Eagles, a Freshwater Lake, and a Stranger's Kindness
Ok, last full day in Langkawi. How would I spend my day today? The mostly popular tour in Langkawi, of course! Half-day Island Hopping Tour. In this tour, a boat driver by a driver/tour guide takes passengers to 3 small islets in the south of Langkawi for different activities.
I was planning to book the tour in the evening last night but online booking via credit cards required OTP sent to my Chinese mobile number which had no signal in Malaysia. So I decided to book the tour upon arrival at the jetty. Assisted by the Grab driver who took me to the jetty (he probably could earn a small amount of commission from it), I paid for the fee 5 ringgits more than normal price, and waited at the main hall within a building near the jetty to have my breakfast.
When it’s time to go I was led to a boat shared with people of different nationalities, including Singapore, India, South Korea and probably Malaysia. On the way to our first stop, Beras Basah, two couples from South Korea and Singapore talked enthusiastically in front of me while I was just listening.
The boat was gliding really fast and the wind was blowing my face, with turquoise water and rocky mountain passing by. Sometimes the boat went up suddenly and then fell down to the water again, and everyone on the boat was cheering loudly, which was so fun! Soon we arrived at the first stop, which had a beautiful white sandy beach and large area of rainforest. Our tour guide gave us 1 hour to explore, and I took a stroll on the beach for a little while and saw a row of pretty huts painted in different striking colors for rent. I went a little bit far away from the crowd, put my belongs under the trees, and dipped into the cool water to chill out! The sands on the beach were dry and hard but once I went deep into the ocean the sands under my feet were so soft that it was like a big blanket and it’s so comfortable walking on them, though you should be careful about some big and pointy rocks. The water was crystal clear so I could see my feet when walking in the ocean. I swam in the waterand enjoy this relaxing morning! The water was glittering with sunshine, with playful children dipping in and out of the water. On the coast, kids were chasing each other, cheering and laughing merrily. Once in a while, parasailing or a banana boat set off, adding a touch of dynamics to the scene. Leaving the water, I sat on a swing on the beach made by a tire hung on the trunk by some ropes. Very relaxing and enjoyable experience! On my way back to the boat, the friendly and approachable Korean couples took a few photos of me. I had a very good time talking to them and they were super funny! They liked to use body languages and gestures when communicating with other in English and these body movements were very hilarious!
Our next stop was an eagle watching spot near Singa Besar, where out boat stopped in the middle of the water. Our tour threw a basket of fish out of the boat and then a group of eagles circled around, before they dived and dipped into the water to catch the fish. It was really fun to watch these majestic creatures gliding in the sky.
On the way to the entry point of the last island, we stopped for a view of a hill resembling apregnant maiden, which took me a while to recognize because nearly all the mountains from afar can be said to be a resemblance of a pregnant maiden. Interested in why only 1 hill is officially recognized as a pregnant maiden. Then, continuing gliding on the beautiful turquoise water (I love the color so much!), we reached Dayang Bunting island. After alighting from the boat, the Korean couple told me that this was their second time to go on the tour so I decided to explore the island with them. We first paid RM 6 at a ticket office for entry into the Pregnant Maiden lake and then took a trek into the forest for a while to finally get to the freshwater lake, which is surrounded by mountains clad with lush forests. Besides the lake there was a kiosk selling different kinds of water activities such as kayak. There’s also an area near the coast enclosed by buoys for swimming, where I spent my entire duration swimming. I have to say that swimming in open natural freshwater pool surrounded by rocky mountains and lush forests under the clear blue sky was such a fantastic experience. The water of the lake was very deep (10m according to the signs) and the bottom cannot be touched at all. Therefore, there’s also a kiosk nearby for renting life jackets for those who don’t dare to swim to enjoy the water. I definitely didn’t need these and I had a very relaxing time swimming and playing in the beautiful lake! Happy hours are always ephemeral and I returned to the drop-off point with the Korean couple on time but the Indian family of our team went to have lunch! We joked about how Chinese and Korean are punctual and they are not. We continued chatting until the Indian family came back, before we went back to the jetty in Kuah.
Opposite the jetty was located a magnificent mosque with various golden domes of different sizes. I was attracted to it because of the loud call for prayer from the mosque. I was wearing shorts so someone outside of main prayer hall lent me a robe for me to pay a visit. Inside the main hall was fully air-conditioned and it’s quite comfortable to sit on the blanket to cool down after an exhausting tour at the hottest time of the day. Again, I arrived at the main hall just in time for the second prayer of the day. Many Muslims who came inside to pray smiled or said hello to me, or even shook hand with me when passing by me, which was so sweet. Later came a man with beard who sat next to me and talked to me. He said he was waiting for his friends to go somewhere near Langkawi on the mainland of Malaysia and invited me to go with him, which was kind of weird to me but he seemed to be very friendly. Two Muslim kids were playing while the prayer was going and they shook hand and bowed to me following other Muslim adults so I was pretty flattered that I left the mosque before the prayer ended. When I was taking photo of the mosque in the premise, a man who just finished his prayer kindly asked me where I was from and smiled to me.
It’s so amazing that everyone was so unbelievably kind and friendly to me.
Going back home, the Grab driver boasted the many countries he had been to me, including Asia and Europe, but the trip was too short for him to list all of them. After a short lunch again at Nestle Café, I ordered my second last Grab ride in Malaysia to Kilim Karst Geoforest Park, during which the driver kept persuading me to book a mangrove tour at the kiosk which cost at least RM 299! My plan was to take a walk around the area that was free to access. However, there seemed to be only one attraction accessible to visitor if I didn’t pay for the pricy mangrove tour, a mangrove sanctuary, which was still fun to explore with lots of mangrove trees with roots bare in the air and monkeys swing between branches.
An unexpected challenge happened when I was about to leave the park and go to Gunung Raya. Yes, I knew that it was 5 pm and a storm was coming, but I still wanted to explore more about the beautiful island. However, I ordered in Grab for about 10 times but there’s no driver coming to pick me up! Well, now I am doomed because I am in the middle of nowhere and no one is going to pick me up and the park is empty and it is getting dark and a storm is coming. A local who lived in the park saw me and asked me if I needed a ride but asked for a ride twice as the price as in Grab. I refused his proposal immediately and tried to ordered Grab myself, going back to my hotel this time. But still not reply. Seeing me trying so hard to order in Grab, he then offered to cut down the price by RM 5 and I said OK after he agreed to another RM 5 discount. I felt so bad and embarrassed about myself afterwards for the kindness he offered to me by agreeing to take me to my hotel and back for just RM 20 while the normal price for a Grab ride is RM 15, especially when he was basically my only way to leave this place and return to my hotel was a big storm was around the corner. I was not trustful to him and didn’t want to pay for extra charge when I refused his offer the first time, because this random ride didn’t have the safety insurance as offered by Grab. Also, I didn’t have cash to pay him since RM 100 as cashed was used for deposit at my hotel. Because of this I even asked him that if I could pay by credit card, which I knew that it’s impossible and revealed that I had a lot of money with me. Due to all of these I was exceptionally anxious when he was driving me home for 1: he might drive me to somewhere remote and kill me and take all of my money and 2: I felt bad for myself for not appreciating the kindness offered by a friendly local enough. Knowing that I needed to go the money changer for cash, he even took a detour to help me find a money change twice, with the first one already closed when we arrived, and allowed me to take all of my belongings out when I went to the money changer, which was extraordinarily kind of him and showed the huge trust to me since I could have run away and not paid for the fee. Eventually, I arrived at my hotel safe and sound and immediately cried for the incredible kindness he offered to me and me not appreciating his kindness enough. When reflecting on this, I realized that I was flooded with kindness and help by locals throughout my stay in Malaysia, which I am so grateful withand feel so lucky.
My last night at Langkawi was extremely memorable as well. I was out searching for places for dinner while the thunder was booming, lightning shooting across the sky and dense raindrop flooding to the street. It was very scary and horrible and my legs were trembling severely, fearing the thunder or lightning would hit me or the trees beside me. Then I came across a Café, OldTown White Coffee, a traditional homegrown coffee chain Café. It offered an air-conditioned and comfy eating environment, gradually relieving my nerve. I ordered Soft Boiled Omega Eggs (which turned out to be part of the Traditional Breakfast I had 4 times in Singapore), Santan Rice (which is the rice in Lasi Lemak, so rice with coconut cream), OldTown White Coffee (very famous Malaysian white coffee and the reason why I came to the Café. I knew it was 7 pm at night and I might be up all night, which, unfortunately, happened exactly. But I just could not miss the last chance of tasting the famous Malaysian White Coffee, which is bitter than Americano, in my opinion) and Curry Mee Toast (noodles, fish balls and bean sprouts inside the hole at the center of the toast, paired with very spicy Sambal).
OK, as I said, I was completely up this night, possibly due to the caffeine I consumed at night, and my neck was painful too, which caused a very torturing night before my departure to Singapore.
