The problem with Langkawi Island is public mass transportation. It simply does not exist. Well, except for taxis, which is an expensive way of getting around, especially if you’re traveling solo. So, on our last day of stay at Hotel Bahagia, before transferring to Century Langkawi Beach Resort—which is located some sixteen kilometers farther west of the island—we decided to merge our half-day Langkawi sightseeing tour with Ekomegah Holidays with our hotel transfer.

LANGKAWI’S EAGLE SQUARE STRETCHES OUT INTO THE SEA

The first location on our itinerary is predictably, the most famous spot in Langkawi, the Eagle Square [GPS COORDINATES MAP 6.308824, 99.851454] or Dataran Lang in Malay. It is located near the Langkawi Royal Yacht Club, where a big duty free shop is located too. We saw this iconic landmark during our Langkawi Sunset Cruise from the waters of Kuah Bay and now we get to see it up close.

ONE OF THE BUILDINGS SELLING SOUVENIR ITEMS AT THE EAGLE SQUARE

The said bird, a bhraminy kite, is said to be where the island got its name from; helang, meaning eagle and kawi, describing its reddish brown color. There’s a big population of the said species on the island, especially at the Langkawi Kilim Geoforest Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Langkawi’s eagle stands twelve meters high, painted in bold colors, and made of concrete. It is one of the most visited places on the island, however, once you’ve taken a photo of or with the eagle (for selfie addicts), there’s really not much else to do in the area.

MADE FOR TOURISTS

SOUVENIRS, ANYONE?

Well, actually, there are a few restaurants you can dine in and two adjacent structures with stalls selling mostly souvenir and touristy stuff you can bring back home; t-shirts, ref magnets, mugs, and what-nots.

BOATS ALONG KUAH BAY

Back in the car, we debated if we’re gonna visit the Seven Wells Waterfalls, which would require a bit of a hike or the SkyCab cable car, which would require ringgits, MYR45.00 each to be exact. After a quick discussion, we decided to pass off those two spots and simply asked our driver to bring us to Pantai Cenang [GPS COORDINATES MAP 6.291823, 99.725466], Langkawi’s most famous beach. It doesn’t require hiking and we didn’t have to shell out a single ringgit. Perfect.

The drive took about an hour and the sun was scorching hot by the time we went out of the car again.

PANTAI CENANG IN LANGKAWI

Bringing a carton of Tiger beer and a few other ones we wanted to try from a nearby mall, plus a bucket of KFC chicken (sans the gravy, Malaysian KFC doesn’t offer gravy with their chicken, booo!), we stormed the beach of Cenang (pantai, by the way, means beach in Malay).

TANNING PARTY AT LANGKAWI’S FAMOUS BEACH

Pantai Cenang stretches out for more than two kilometers along the town of Temoyong. This beach is the main draw of the town and numerous shops line its sidewalks catering to nothing but tourists going to the beach. It sort of reminded me of Phuket’s Patong Beach.

NOT TOO MANY TOURISTS

The sand is very, very fine, though quite dry. It does sting when the wind blows hard and it hits your skin. It’s the tail end of Langkawi’s high season during our visit so the beach was a bit devoid of tourists, tourist season being set on the cooler months of November to April.

A SWIM, PERHAPS?

It was freakin’ hot that day. And while we were definitely tempted to swim, one look at the water and we went back to the shore, it was blue-green in color alright, but it just wasn’t as clear as those we swam on at Pulau Payar. Filipinos are quite picky when it comes to good beaches.

There are numerous parasols available for rent along the shore, but yes, you have to rent it out for a few ringgits. So what we did, we sought a shaded portion of the beach, laid out a blanket, and walah, instant base camp.

Beach & Hoe; Langkawi's Pantai Cenang has sand as fine as Boracay's, sans the crowd. Beach number 3, check. #BeachHopAsia2016 #CoralislandMy

A photo posted by Christian L. Sangoyo (@lakadpilipinas) on Apr 16, 2016 at 6:27pm PDT

With sand on our bare feet, the sounds of popping beer soon followed, then the aroma of freshly fried chicken. Our next resort at Pantai Kok can definitely wait, we have a carton of beer to finish.

~ THIS TRIP WAS MADE POSSIBLE WITH THE ASSISTANCE AND EFFORTS FROM HOTEL BAHAGIA

Langkawi Half Day Tour via Ekomegah Holidays
Address: Persiaran Bunga Raya, Langkawi Mall, Phase II, Kuah, Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia
Contact Number: (604) 969-5989
Email: ekolgk@gmail.com
Tour Fee: Packaged with Hotel Bahagia stay

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