It's day one of the intensive yoga retreat today. And Tuesday. And I had until 5pm to do stuff, so I decided to do the cable car again.
I found my first female taxi driver today. She was pretty good. We arranged to meet at 1pm back at the carpark. She was great - until I got back to the carpark and she was gone. Oh well.
I arrived at the Oriental Village and after a breakfast of banana pancakes with ice cream and maple syrup, washed down with an iced coffee and an iced lemon tea, I walked through the shops, bought my yoga teachers in Melbourne a wee gift each and then headed for the cable car, via patting a snake on the way. Yep, a snake. The snake dude invited me to pay RM10 for a photo with it, but seriously, snakes leave me cold, so I politely declined and was on my way.
I figured the Skycab ride (their fancy name for cable car) would be much less scary this time around, as I would know what to expect. And, you know what? I was right. It was much less scary. Being stuck in a cab with other people was kinda fun, as I got to watch them pack their pants with fear!
Not much has changed scenery wise, except that due to the massive drought, the Seven Wells Waterfall (Telaga Tujuh) is bone dry and not flowing. Glad I did that last trip. It was more something to do today to kill some time, as the skybridge is still closed! Rumour on the island has it that there was an earthquake last year (well, that's a fact) and the skybridge took a beating from the quake (that's the rumour). Maybe, maybe, just maybe, one day I'll come here and I can actually walk on the skybridge!
Here's a few photos from today's trip.
And, just to prove the drought IS real, here's two photos of Seven Wells, one I took in July last year and one I took today. The camera angles are slightly different but you can clearly see water in the July 2013 photo and nothing in the one I took today. Yes, it's the "Dry Season" at the moment, but there's been nearly 5 months with no decent rainfall here and that goes beyond any kind of normal for the "Dry Season". And that comes from my friends who live in Cenang.
Telaga Tujuh, April 2014
Telaga Tujuh, July 2013
The cable car ride was totally uneventful until we got to the steepest part and it was rocking back and forth in the wind. The Chinese guy in the cab with me was changing colour rapidly. LOL. I do love it when people freak out at this stuff now. Nothing scary is ever as scary the second time around, but seriously, even I wasn't shite-ing myself anywhere near as much as he did when I was here for the first time. Big girl's blouse!
The best part of today? As an unexpected surprise, guess who I found at middle station? I hadn't seen them since Disneyland in May 1984, so I was very surprised to find Mickey and Minnie in Langkawi. Wow. Must be an anniversary trip for them or something!
After my ride it was back to the carpark to find another driver, via the ice cream and 100 Plus electrolyte drink stand. I found a great one - chatty, friendly, full of local knowledge and loving life.
This guy used to be a security guard in KL. He retired to Langkawi as he was getting too old (he's 54) and is now driving a taxi. He told me that the Chinese are staying away in droves due to the missing MH370 flight and that business has been very bad all over the island because of it. The tourists now are mostly Arabs with the odd Euro and Aussie (me, yay).
He loves us "Anglos" (or Orang Aussie) as we are just grateful to get in a cab and we fully accept that the air con is going to take a few minutes to kick in. The Arab passengers he has had of late just get in and expect the cab to be icy cold instantly. He tried to explain that it will just be five minutes or so, with them yelling at him about his terrible car and dreadful service. Poor guy.
Anyway, we chat and laugh and compare notes about places I've been in Malaysia. He's impressed this is my fourth trip to MY and second to Langkawi. He's happy I love the island and that I'm definitely coming back. He's overjoyed with my limited conversational Malay and even knows some Aussie slang. We talk about everything from Religion to politics to where to eat. He's super friendly and just like everyone else on this island, has a wealth of knowledge and a heart of gold. He drops me at Cenang Mall, as I need to get some cash, and so we bid each other farewell.
I should have grabbed his business card, but forget as he's busy checking my pronunciation of "Saya Tidak Boleh Makan Bawang dan Tomato" - I cannot eat onions or tomatoes. Having contacts in this country is fantastic and they are always pleased when you contact them. I still have the card of the nice man selling Songket in Kuching who also owned a teksi service. When I go back, I'm calling him.
After a quick and dirty lunch of Ayam goreng (dirty old fried chicken) with rice, bread, iced coffee and iced lemon tea, I have a swim and a nap, then a shower, then head off back to the yoga shala for day one of the intensive.
I have Marc again this evening, for yoga and meditation. It's a scorching hot day and after sun salutations, chanting, lots of asana and a good stretch out, I'm pleased to lay in savasana before meditation. The roosters, kids, motosikal, squirrels, geckos, machinery and throat-clearing man noises are back, followed by the calls to prayer. I can listen to the calls to prayer quite happily, all day and all night.
And then, day one is over. It's off to find food back on the main drag again. I settle in outside Bas Butik, an old school bus that has been turned into a mobile boutique with some seriously funky rasta and non-rasta threads. The guy who owns it laughs as I park on a bench next to him while squealing when those giant flying beetles start invading paradise again.
I'm sitting with two lots of ais kelapa (iced coconut juice with bit of fruit it in) and trying to rehydrate, when I see a purple scooter with a transformers logo on it out the corner of my eye.
Gold.
After rehydration therapy, it's time for food, or something that vaguely resembles it. Don't ask me what I ate, it was chicken something or rather in sauce with rice. It seems to have agreed with me, so that's all that matters.
And now, I'm eating my daily magnum ice cream and typing this. Need to be up at sparrows again tomorrow, so it's goodnight from me, and goodnight from Langkawi.
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