Switching coasts

From the east coast, we took a long minibus journey across the north of the Malaysian peninsula and on to a ferry to get to the island of Langkawi. Many times larger than Perhentian, it has a lot more tourists but compensates with a much more varied dining scene and the added bonus of being a duty free zone...so cheap drinks every night!

Our first stop - Indian. Deb and Maddi hooking into some naan

Langkawi is resort-world, which was fine by us - we had a great pool, directly beyond which was the beach...

...with some magic views at sunset

Langkawi was a perfect size for exploring by scooter

After about 3 minutes of riding the scenery becomes very rural. You don't see that in KL!

We also stopped by at one of the more exclusive resorts. Just down the beach they were trying to film a movie, and we could understand why - the whole area is stunning. As visitors we were allowed to have a coffee at this place but the signs told us swimming in the pool was definitely off limits. A shame because no one else was in there!

Maddi and I pretending we belong with Malaysia's rich

A bit more moto-ing took us further in to the islands interior, and up into the mountains. This is Bruce tempting fate on the slippery rocks under a waterfall.

The slippery rocks are also a tourist attraction...Jordy tries out the natural waterslide

We took a boat ride off the island, and when we reached a bay our driver through bits of raw chicken into the water. Moments later, we were surrounded by scores of sea eagles dive-bombing spectacularly to grab the meat.

Plenty of these guys everywhere!

You really need to watch your step at times

Our last stop on Langkawi was a place we'd been trying to track down since we got a teasing glimpse of it in China. Remember the Seinfeld eposide where Kramer becomes addicted to a certain brand of roast chicken? Well, we can confirm that brand is not fictional! Kenny Rogers Roasters lives...

The verdict? Not bad at all!