After the first day of simply settling down and relaxing at the hotel, we started exploring a few places around Langkawi over the next few days. Since we had kept a full week for the trip, there was no hurry to pack everything into a tight schedule.

Day Two – Mangrove Forest Tour

On the second day we went for the mangrove forest tour. This is one of the most popular activities in Langkawi and almost everyone who visits the island ends up doing it.

We had booked the tour from Klook, which made the whole process quite simple. The booking included the boat ride and the guide, and the overall experience was fairly well organised.

The tour starts from Kilim Geoforest Park, which is located on the northern side of Langkawi. From the jetty we boarded a shared speedboat along with a few other tourists.

The boat first took us deep into the mangrove forests. The landscape here is quite unique. On one side you have thick mangrove trees growing in the water, and on the other side tall limestone cliffs rising straight up.

The first stop was a bat cave. We walked through the cave with a guide pointing out clusters of bats hanging from the ceiling. It was quite interesting, though a bit dark and humid inside.

From there the boat moved further along the river channels. One of the highlights of the tour was the eagle feeding spot, where the boat operators throw food into the water and suddenly dozens of eagles start circling overhead before diving down to catch the food.

Watching these birds swooping down at high speed just above the water was quite an experience.

Towards the end of the trip the boat took us to a floating seafood restaurant. It was essentially a restaurant built on floating platforms in the water. Here they had tanks with live fish, crabs and other seafood.

You could literally pick the fish you wanted to eat and they would cook it fresh for you.

Since we had taken the early morning tour, by the time everything was done it was already close to lunchtime.

By then my parents were tired and my daughter was getting cranky. So instead of spending more time there, we headed back to the hotel.

Lunch was at one of the small restaurants just opposite the hotel. After that we returned to Dayang Bay Resort and spent the rest of the day doing what had become our favourite activity in Langkawi – relaxing around the swimming pool.

Day Three – Walk to Kuah Town and the Maha Tower

The next day we again kept things relaxed in the morning.

We spent quite a bit of time at the hotel pool. My daughter probably enjoyed the pool more than any sightseeing on the island. Every day she wanted to spend hours there.

After a late morning at the pool, we decided to walk towards Kuah Town, which was roughly around two kilometres from our hotel.

On the way we stopped at a Chinese restaurant for lunch. One nice thing about Langkawi is that there are restaurants of almost every cuisine, so you can keep trying different types of food every day.

After lunch we continued walking into Kuah Town.

One of the prominent landmarks there is MAHA Tower Langkawi. From a distance it almost looks like a miniature Eiffel Tower.

It is supposed to be the tallest structure in Langkawi and has a 29-storey observation tower on top.

By the time we reached there, either the top observation deck was closed or the tickets were quite expensive. I don’t remember exactly which one it was. But instead of going to the very top, we went to an intermediate viewing deck.

Even from there the view was fantastic.

You could see the entire bay area of Kuah Town and the sea stretching out beyond it. We spent some time there just enjoying the view. There were a few shops and cafés around, so we grabbed some coffee and bakery items and sat there for a while.

After that we headed towards the Kuah Night Market.

And that place was an absolute delight.

The market is mainly about food. There were stalls selling everything imaginable. Sushi, grilled seafood, noodles, desserts, colourful drinks, things I had never seen before and could not even identify.

The sheer variety was overwhelming.

I started picking up random things from different stalls and trying them out. At the same time there was a small worry in the back of my mind that I might end up with an upset stomach the next day because I had no clue what half of those dishes were.

Thankfully nothing like that happened.

We packed quite a few items from the market and brought them back to the hotel. That became our dinner for the day.

Day Four – The Sky Bridge and Cable Car

The next day we visited one of the most famous attractions in Langkawi – the Langkawi Sky Bridge.

The Sky Bridge is located inside a tourist complex called Oriental Village Langkawi. The area itself is like a small theme park with shops, restaurants and various attractions.

From here you take the famous Langkawi SkyCab, which takes you to the top of the mountains.

This cable car ride is known to be one of the steepest cable car rides in the world.

The journey happens in two stages.

First the cable car takes you from the base station to the middle station, which sits on top of one mountain peak. There is a large viewing area there where you can stop, walk around, and enjoy the view.

From this middle station you get incredible views of the mountains, the forest below and the sea in the distance.

There is also a place called Eagle’s Nest, which is a glass-bottom platform extending out from the mountain. When you stand there and look down through the glass, you can see the forest and cliffs far below. It feels a bit like standing in mid-air.

From the middle station you take another cable car which climbs further to the top station, located on an even higher peak.

From the top station you again get viewpoints on both sides of the mountain.

From there, a small inclined elevator system takes you down to the actual Sky Bridge.

The Sky Bridge itself is a curved suspension bridge hanging between two mountain peaks. It is very high above the ground and part of the bridge has glass flooring.

Walking on the bridge gives the feeling that you are walking in the air.

Because it is suspended and exposed to wind, the bridge keeps swaying slightly. When you stand still you can actually feel the movement. That makes the experience both exciting and slightly scary at the same time.

But the views from the bridge are absolutely stunning.

After spending some time there we came back down by cable car.

Back at the base area there was also a 3D art museum where you could pose with various optical illusion paintings. That turned out to be quite fun, especially for kids.

After lunch we wrapped up the visit and headed back to the hotel.

Moving to the Beach Side of Langkawi

That evening marked our last night at Dayang Bay Resort.

The next day we were shifting to another part of the island. For the second half of the trip we had booked a stay at The Frangipani Langkawi Resort, located in Pantai Tengah.

This area is right beside Pantai Cenang Beach, which is the most lively and commercial beach in Langkawi.

So the second part of the trip was going to be all about beachside life.

And that turned out to be a very different experience.

(To be continued…)