Hi all, Well we have now made it to Langkawi. Bit of a nightmare this morning...the ferry went from Penang at 0830 at it was a 10 min taxi ride away. We set the alarm for 7 to get breakfast and finish packing (can you see where this is going?). I don't really know what happened, I am sure I set the thing but it didn't go off, woke up at 750 and ...

So our first full day in Langkawi started out with some relaxing beach time...the water here is warm and beautiful, and the beaches have the whitest sand I have ever seen. The small boutique hotel has only about 20 rooms, and about 15 beach chairs, so Maureen was quick to swoop in and place our towels to "reserve" our chairs for the day before w...

Georgetown, the capital of Penang was full of colonial splendour and home to the Eastern and Orient Hotel. Here, we sipped wine in the palm fringed gardens overlooking the evening harbour with cruise ships anchored in a celebration of floodlights; the air was comfortable with a cool breeze on shore and the hotel pool was lit with the surface bei...

Arrived late in Langkawi thanks to Air Asia "retiming" our flight. Surely thats just a less irritating way of saying "delayed" or perhaps trying to insinuate that there was some sort of forward planning involved.....Either way it involved being ripped off by the tourist information service in the airport. The guy behind the desk coerced us into ...

Yesterday, I hopped a boat to Langkawi from Penang. It was a 3.5 hour ride in a fast boat with fogged over windows. Transformers was playing on very small TV's in front of the cabin. I can't seem to get away from American movies around here. Transformers was of such a quality that you knew it was filmed by camcorder in the movies theater. Arrivi...

Our arrival into Langkawi was marked by a smell which I have come to love - 'mall smell'. This is probably something that most of you have never noticed, and I never had in the past either, but I do notice it now because it's so pleasant compared with a lot of the smells around Asia. It's a mixture of clean, cool air mingled with a sweet baking ...

It was an early 7am start the next morning the catch the ferry for the 2 and a half hour crossing to the Langkawi archipelago, a cluster off 99 islands just of the coast of north western Malaysia. The ferry itself was heavily air conditioned and we were glad at the end of the journey to emerge out into the bright sunshine. Approaching the island...

So from Phi Phi we went to Krabi to spend a few days before making our way down the coast. Checked into hotel unbe known to us it had a full cast of bollywood movie stars staying there getting ready to film their next picture! We then got a 6 hour bus ride and a ferry across to Langkawi in Malaysia. Now I knew there was a reason for comming here...

Given that I am very keen to get to Thailand, I have decided to stay in Langkawi for only 2 nights. I think this is a good move given that there isn't much to do here in Langkawi except relax and sunbathe, which Phuket, Ko Samui and Ko Pha-Ngang can also provide - but with better beaches. Today, I was keen to get on the water and explore Langkaw...