Today I got up VERY early and headed off on an island hopping tour. We went to Lake of the Pregnant Maiden, Pulau Beras Besah, eagle feeding and zooming around in a speed boat driven by a kid of all of 15 and his little brother. To say I was a little freaked by the kids driving was an understatement, but captain kiddo could spin that boat around on a 5 sen piece with military precision. When he grows up he should join the navy. Seriously!
Lake of the Pregnant Maiden is lovely. I didn't swim as it's freshwater and I had a chunk out of my finger from a few weeks ago (grating pecorino and grated my knuckle instead) which hasn't quite healed yet, so I didn't really want every communicable disease my doctor warned me about coming to fruition. It did look nice and it was a freakin hot day, but I saved my bathing for Pulau Beras Besah.
There were a few too many tourists at Lake of the Pregnant Madien, particularly of the kind that don't read signs about not feeding the monkeys. I saw monkeys feeding on fried chicken and oreos. Hardly a nutritious diet, but the stupidity of the other tourists really got me. Everyone gets the same advice - no plastic bags or Monkeys may attack you, don't feed the monkeys, don't try and pat the monkeys, etc. Some people just choose to ignore it and wonder why said monkeys chase you halfway down the pier.
Next stop was just off the coast of another island where we witnessed eagle feeding. My boat captain didn't throw much out to the eagles, rather he waited for them to circle and navigated us into a gap between the other boats. I got a few happy snaps and a short video, can't say it was the most riveting experience and to be honest I'd rather have skipped it altogether and gone to another island.
Eagle feeding is a controversial activity here. The greenies are trying to stop it because the eagles now hear speedboat engines and know food is on the way - which makes the eagles too lazy to catch their own food and dependent on humans for food. I rather happily agree with the greenies on this - could they not set up an Eagle sanctuary or breeding program or something less destructive to the local flora and fauna that we tourists could visit, that would help rather than hinder the eagles?
The final stop on the itinerary was Pulau Beras Besah where we had a whole glorious hour to sun ourselves, swim in the beautiful water, walk on the gorgeous sand and generally chillax. Well, not all of us. Once again, some silly tourists decided to leave food and drinks lying around and the worst pickpockets in Malaysia (the Probiscus monkeys) started going through their bags! I had a lovely swim and a bit of a lounge in the sand before it was time to jump back on the boat and head back to dry land.
Once back in Cenang, I dropped my gear back at the resort and jumped a cab to Kuah Town. Kuah is about 30 mins in a cab from Cenang and is the sea arrival point for ferries from Penang, the mainland and Thailand (Satun). It's RM24 to get to and from Kuah, so I chose to get dropped off again at Langkawi Fair shopping centre to hit up Billion for a pair of sandals. I found a gorgeous red and black pair of Dr Cardin sandals for just $14 AUD which are really comfy. For some reason, I had to go down two sizes - then I realised that they had funny sizes printed on them!
After wandering around Langkawi Fair in search of food, I walked over to Jetty Point via Lagenda Langkawi, an alleged tourist attraction / theme park / don't waste your time there. Arriving at Jetty Point, I had lunch at Kenny Rogers Roasters (don't bother, the chicken was as dry as all hell, although the muffin and iced coffee were nice) and went in search of an adaptor to connect my SD card from my digital camera to my iPad mini so I can download my photos. Apparently this cannot be found anywhere in Langkawi, so I guess I'll be buying it in Penang then!
After Jetty Point, I went to Langkawi Parade, allegedly a megamall. Again, lots and lots of nice shoes and a half decent supermarket, but beyond that unless you want accessories for your Samsung phone, don't bother.
Back to Cenang and out for dinner. As it is my last night in Langkawi, I've had a nice dinner of Tandoori chicken and naan and rice, then went for a walk to finally watch a magical Langkawi sunset. I also found a shop offering menicures, apparently it will fix all men problems (or the lady running it has seen "Legally Blonde" more times than I have.
Off to Penang tomorrow, so I'm going to chill out for a while before the crazy packing begins again!
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