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Langkawi
The view from the balcony of our room
Langkawi is one of the main tourist destination in Kedah.
Relatively remote and unspoiled in its floral and fauna. It
is a fascinating island for those who love tranquil and quiet
holidays.
The largest of the 104 islands that lie along the northern
region of the peninsular Malaysia. It is has an area of 520km/per
(32,180 hectares). Langkawi has a Tropical Monsoon climate
with a high annual temperature of between 24ºC - 33ºC. It
is about 109km from Penang, 51.5km from Kuala Kedah and approximately
30km from Kuala Perlis.
Some links about Langkawi and his history:
When we reached the hotel, it was getting late. We do not
know our way around the island. So, we went to the reception
to ask if we could get to any restaurants nearby. And unfortunately,
there was nothing close by. The only way we can get there
is by taxi. And since we were very tired from the flight,
we decided to eat in the hotel's restaurant instead.
The garden by the pool at the hotel
The next morning, we had to join the island tour which was
organized by our travel agent. It was quite funny for me because
everyone but me in our tour are Chinese. So i am the odd one
there. The tour guide has to speak Mandarin and also a chinese
dialeg (Cantonese) because there are 2 different groups in
the bus, one from Sarawak, whom speaks Mandarin and the other
from Ipoh, whom speak Cantonese.
Therefore, he is too lazy to translate everything he said
into English for us. So, he asked Sam if she could translate
for him. But the problem was, Sam doesn't understand Chinese
very well, about 50 or 60%, (her own words)and besides the
man is speaking very fast, and she cannot catch up with him.
Therefore she also could not understand everything. However,
the day was a lot of fun.
Entertainment in the bus
Legend of Mahsuri
Surpassing them all is the well-known – and well-beloved
– story told time and again of the Princess Mahsuri who lived
in Langkawi in the fourteenth century. Mahsuri laid a curse
on the islands following the wrongful accusation that she
had committed adultery while betrothed to the Sultan of Kedah.
When a soldier pierced a kris (dagger) into her bosom, he
drew white fluid instead of blood, this viewed as a sign of
her innocence. Others are of the opinion that a white mist
that suddenly enveloped the spot of her execution was an illustration
of mourning over her undeserved punishment. Mahsuri laid a
curse on Langkawi for the act of injustice. Thus, for seven
generations, it had been a land of isolation and misfortune.-
Reference from, "Langkawi, Paradise and Legends"
The grave of Mahsuri
Of course you have to put off your shoes to go in.
"Typical" Malay musicians. This music is played
on original instruments. Usualy this kind of group played
for the King.
We also visited the famous Aquarium of Langkawi, the Underwater
World. I was impressed to see so many kinds of fishes
in the tanks. Sea creature you have never seen before in your
life. For example, they have lobsters of all kind, a few kinds
of seahorses and many more huge fishes
The trip went further to another beautiful place, over looking
the sea. There is a very huge eagle, made by hands. This place
is called "The Eagle Square"
The Eagle Square
It is a huge eagle and i am very impressed at how real it
looks.
After we took the necessary tourist pictures of the eagle
we drove to a big shopping mall. Langkawi Island is a duty
free zone, so we could buy alot of cheap things without getting
fine at the custom. Dr. Mahathir , the Prime Minister of Malaysia,
decided some years ago that Langkawi Island as a duty free
zone. This law is an extremely important change for the people
and the island because this helps promote the tourism business.Therefore
the people of the island likes Dr. Mahatir very much and there
in the middle of the island is a Museum with a lot of paintings,
pictures of him and his family, gifts from other minister
and orther country and etc.
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