Lanai Hotel Langkawi

... said "No ride". Then I said "Is there a park?" - to which she pointed to an area several miles away, that had nothing to do with the Buffalo Farm, and was free to explore anyway. I felt thoroughly bent over and shafted. Ok it was only 80p, but still...I spent another 80p on a small bottle of heatedBuffalo milk - quite nice actually. Sweeter than cows milk. I assume it is supposed to be warm, otherwise somebody sold them a cooker disguised as a fridge.<br>Next I stopped at the ...

... it was pretty sad. Luckily, I had sunscreen on everywhere except a part of my back (which later peeled something fierce). I went parasailing (being attached to a parashute and towed by a boat) and I even took a ride on some banana boat (a blown up boat that you straddle - it holds about 10 people). The boys rented scooters so we scooted around the island all evening, looking at some of the more poverty stricken areas. It was actually gorgeous - it's insane how ...

... off to the middle of nowhere to feed sea eagles. Thereafter, we thoroughly drenched ourselves on Beras Basah Island. It was pouring. Pathetic. <br><br>For the next half of the day, we took time out to get to town and catch a movie, "Terminator Salvation". I managed to zap a couple of great shots from a bird's eye view. <br><br>We also booked a chauffered travel service for a whole day. The guide took us to various places of interest in Langkawi ...

Took the 8:15 AM ferry from Penang-Langkawi Island. It was, as the Brits like to say, ******* down rain. My pack cover got a workout but it kept all the contents quite dry. Couldn't find suitable budget guesthouse so stayed in a 70 Ringgit business hotel, sterile, comfortable, and not proper digs for a Wandering_man. But I did get some beach time in and the pictures ...

... is our classic sunset pic. We went to the recommended Tomato restaurant for a curry which was nice and cheap if a bit canteen like. Then we went back to where we were staying where our hosts were showing the Arsenal v Tottenham game (oh the joy) whilst dishing out cans of Skol of all things, I managed to get off lightly to catch up on some Z's. In the morning our ex-colonel host drove us to the ferry pier so we could catch our ferry back to Satun, Thailand.

... than Penang as it was a lot more touristy- but it seemed to be quite a bit cheaper. In the morning we got up early and ran into the sea. What it would be like to wake up every morning and do that- bliss! We then had breakfast on our porch then walked to Underwater World. A huge aquarium, where they also had penguins. Their enclosure was quite good- as far as enclosures go. We watched them dive bombing in the water for ages. They were really funny! There were lots of fish and ...

... Guy (who i will come back to in a minute, for what a charachter he was!) and a Finnish girl that were lost in what, or how to go about hiking in the Jungle. Being kind like i am, i offered to take them on a hike and take the worry away from them about not be sure where to go, or not getting lost etc. After i realised that only being a fairly competent hiker and navigatior of these parts, i was a bit worried that i had others to consider. But they were ...

... and for that matter also the sushi, chilli con carne and the chicken fried rice). We are going snorkelling and it might be too much ballast. A wheezing bus takes us along with a jolly Dutch party to the port and then onto a large motor catamaran. The snorkelling reef is beside an island 19 miles away. We are based on a large floating platform offshore. I have signed up for an introductory dive. It takes me a while to be able to equalise but after ...

... and the waves had picked up, even getting on the boat was a challenge onto itself. The boat stopped at the first beach and another couple going as far as we were, then ventured to say (as the waters looked calm towards where we were going) 'that's it for getting wet'. Less then a minute later, a wave hit and we, our luggage and everything else was soaking wet. At 6pm, we were crawled up the beach in Railay and had a drink to celebrate our arrival into Thailand!!

... was very hot and sunny or slightly overcast (a relief from the heat for me and my irish-inherited pastey skin!). Most nights there was a thunderstorm, which you could watch breaking across the horizon from the beach and then seek shelter in a bar until it passed over your heads. We stayed in a place called the Palms Inn apartments, just off the main road near the gecko hostel. We absolutley loved it there, it was cheap (45RN ...