nocturnal, winged variety, not the caped, avenging kind. Setting off from the Sungai Kilim jetty, we soon reached a series of two caves, accessible via a wooden pathway.

A dim flashlight at the entrance costs you one ringgit, and there’s an unearthly silence as you enter. But turn your flashlight upwards – slowly, so you don’t frighten them – and you’ll see hundreds of tiny Malaysian fruit bats perched on the ceiling. It’s a safe bet that you’ll shiver involuntarily at this point.

It was too dark to get a good pic of the bats, but I did manage to take some shots of the cave itself, which has stalactites and stalagmites everywhere – and a couple of monitor lizards too.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Here’s a price guide for the river cruise too.

©Nicholas Yong

We then took a drive to the 90-metre-high Seven Wells waterfall, located at Burau Bay, on the slopes of Mt Cincang. This is a series of seven pools fed by seven separate waterfalls. It was raining steadily by the time we got there, but there were still people in bikinis and swimming costumes, taking a dip in the pool.

Reaching the top requires a considerable hike up a 45-degree slope. So we uh, stayed at the lowest pool.

Another highlight was the cable car ride at Panorama Langkawi, located in the Oriental Village. The village itself is a themed shopping centre that apparently showcases Malaysian and Oriental architecture. Rides cost 30 ringgit, and you are rewarded with a lovely view of the island from 680 metres.

The highlight of the day – visiting the Bolaven Cafes Langkawi, which has some great coffee. But the real star of the joint is Zahna, an endangered Malayan tiger. Raised in captivity, you get a great view of her enclosure from behind a glass window. She’ll trot around the enclosure, take a dip in the small pool and sometimes, come right up to the glass.

The manager of the cafe is Serene Lau, a former journalist and the friend of a friend. We had a nice chat with her, and she was kind enough to buy us a cup of coffee.

©Nicholas Yong

We flew back home the next morning, but not before taking one last pic at Langkawi Lagoon Resort.

©Nicholas Yong

Thanks again, Air Asia and Naturally Langkawi!

©Nicholas Yong