06.25.250N  99.52.016E  Thursday 4^th December  Pulau Langkawi – the largest and locally known as the ‘magic island’ - has certainly been a wonderful and unexpected experience.  Little Telaga Marina is a delight (and works out at roughly £8 per day including electricity and water).  The restaurants stretching along the quay offer Chinese, Russian, Cuban, Italian, Spanish and other European cuisine with a superb bakery tucked into the middle and live musicians playing each night.  Car hire, inclusive, is £10 per day, motorbikes £5, and there’s also a fantastic industrial laundry service.  You can quite see why many yachties end their journey here: superb white sandy beaches; clean waters; tax free goods (a litre of brand spirit is just £6 per bottle); three world class golf clubs; resorts galore including The Four Seasons; driving and shooting ranges; a crocodile farm; cable cars to admire the views; an international airport and the superb Rebak Marina with full lift out facilities just across the bay.  Having said all that, most of the island is totally unspoilt with miles of virgin rain forest; it has a laid back, sleepy, almost forgotten feel to it – ramshackle buildings line the well made roads and restaurants, surprisingly large with hundreds of chairs and tables (many with a candle glowing on each one) are often empty and devoid of customers.

 

 

Pretty Telaga Marina

 

 

Tapas bar ‘happy hour’

 

We have spent four days exploring the island by

motor bike and car……..

 

 

Buffalo in the fields

 

 

Gaggle of geese in the road

 

 

 

White sandy beaches

 

 

Amazing Four Seasons resort

 

 

 

Lush green fields….

 

 

Prehistoric crabs at the fish farms

 

 

Mangrove stingrays clamouring over each other

to come and look at you….seemingly in the eye!

 

 

Eagles soaring overhead

 

 

 

….and feeding close to the boat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More crocodiles

 

 

Crocodile eggs…….

 

 

 

…and a poor deformed croc named Bujang Kawi who has

been hand raised from birth and fed like a baby to this day 20 years

later – he has good luck money stuck to him and is a firm favourite with the staff; he has a sweet loving nature (unlike his handsome brother Bujang Lang!) -  they are from the largest species in the world – Porosus

 

 

Bat caves…….

 

 

……..full of hundreds of bats

 

 

…….lively beaches with music and barbecues

 

 

….and a beer when you need it

 

 

 

A bit of nonsense on the beach……..

 

 

……..and another end to a lovely day!