I've been looking forward to today for weeks - months, even. I had the privilege of hanging with Wendy from Dev's adventure tours and a bunch of randoms on the Mangrove Boat Tour.
I've probably said it before, but the last time I was here in Langakwi, I was horrified by the amount of flotsam in the ocean that didn't need to be there. Plastic bags, plastic bottles, drink cans, chip packets, etc, all floating around in the pristine waters close to Pulau Dayang Bunting, Pulau Langkawi and Pulau Beras Besah. It's criminal.
I was also horrified by the practice of eagle feeding on the island hopping tours - you pull up near Pulau Singa Besar, the boat captain throws a bunch of manky chicken bits into the ocean and the eagles (Brahminy Kites, I believe) swoop to grab the chicken bits out of the ocean. It's great for taking photos, not so great for the birds who become dependent on humans for food and over time, forget how to hunt.
But, I did my research and found a company called Dev's Adventure Tours who are tree-hugging, sandal-wearing eco warriors like me. Well, probably far more so than I may ever be, but you get my drift. Dev's offer a bunch of awesome tours, like yesterday's cycling adventure and today's mangrove boat tour. I was tempted to do the kayak tour but wasn't sure how I'd go after several days of several hours of yoga, so decided to park on my butt on a boat instead.
We all met at the jetty and after a quick briefing on where we were headed for the day and a few safety things, we jumped on a typical Langkawi speedboat with Wendy, our guide and Awi, our boat captain.
We set off down the river through the mangroves and it wasn't long before we parked at the jetty for the Bat Cave. I don't do bats at the best of times and the only exception to this is Batman. We were advised to be quiet, not hold the handrails (to avoid copious quantities of bat shit) and not to smoke.
The cave itself was cool, but the bats were nasty and I beat a hasty retreat out after taking a couple of quick and random snaps to enjoy some of the outdoorsy scenery.
Once outside the cave, Wendy introduced us to the mangroves. They are really different to the ones I'm used to seeing in NZ and around Melbourne. The Langakwi versions have a spider root system that sticks way out over the ground, kind of like spider legs, or a knee root system, where the roots stick out of the mud like knees.
There's a mass of different kinds of wildlife living in the mangrove system, with puffer fish, several different types of crabs and mudskippers all hanging out in easy sight.
Pretty coloured crustaceans, sadly too small to turn into chilli crab. This blue-toned one was my favourite.
After the bat cave, it was back in the boat and off down the river to check out some more of the natives. Awi the boat captain is also called "Hawk Eyes", as he can seriously and quite literally spot a python up a mangrove tree from 100m away. I know snakes and birds here are pretty territorial and like to hang in the same neighbourhood, but Awi is a legend! We saw mangrove pit vipers, pythons, Kingfishers, another Drongo, Sea Eagles, Crested Serpent Eagles, a Dollarbird, a couple of Herons and some wild dogs.
We parked up on the mud for a couple of minutes to observe the mudskippers. Here is a a real live mudskipper. These little guys and girls are really fun to watch, especially when they start skipping or chasing each other. And the orange crab was cute too.
Back in the water, we headed down the river and out to see, stopping here, there and everywhere as Hawk Eye and Wendy kept seeing the most amazing creatures and we tourists kept pulling out our cameras! We passed the ruins of a Thai restaurant that used to be in the mangroves, as well as far too many birds to mention. It was awesome!
We soon headed for open-ish waters and to say that Awi is a perfectionist is an understatement. He is very, very particular about keeping the boat balanced, so we had a bit of a shuffle around and then he cranked up the motor. We set sail past fisherman, an anchovy factory, a charcoal making site (cottage industry, in the mangroves) and soon found open waters on the coast.
Sailing around little hamlets and islands, we could see Thailand in the distance. It's pretty close and the landscape up here looks very much like Koh Phi Phi with it's limestone cliffs and islands.
That's Thailand in the distance. Not too far!
Another ten minutes on, passing islands galore and the odd plastic water bottle or soft drink can, Awi slowed the boat as we were coming in to a private beach on a private island for a swim!
I can never get over how clear and green the water is here in Langkawi. It's so clear you can see your feet and your knees, and it's always so green! The transition from Yarra River-like muddy water to this pristine green awesomeness in just a 15 minute boat ride is incredible. You'd never find water this pretty in Port Phillip Bay though!
We had a swim and some of us had a chat. There were five of us from Aussie (three of us are from Melbourne - myself and a mum and daughter, plus a couple from the GC), an English couple, an Indian couple and another couple from somewhere in Europe. I want to say Sweden but that's probably wrong, so forgive my forgetfulness as they spent most of the day not talking to anyone else.
After a lovely cool down in very warm water, it was back in the boat and off to our lunch stop, the Hole in the Wall restaurant. The photos are on my phone, so I'll add them in later. Sadly my camera died just after I took this photo of the Melbourne ladies feeding a stingray at the fish farm attached to the restaurant.
After ordering a coconut to drink, we sat down with iced tea and soft drinks for a nice freshly cooked lunch of Tom Yam soup (I abstained) with either chicken or prawn fried rice (I had chicken with just steamed rice for lunch) and plates of fresh fruit for desert. It was light, fresh and lovely. My chicken was slightly satay flavoured and deep fried to perfection. The soup and fried rice looked good, but it was full of stuff I can't eat.
After a lovely lunch and bit of chill out time, it was back in the boat and, literally, around the corner to the jetty! We thanked Wendy and Awi for their kind hospitality and went our separate ways - me, quite literally, as I was being dropped off in Kuah Town for some light shopping.
The driver dropped me at Jetty Point, where I bought nothing. I had a nice orange muffin and some fruit at Kenny Rogers Roasters (yep, the gambler himself has a fast food chain and it's in Malaysia), then jumped a cab to Langkawi Parade, the other "mall" in Kuah Town. I had an iced coffee in a can from the supermarket, bought some white coffee and iced tea mix, browsed the sales bins at the department store (where I found a pair of leggings for $3 AUD) and had a spell in the massage chairs.
Then, I remembered that my favourite shop in Langkawi is right here. Mountain Scents sells handmade soaps, aromatherapy products, brocade crafts and next door, enough Chinese Tea and tea paraphernalia to re-sink the Titanic. I bought a box of their Chai Tea and a tea strainer, plus some small Gamat and spice soaps for the girls at home. I could have spent a bucket tonne of RM here, but I didn't have it to spare. Oh well.
Next stop was a jewellery cart where I'd seen RM10 stainless steel rings with swarvoski crystal elements in them. I'd just read a post on Facebook from my friend Kirsty Spraggon about her courage ring, so I bought myself one too.
I also bought myself an anklet woven from embroidery cotton in purple, green and yellow for $0.30c AUD and a green purse with OM on it for $1.50 AUD. Then I saw a Langkawi Mug for $2 AUD so I had to have that too.
And that was that. I was all shopped out.
I jumped a cab back to Cenang and nearly fell asleep to the soothing melody of a four speed gearbox at 4000 RPM. I was tired, man. Dog tired. I had a quick power nap, a nice cold drink and set out to watch the sunset, thinking I'd be able to have dinner somewhere down the beach. Fail.
Much as I love Cenang, the menu options are starting to do my head in. I have been here for like six days and I'm going to go crazy soon. I've had my obligatory magnum ice cream and now I'm going to walk up and down Jalan Pantai Cenang for about an hour, trying to find something to eat.
Goodnight y'all. I'm off before I bore you into rigor mortis with my trials and tribulations regarding finding non-FODMAP and hypo-allergenic food. Yet again. Sigh.
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