Exploring Langkawi in Malaysia
Exploring Langkawi. I couldn’t have chosen a more special destination for my first trip of 2020. A tropical island with some of the world’s oldest rainforests and long sandy beaches. Unfortunately I got the flu and I wasn’t able to fully enjoy the many things to see and do in five days in Langkawi (unfortunately I had to skip most of them). Nonetheless, I really want to share my experience, even if short, with you… Continue reading to find out everything about my trip to Malaysia!
Exploring Langkawi, Malaysia, in five days
To reach Malesia I flew with Qatar Airways from Milan Malpensa. The flight takes less than six hours to reach Doha, where I made a short stop for a couple of hours, and then another 9 hours to Langkawi (with a short stop, without getting off the plane, on the nearby island of Penang) . For the first time I had the pleasure of trying the Qatar Airways business class and their Q Suites equipped with every comfort, which I appreciated even more during the return trip because I was ill!
First stop exploring Langkawi was the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, located in the northwestern part of the island, right where a rainforest of over ten million years meets the Andaman Sea. The rooms and the beautiful spa are also perfectly integrated into nature!
We arrived in the late afternoon, but before dinner we decided to take a walk at the night market, to discover the typical dishes of the local street food. Here I saw for the first time a tropical fruit that I discover to be among the most loved in this part of the world, the durian!
The next morning I headed to the beautiful breakfast salon and, after choosing a table on the terrace, I discovered to be spied by two spectacled langur monkeys (they got characteristic white circles around the eyes and the mouth). They remained in the surroundings for the whole time of breakfast, ready to grab something to eat!
I discovered that Langkawi is not a single island, but the main one of an archipelago of over 99 islands, many of which are still completely uninhabited. The most beautiful and rich in biodiversity are located not far from each other and can be easily visited in one day with a boat tour: they are called Pulau Dayang Bunting, Pulau Singa and Pulau Beras Basah. Here I found an incredibly blue water and I couldn’t resist a swim!
I took this opportunity to try my new compact travel drone, DJI’s Mavic Mini, piloting it to fly over these beautiful landscapes.
We meet other species of monkeys, the macaques, who were ready to join us for lunch! How greedy these animals are?!
On the island of Pulau Singa you can also spot white-bellied sea eagles!
In the afternoon we came back to the hotel for a few hours before heading for dinner. In this season the temperature is very pleasant, it hovers between a minimum of 21°C and a maximum of 32°C, so super light clothes are quite enough! Inside hotels and restaurants, however, the air conditioning can be very strong so I always recommend taking an extra layer with you in case you find yourself dining indoors.
We had dinner at The Beach Grill, one of the restaurants inside the Ritz-Carlton, managed by the Italian chef Mattia Salussoglia. The location, a terrace overlooking the sea illuminated by the soft light of the lanterns, is simply spectacular, so is the fusion cuisine!
Unfortunately the next day I woke up feeling bad: I got the a flu, which did not abandoned me for the next two days (the photos are from when I finally felt a little better!).
The itinerary included then many interesting activities such as a visit to the Sky Bridge with a cable car ride, the mangrove tour to Kilim Geoforest Park, a sunset boat trip, a visit to a village of local craftsman, trekking to the waterfalls… Unfortunately the only thing I could do was moving to the new hotel, the Westin Langkawi, where they looked after me and pampered me until I managed to get back in strength to go out.
The last day before departure I decided to go and say goodbye to the beach for the last time…
… And after days of meals based on white rice and little else, I couldn’t resist when I find myself in front of an ice-cream!
I stayed on Pantai Kok beach until sunset and it proved to be an excellent decision because I could not admire a more beautiful one!
Time to come back to Italy!
I want to thank our guide Nasarudin, whom you see below, the whole team of Qatar Airways e of Visit Malesia for this beautiful experience!
I wish you all a wonderful day and look forward to seeing you here on the blog with new posts!
