One Quick Day in Langkawi

Also known as the biggest mistake in our Malaysia trip

I am not saying “mistake” because it was terrible and we shouldn’t have gone. I am saying we made a tremendous mistake in not staying in Langkawi forever. We should have planned more time.

We should have just stayed forever.

Arriving in Langkawi

Langkawi is the main island of an archipelago of 99 islands in the Strait of Malacca, off the northwest coast of Malaysia at the border of Thailand.

We arrived after a very quick flight from Penang and ordered a Grab (the SE Asia equivalent of Uber). It is here we met our driver, Arthur, who tried very hard to convince us to go see everything that afternoon. He laughed at us for being stupid enough to only book one night. In the end, he was available to drive us on the next morning’s expeditions.

ssn – many sites will tell you that there is a ferry from Penang but it is currently not running – it did not reopen after the pandemic. There are ferries from a couple of other mainland towns but flying was just so easy.

Where we stayed

When looking at Langkawi hotels, there are some difficult choices to make. Options range from high end resort chains like the St. Regis, Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons to very inexpensive local long-term stays. Prices are generally on the lower side so we decided to splurge a little. And our accommodations at Ambong Ambong Rainforest Retreat were divine.

To say the least.

But you know I have to say more.

The service was impeccable, the view amazing, the whole quality of the resort makes me run out of synonyms for AMAZING.

We were greeted by Nizal in the shuttle to take our bags to the check-in lobby (all uphill), Lina checked us in and offered to secure us reservations for the sunset dinner at the rooftop restaurant.  Yes, please.

Nizal drove us up and up and up to our Singa 3 canopy suite and walked us through our amenities.

Sister Side Note (ssn) – Reception shared a building with their on-site Vegan restaurant, Spa treatment rooms and a small but cute pool. When she says up and up and up, she is not exaggerating. You cannot even imagine the grade of the twisty road to the top bungalow. Fortunately, we were told that the shuttle would take us back and forth whenever we needed to go somewhere.

The Sitting Room

Singa 3 literally sat high up in the canopy of the rainforest. The sitting room was open air to the surroundings and had an incredible view of the sea.

Our tour started with the huge stuffed Tiger sitting on the counter, to scare away the monkeys.  MONKEYS!

The fridge had a lock, because the monkeys can get into the fridge if we don’t keep it secured. There was a huge bathtub, the thrones of judgement (as we refer to any balcony chairs where we can relax and survey our kingdom), a kitchen, dining space and fan controls.

He motioned to the backpack I had left on the floor by the door and said to move that into the bedroom, because of the monkeys!

Into the Bedroom

We entered the bedroom area through the sliding glass doors that needed to be kept locked so the monkeys didn’t get in.

It was beautiful, spacious, floor to ceiling windows, and thankfully, air conditioning. 

The bathroom beyond that had a shower with a view, sarongs instead of bathrobes, and a separate water closet.

Just beautiful.

And Nizal leaves us to relax in our thrones of judgement.

Relax, sure

We changed into sarongs, and decided to just sit and enjoy the view and discuss how much our lives don’t suck.

ssn – it was truly one of those moments where you marvel at how fortunate you are to be in that place, on that adventure, living the most blessed life. So grateful.

And then there was a THUNK behind us.

Then a crash.

Sure, Nizal, the monkeys won’t mess with the water bottles that have been left out.

Until they’re thirsty, then they’ll knock one over and shatter it on the counter.

Then Papa Monkey and three babies joined in the fun.

We slightly freaked out, because wild life is, well, wild.  And we weren’t completely sure Papa Monkey was not going to eat our faces.

So, into the bedroom we retreated, closed the slider, and filmed from behind the safety of the glass.  That’s right, we’ve essentially made our bedroom a zoo enclosure, and we are now on display for the locals.

Luckily, Peggy remembered to lock the slider. As it turns out, the monkeys, too, had opposable thumbs and tried to open the door (cue my Jurassic Park fans).  We watched as they tried to snack on the pillows, the rug, and the rattan chairs. While we photographed, recorded and tried to make nice with our new captors from behind the glass.

Apparently, we weren’t as entertaining as we think we are, because after about 10 minutes they gave up and moved on into the jungle to terrorize the rest of the guests.

We were left to sit and ponder what else lay out there in the jungle watching us, waiting to pounce.

Rooftop Dining and Breaking our first Ramadan Fast.

Not that we were fasting.  That wasn’t happening.

But as it was Ramadan while we were there, many places in Malaysia offered extensive buffets and preset menus for Iftar, the evening meals.  Lina had offered this as an option and we thought we really should give it a try.

We arrived early, because they had a bar and we had monkeys. And we really should have cocktails before sunset.  Our new driver, Putra picked us up from our suite to drive us down the hill, up the road about a block to the other property, Ambong Ambong Beach Villas’ Rimba Sky rooftop bar.  Peggy had an Espresso Martini with three olives and I had a caipirinha for two rounds and then we made our way out to the rooftop table for sunset.

ssn – the olives were not my request, maybe something was lost in translation? But at least the martini was good and did not have olive juice in it!

When I asked if we could have the cute little corner table for two instead of our four top, I am told no. We can’t do that because we have too much food coming we need the extra space.

So. Much. Food.

Apparently Iftar starts with Muslim’s breaking their fast with sweets first.  Traditionally it is three dates, but we were not informed of proper tradition, and I only had two dates, Peggy had one, and now we have blown our new found practice. I’m a little ashamed.  The platter consisted of dates, mangos, grapes, pumpkin in coconut milk, some jelly slices, and amazing little cheesecakes.

ssn – not sure if it was the chef or a restaurant manager, but the sweetest older man came out to explain what we would be getting. He was genuinely appreciative that we wanted to participate in their custom.

Then more food came out.

And then more.

And then they added rice.

In the end we had a table full that included eggplant curry, chicken on lemongrass skewers, spicy prawns, calamari and green beans, and banana leaf grilled white fish. They also served us a small plate of veggies that I don’t eat (cucumbers and tomatoes) with a screaming hot sambal.  Just about burned Peggy’s tastebuds out of her mouth, but she took it well.

Spicy and fresh, it was an incredible meal and incredible service, highlighted with a beautiful evening sunset over the water.

Pantai Cenang – the Beach

A not to be missed occurrence in Langkawi is the fire performance on the beach.  At Pantai Cenang they have a group that performs incredible fire shows, with batons and sticks lit on fire and twirled around (like a Miss America pageant, only for cool people).

The stage where they were performing was in front of a beach bar. The bar provided big beanbag chairs to watch from as long as you are ordering drinks, which we were.

And we had a couple of fantastic mango mojitos and enjoyed a show with our toes in the sand.

After watching the show, and enjoying those mojitos, we walked down and stuck our toes in the water.

The water was warm, but not too warm, perfectly lovely on your toes.  The sand was this fine baby powder sand that just felt cool and soft.

ssn – Pantai Cenang (Cenang Beach) is one of those quintessential beach towns. It felt very much like Mexico to us. Sandy streets, cute shops, beach bars, and huge amounts of happy.

Langkawi Sky Bridge and Cable Car

When planning for this trip started, Peggy called me and said “why do you want to go to Langkawi”, my one word answer: “SkyBridge”.

It’s the reason to go, a big cable car ride up into the mountains to visit the SkyBridge.

ssn – The Langkawi SkyBridge is the longest free span and curved bridge in the world!

I have a huge fear of heights (in case this is your first time reading this blog), but when I saw this bridge, I knew I had to conquer this fear.

So Arthur picked us up, stopped for a quick coffee and pastry, and we headed to the mountains. This also gave us an opportunity to see some of the other areas of the island.

We arrived at Panorama Langkawi, a large complex that includes restaurants, shops, and other attractions in addition to the main features, the SkyBridge and Sky Cab Cable Car.

And because she’s my sister

She made us take the glass bottom cable car up to the top.

Luckily the glass bottom was a little cloudy, and not that impressive.

But the ride up was pretty amazing.

It is a long, high trip to the top, 1.4 miles in length and reaching a height of 2,150 feet above sea level by the time you hit the first station. Just WOW, the view is breathtaking. 

Sky Cab Stop One

You can opt to stay on at the first station and ride all the way to the top, but really you should step out and go check out the view from the first platform. 

They are currently building the world’s longest cantilever platform at this first stop, but luckily it wasn’t done, so I wasn’t forced to risk my life trying that out.

On to the Top

A word of warning. You have to buy a ticket at the top to walk the Sky Bridge, in addition to the cable car ride you purchase at the bottom.

You need to buy a separate ticket to ride the Sky Glide down to the sky bridge rather than walk down (and then have to walk back up).  We support riding as those stairs looked exhausting.

And then I face my fear.

It was a breathtaking view, and the bridge didn’t shake, and I didn’t death grip the entire time.

Maybe my sister is finally wearing me down on this whole scared of heights thing.

There was definitely someone on that bridge more scared than I was.

ssn – I am so proud. Patti has made such progress and rarely complains. Another lady on the bridge was clearly terrified and clinging to her friend, and I mean clinging! If we didn’t feel so bad for her it would have been comical.

The view was spectacular

It was really amazing, being up in hills with views of the sea and the coastline.  It was an overcast day, so we were pretty much almost to cloud height. The cool temperatures were such a welcome relief compared to the stifling humidity and high temps in town.

I’m so glad we did it.  It was stunning, and another moment of “wow, this is my life”.

Sadly We Have To Get Going

We were pressed up against Peggy’s time limits for getting to the airport. We made our way back down in order to eat before we had to head out.

Being that it was daytime during Ramadan we had a little problem finding open places; however, Arthur mentioned the “hidden bar” near Pantai Cenang.

Shockingly, it turned out to be named “The Hidden Bar”, and it was open.

There’s Always Time for a Beach Bar

The Hidden Bar was super cute. We had a couple of drinks, and a couple of appetizers, just to get us flight ready.

Shockingly, the taco was amazing, chunks of beef covered in nacho cheese, sitting on a crunchy slaw base. We threw in a cheese “chaffle” and some calamari, both were pretty good, but the view was the winner of the meal.

Other Langkawi Activities

Because we just didn’t have enough time, we missed out on some of the other activities that Langkawi has to offer. The most popular excursions are boat tours/sunset tours, island hopping to some of the pristine beaches in the archipelago, and kayaking through the mangroves.

Leaving Langkawi

With big regrets for not staying longer, at least two nights, maybe the rest of our lives.

This is definitely going to be a repeat destination for me, eventually.

But for now, it’s back to Kuala Lumpur to finish off our Malaysia excursion.

Other Malaysia destinations:

• Kuala Lumpur
• Ipoh
• Penang