Update: The prices mentioned in my blog are all of 2020. My viewers who are or will be visiting Langkawi AFTER 2020 - the prices are subject to change.
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| Tried to click a panorama of the jaw-dropping view from the Skybridge |
Did the header catch your attention? Of course! That's what it was supposed to do. So we are now in the 9th month of 2020 - a year in which surely I consider myself "fortunate" enough to have witnessed & lived through (till now) the year of the millenium. After relocating to Malaysia with a new job, I was in my own utopian bubble, fantasizing all the beautiful places I would be traveling to slowly. But alas! The Covid-19 or Coronavirus pandemic transmitted all over the world in such an accelerated rate before even the countries could realize how pestilent it is. More than half of the year is almost gone but a successful vaccine is yet to be invented. So I had gone to Houston for my training for 2 weeks. I was bewildered to see the blithe deportment of the people on reaching there, as if there was nothing to worry about the pandemic & they wouldn't be affected by it. By the time it was time for my return, the number of fatalities had increased so much leading to total disquietude among the populace, which aggravated to people hoarding basic supplies from the supermarkets to the extend that when we went to buy facemasks & sanitizers, almost all the supermarkets were out of supply.
I made a totally fortuitous entry into Malaysia, the Prime Minister announced the MCO (Movement Control Order) the very next day!! So since March, I was entirely in "house arrest"; stepping out only once a month to the supermarket to buy basic supplies. There were quite a number of holidays which totally were wasted away. The rules started getting relaxed by end of June and slowly different organisations started opening their offices. Thankfully, my company encouraged us to continue working from home.
My feet were itching to visit Langkawi Island for a long time, so when the HR sent the holiday list for the month of August I immediately made my travel plan for Langkawi. It was my 1st ever solo budget trip in an altogether new country that too amidst a pandemic (although the Malaysian government had done an applaudable work in curbing the number of positive cases & community spread).
I started looking for hostels/homestays on AirBnB but this being my 1st ever solo trip, I was anxious in sharing rooms or spending the night in a mixed dormitory. So I headed over to Agoda & began hunting for a budget hotel. Now here, it is for you to decide which area would you like to stay in - whether in a happening locality bustling with tourists & people or a remote, calm area. Depending on your choice, you can choose your hotel. Subsequently, you can decide how to reach Langkawi. The island can be reached by 2 ways - by road + ferry & by air. Of course the flight is the more expensive mode of reaching. On land, you can take a bus or a train.
Reach Langkawi
By road - take bus from Kuala Lumpur (TBS - Terminal Bersepadu Selatan, the bus station of KL city; you can also opt for your pick-up at various bus stops where the bus halts for picking up tourists) & get down at Kuala Perlis bus station. The Jetty Kuala Perlis is about 500-600m from the bus station. The journey takes around 8 hours 15 mins. You can buy your bus tickets from BusOnline, which provides you with an elaborate list of bus companies to choose from as per your desired time. I personally liked the Cosmic Express bus to be very comfortable. The journey time is nearly 8.5 hours, so make sure to have enough time to get to the ferry. The onward & return journey cost me RM 97.
By train - you can also reach Kuala Perlis by train, although the train doesn't directly go to Kuala Perlis. Instead it goes to a station named Arau which is about 20 km away from Jetty Kuala Perlis so you need a ride to reach the jetty. (This is why I opted for the bus journey as I wouldn't have to worry about reaching the jetty from Arau station then).
By ferry - one can buy tickets for the ferry from the ferry point or book the tickets online beforehand (to be on the safer side) from
Langkawi Ferry. The ferry leaves on regular intervals of 1-1.5 hours & takes ~1 hour to reach Langkawi. If you decide not to get the tickets online beforehand & are unfortunate as well to buy them on the spot, don't worry - there are lots of budget hotels for single, couples & families right opposite the jetty to spend the day or night. The to & fro tickets cost me RM 38 (RM 18 each trip).
By air/flight - the most effortless yet pricey modus operandi is to take the flight from KLIA to Langkawi, which takes only 1 hour.
By personal vehicle - if you have your own personal vehicle, nothing better than that. You can drive straight upto Jetty Kuala Perlis at your own leisure time & get onto the big ferries which carry cars to Langkawi. The ticket for this can be booked from
Langkawi Auto Services.
My bus schedule was at 9.25 am from TBS, so had to wake up really early that day feeling jittery about my 1st ever solo-trip experience. I reached TBS well ahead of time, had a small breakfast & waited eagerly for 9.25 am.
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TBS waiting area at Gate 1
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Gate 1
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| Cosmic Express bus |
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| Inside the bus |
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| Inside the bus |
I had a really comfortable journey on the Cosmic Express (it was a double decker bus with 1+2 sitting arrangement as you can see in the pictures above which also had plugin points for individual seats for mobile nerds), except that the driver started pretty late. I reached Jetty Kuala Perlis just 15 minutes before my ferry was about to leave at 6 pm (the last ferry as it becomes dark after that).
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| Kuala Perlis bus station |
I finally reached Kuala Perlis bus station at around 5.45 pm, only 15 minutes left for the last ferry. I almost ran with my trolley to the jetty. As it was a long weekend from Thursday to Sunday, there was quite a number of tourists heading to Langkawi. All the SOP were being strictly followed in the RMCO conditions at the jetty. I boarded the ferry which started for Langkawi at around 6.15 pm.
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| Before the ferry starts |
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The Kuala Perlis jetty from the ferry
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I reached Langkawi Jetty finally at 7.30 pm & the sun was almost sinking below the horizon. I fell in love with the dusk. The spectacular play of colours & the weather complimented each other.
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| Just on time to witness the sunset |
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Langkawi Jetty
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I had chosen to stay at the Pantai Cenang area as it is the most vibrant locale in Langkawi. I found a hotel as per my budget on
Agoda & booked it for 3N2D.
Ways to move around the island
The most easy-peasy way to move around the island is by local taxis, or by rental cars (you can hire them from the jetty or the airport from innumerable rental car companies) or by Grab taxi. The cheapest is by Grab taxi but your mobility is somewhat limited to its availability. I hired a rental car (Proton Viva) from the jetty itself. The rental charges are pretty much standardized there - smallest car is for RM 50-80, then RM 90-120 & so on (these are apparently the non-peak season charges) & the fuel has to be filled by you. You can hire the rental cars from the airport itself (if you're coming by air to Langkawi) or there are many car rentals at Pantai Cenang or Pantai Tengah (if you have booked your hotel there). Before renting the car, be sure to check quantity in the fuel tank because the rental car owner from whom I rented the car was a total fraud. He gave me the car with more or less no fuel at all. Never hire the car from MRP Travel & Tours, the owner is a fraud. He gave the rental car with fuel in the reserve & a malfunctional steering wheel.
So then I drove through the desolate Jalan Bukit Malut to my hotel at Pantai Cenang. As soon as I entered the locality, I got nostalgic of my Goa trip. The Pantai Cenang locale was ditto like Calangute/Baga areas, so lively, bustling with people, restaurants, beach shacks, music. I checked into my hotel Langgura Baron Resort (it's an extremely budget hotel & a bit shabby, but the room was pretty ok. Although I got a see-facing room, there is no balcony & the windows were tinted so you won't get a clear good view of the beach from your room). The TV in the room had poor cable connection & pathetic picture quality. There was also a locked door, which if opened led to the neighbouring room. I could hear my "neighbours" tried doing something with their side of the locked door. I won't recommend this hotel to anyone. I kept my luggage, freshened up a bit & went straight to the beach. I couldn't make out much about the beach in the dark. There were so many beach shacks, tourists enjoying their extended weekend holidaying.
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| One can pose in front of the logo here |
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| The beach at night |
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| My dinner at Yellow Beach Cafe |
So after strolling around on the beach, I went to Yellow Beach Cafe for dinner. Although the reviews on Google are quite good about this cafe, the turkey ham sandwich that I had there was extremely bland in taste.
I returned to my hotel room, dead tired but excited for the next day. Woke up at around 8.30 am, leaving me exactly 1 hour for the Langkawi Skybridge to open. Got fresh & left the hotel. Before starting for the Skybridge, I went to
Pantai Cenang to see how it looks like in the daylight & to be brutally honest, I fell in love with the view. I'm sure you will too.
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| On my way to the beach through the Yellow Beach Cafe |
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| Pantai Cenang |
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| At Pantai Cenang |
After some photo sessions at the beach, I drove off to the Skybridge. The sun was scorching & at its full intensity that day. On the way to the Skybridge, I had to stop at a secluded beach named Pantai Kuala Muda Langkawi (adjacent to the Langkawi Airport) seeing many local people stopping there, carrying there almost entire kitchen set to the beach.
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| No one to take my photos |
Don't be amused as the Malay people tend to bring their food to everywhere they go, because they cook their food on the spot & have them hot & fresh - which is quite a good idea. I have also noticed that they have big families consisting of the grandparents, cousins, uncles, children. It is really commendable to see families going out together to enjoy their time amidst such tough situations prevailing in the world now.
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| Pantai Kuala Muda Langkawi |
It was pretty early in the morning when I stopped at the beach hence the food joints on this beach were all closed. After spending half an hour here, I drove to the Skybridge.
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Base station of the Skybridge
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| Being an extended weekend, it was quite crowded |
The parking fee for the Skybridge parking lot is RM 7. Before the cable car & the ticket counter, there is a nice little entertainment area at the base of the Skybridge, named the Oriental Village. You have multiple food joints, cafes, restaurants, juice centres, gaming stations, playing spots for the children there.
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| Finally a good Samaritan obliged |
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The Mat Cincang from the Oriental Village
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There are different time slots for visitors, the last one being at 5.30 pm. When I reached, the morning slots were already filled up so I had to buy the ticket for 12 noon slot. The ticket for the Malaysians cost RM 35 if they show their MyKad, but for Non-Malaysians the ticket cost RM 80. I roamed around in the Oriental Village a bit, had a juice as breakfast as I was sweating profusely.
Finally, I proceeded to board the cable car, which apparently is the steepest cable car ride in the world.
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Ascending through the cable car
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| Ascending through the cable car |
One can see the steep rise in the pictures above. They were taken from inside the cable car. I was all alone in the cable car as I was a single person going for the ride. Below is the view of the Strait of Malacca from the cable car.
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| Strait of Malacca |
One can pretty well imagine the altitude here. There was a 1st station stop where there is a deck from where one can take pictures, have a heightened view of the landscape.
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Another good Samaritan obliged
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Once you are done with pictures & eye-pleasing scenery, you proceed to the main attraction on another leg of cable car ride of shorter duration than the previous one. Here, you have the option to hike to the skybridge through the forest (which is a cheaper way) or buy ticket for Skyglide (tickets can be bought here or together down at the main counter in the Oriental Village as well). If you are hungry or exhausted, you can grab a bite here as well as there is a small food outlet here along with a shop to buy mementos/souvenirs. Many tourists buy heart shaped locks to "lock" them on the iron railings here, just like how they lock on the River Seine. Not sure of the superstition here though.
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Colourful locks
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| Heart made up of locks |
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That's the Andaman Sea in the background
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It is also here where the fighting scene between Boman Irani & Shahrukh Khan (towards the end of the movie) had been shot for the Bollywood movie Don. After looking around, getting almost burnt taking pictures & selfies, I proceeded to hike towards the Skybridge. For lethargic people like me, I will advice to buy the Skyglide tickets too as it is very difficult to hike on those steep steps. The cost is RM 16 for adults & RM 11 for children.
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Trail to the Skybridge
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The hike took around 10-15 mins for me, so I guess it would take much lesser time for physically fitter people. On finally reaching the Skybridge, the view was jaw-dropping. The cool breeze almost immediately took away all my exhaustion.
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View from the upper deck
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The first view of the Mat Cincang Cambrian Geoforest from the upper deck of the Skybridge is mesmerizing. It is a UNESCO heritage site, untouched & undisturbed, home to many exotic birds & animals. Standing there, I realised that human beings are puny creatures in front of Mother Nature.
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The Skybridge
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One can spend any amount of time here till the Skybridge closes at 5.30 pm. I spent around 2 hours here, didn't have the urge to leave thanks to the cool weather & the panoramic scenery. You can do countless photoshoots here.
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Finally got somewhat lesser crowd
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Thanks to some good Samaritans, I could have my pictures clicked here. Most of the times I had to be satisfied with taking selfies - the one thing which I dislike.
Apologies as I don't have any other "stylish" pose for the photographs 😂
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Andaman Sea
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Many tourists also hire private yacht tours in the Andaman Sea or Strait of Malacca. The tiny white speck which one can see in the blue vastness is a private yacht which leaves from the Langkawi Yacht Harbour (it falls on the way to the Skybridge, the area on the left hand side of the below picture; pardon for the blue hue- the pictures were taken from inside the cable car which had tinted glass panes).
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The Yacht Harbour on the left side of the picture
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Finally I left the Skybridge at around 2.00 pm & drove to the Seven Wells waterfall. It's only ~2km towards the north from the Skybridge main entrance.
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Entrance to the Seven Wells Waterfall
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You can drive your car all the way to the starting point of the waterfall via an extremely steeply (~35⁰-40⁰) sloping lane. I didn't know that hence I parked my car at the main entrance (parking fee RM 2). If I had the faintest idea that the hike to the Seven Wells is ~900m I would have never come here. The waterfalls falls just halfway through to the wells. So for physically unfit folks like me, beware before coming here.
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Forest trail to the waterfall
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Pin drop silence walking through the forest
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While walking towards the waterfall through the dense forest, there was complete pin drop silence except the continuous chirping of the birds & the weird sounds of the insects. It felt as if no one else existed in the whole world other than me. It was altogether an unwonted experience. The waterfall is located in a clearing amidst the dense Cambrian Geoforest where tourists, people come here for a delightful dip. So don't forget to bring your towels & extra clothes.
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I wished I could jump in too
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I gave my legs some rest, dipping them in the pleasant waters, sulking if only I had brought some extra clothes & my towel as well. I was so wanting to jump into the water because it was so damn hot that day. Anyway, I convinced myself to hike further to the Seven Wells & somehow managed myself to reach there. The view was simply breathtaking.
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The view from the Seven Wells
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Seven Wells
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The wells here are not strictly "wells" per se, but are created due to dissolution of soluble carbonate lithology. This is a very good example of
Karst topography (it's a geological term).
I started my fateful descend from the Seven Wells, how I wished they had a cable car here as well. Finally reaching down, on my way back to hotel I stopped at Pantai Kok - another secluded,shaded & pristine beach ~1.5 km towards the south of Skybridge. Thankfully, there was parking fee here. There were a couple of food joints here as well. I strolled on the beach a bit, be careful here as there are lots of red ants here scuttling around & one of them even managed to climb up to my hand but I was swift enough to throw it away.
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Poor bird trying to catch a crab
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It was fun to watch the poor bird waiting patiently for its food. When I went closer, I found that it was trying to catch some crabs which were hiding amidst the rocks.
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Naughty crabs exhausting the poor bird
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| Thanks to another good samaritan |
The second last halt for me was at
Pantai Pasir, a remote beach in Northern Langkawi and you have an adjoining
parking spot right by the beach. If you are lucky, you will get to witness the sunset. I was hurrying to return to my last halt i.e.
Gunung Raya before retiring for the day as the road from Pantai Pasir to Jalan Teluk Yu is quite isolated and becomes dark after sunset, so I spent half an hour at Pantai Pasir and returned back.
I spent some time there enjoying the breeze in the shade & then made my way to
Gunung Raya, the final halt for the day &
the highest peak on the island.  |
| View obscured by the clouds |
Gunung is a Malay & Indonesian (basically Bahasa) word meaning mountain. There is a local lore about Gunung Raya which says that Langkawi was once home to a band of giants named Mat Raya and Mat Cincang who were also the best of friends. The son of Mat Cincang and the daughter of Mat Raya were both in love with each other and the two Giants were overjoyed to accept the union of their two children. But Mat Raya was furious when he noticed the bridegroom leering at someone else other than his daughter during the wedding ceremony, resulting in a wrathful argument between the two giants including violence involving pots and pans became thrown at each other. The spot where a broken pot fell became known as the village of Kampung Belanga Pechah (broken pot), where the gravy fell, became the town of Kuah (gravy) and where the hot water fell became Ayer Hangat (hot water). A third giant Mat Sawar, tried to intervene between the two and separate them when suddenly a bolt of lightning struck down from the heavens and turned them to stones as soon as they looked up. Another version says that all three were petrified and turned into mountains. Mat Cincang became Gunung Mat Cincang and is now the second tallest peak on Langkawi and home to the in-demand cable-car ride and Oriental Village at its base. Mat Raya became Gunung Raya, the tallest peak in Langkawi at ~881m while Mat Sawar became Bukit Sawak, a small hill in-between Gunung Mat Cincang and Mat Raya, still valiantly trying to separate the two. |
| Returning from Gunung Raya |
It is advised to visit this peak in the day time as the winding approach road is completely off the beaten track with no assistance of any sort on the way. The only succour is available AFTER reaching the top where there is an observation tower/watchtower which was unfortunately closed when I visited.  |
| Notice of closure |
There was a notice pasted on the glass entrance that the observatory deck has been shut down due to Covid (not sure whether it has become operational once again as I visited in 2020). It was a beautiful drive, the temperature is slightly cooler and the views at the top are spectacular I was fortunate to get the scenic view as it was not enveloped in clouds. he view of Langkawi island from atop Gunung Raya is spectacular and enthralling. One can see both the Strait of Malacca & Gunung Mat Cincang Geoforest from here. Gunung Raya is considered to be a haven for many plant and animal species.Another way to reach to the top is to take the ~ 4300 steps through the rain-forest, twisting and turning until one reaches the very peak of the mountain! This alternate option is for them who are in good shape and is curious to take a look at the rainforest.Many travelers prefer heading up via the car and taking the steps while coming down.
I drove back to my hotel as I wanted to witness the sunset from Pantai Cenang. Also, my mobile was almost dying after taking pictures throughout the day. I finally reached the hotel, had a warm bath for my legs & went out to Pantai Cenang just in time for an unsurpassed sunset.
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| Calling it a day |
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