Year 2- 11th November 2025 –Langkawi Tour
It rained in the night but was dry when we woke and it looked like we may have another good day. We had breakfast and I went to the office to discuss our departure. The office suggested that if we had to go to Immigration to check out then why not take the ferry and get a cab. I thought it was not a bad idea. The others then went off to the pool and resort whilst Keith and I waited as we were getting the ferry about 11.00am with Brice and Nuria to do some more touring on Langkawi.
Steve had seen a boat for sail (called Lady Doris) which he had shown some interest in and he therefore went to see it with Mark.
Keith and I waited for the ferry and Brice and Nuria joined us. The ferry only took 7 minutes to Pantai Cenang and we then got a cab going to the Sky Cab (gondola) which takes you up to the high peaks of Langkawi. The cab driver suggested that as the top was in cloud that we should do a mangrove tour and he would take us there. We all though this sounded good and were glad he made the suggestion.
The driver took us to a place where we ordered and booked the tour which was over some 2-3 hours. He then drove us to the boat.
We arrived at a boat area on the Mangrove River (the driver called it that but I think it is the Kalim River and we had a boat for the 4 of us. We were in a river with mangroves around us which was in turn bordered by limestone cliffs etc. This is part of the Kalim Karst Geoforest.
We got in the boat and headed down the river at some speed to a floating platform where we got some food for the eagles. We then sped off to a part of the river where we could see eagles (white bellied sea eagle) and the Brahminy Kite, a bird of prey whose name is believed to be the origin of the island's name soaring above the river. The boats would stop, raise their engine and spray water in the air and the put the food in the water and the eagles and kites would fly around and swoop down for the food. It was quite a sight and they are magnificent creatures and fliers.
We then headed off to some narrower sections of the mangrove swamps where we were going down channels barely wider than 3-times the width of the boat to monkey island. There were monkeys (macaques) all of the mangroves and then one jumped on to our boat and sat there watching us. We moved away from the shore a little and he walked along the boat clearly looking to see if we would give him food. When he knew we were not he then dived into the water and went under for some time before surfacing and clambering ashore. They are good swimmers. As we came round this section we saw a viper -lying on a tree branch clearly asleep. We got quite close and it is a reminder they do have venomous animals here. We then came round monkey island to a large cave called Crocodile Cave through which the boat could pass. There are no crocodiles but the cave is supposed to look like a crocodile but I could not see this.
We then went up the river again to a floating platform which was part of a fish farm and also a restaurant. They had some pools where they kept certain fish. The first pool had a load of small fish but the man then brushed the water and a stingray came up and he stroked the Stingray and invited us to do so. Nuria, Brice and I had a go. It was surprisingly soft. In the other pools they had Trevisan fish which look like tuna and which had sharp teeth and could easily take your finger off. Clearly we did not brush the water. In the other tanks they had grouper, seabass and crabs and lobster which they use to serve in the restaurant. We then saw by the mangroves and not in any pool a load of sea otters playing about and our guide through them a little fish and they came over. They are such wonderful creatures. We decided to have some lunch and Keith and I shared a grouper which was delicious.
After lunch we were taken downriver to a pontoon and we got off and walked through a series of caves with stalactites and stalagmites but it also contained quite a large bat population which were just hanging upside down from the ceiling (their legs are not strong enough to support them) and we shone the torch on them. The cave went through a large rock and we came out the other side in the mangroves and walked back under it again via a different tunnel before getting back on the boat to be escorted by more monkeys trying to see if we would give them some food.
We then got back in the boat and headed up the river and we came out to the sea and skirted along the North part of Langkawi admiring the coastline, large cliffs with trees and jungle. We went for some miles and past the beach of the Four Seasons Hotel and we then went in the other end of the Kalim River. As we were doing so we saw some black creatures in the water and concluded they were seals of some sort. We returned to our starting point and it had been a most interesting and varied tour.
We then got in a cab to go to the Sky Cab. The Langkawi Cable Car, also known as Langkawi SkyCab, is a gondola lift and one of the major attractions in Langkawi Island, Kedah, Malaysia. It provides an aerial link from the Oriental Village at Teluk Burau to the peak of Gunung Machinchang, which is also the location of the Langkawi Sky Bridge. The total length is 2.2 km (1.4 mi), with a journey time from the base to the top of around 15 minutes. It was officially opened in 2003.
Langkawi Cable Car is located just north of Telaga Harbour, Pantai Kok, with the entrance within 'Oriental Village' at the foothill of the Mat Chincang mountain range. It is located to the north-west of the Langkawi International Airport, on the west coast of the main island of Langkawi. The Langkawi cable car project was first mooted in 1999 by the then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad when he flew over Gunung Machinchang in a helicopter during his visit to Langkawi. The project was a joint venture by Doppelmayr of Austria and a local company.
After a survey of the mountain conducted in May 2000, the construction of Langkawi Cable Car began in April 2001. The gondola cable car system was selected as it permitted a long span of over 900 metres (3,000 ft). There are three stations for the cable car; the Top Station is located at the peak of Gunung Machinchang which is the second-highest peak of Langkawi. In the middle is an "angle station" where the gondolas make a 45-degree turn to reach the Top Station. As there is no road to the top due to the steepness of Gunung Machinchang, all the structural components needed to be lifted to top with helicopters in combination with an auxiliary working cable and then assembled on site.
The gradient or the slope between the Base Station and the Middle Station is said to be one of the steepest in the world at 42°. It has the longest free span for a mono-cable car at 950 m (3,120 ft). When there are strong winds, the cable car operation would be put on hold. There are 35 normal gondolas, each of these can carry six persons with total weight up to 480 kg (1,060 lb), with a total maximum capacity of 700 to 800 passengers per hour. There are also 4 bottom glass gondolas which sit 6 passengers and 2 VIP gondolas each with 3 leather seats. The gondolas travel at a distance of some 70 meters (230 ft) above the canopy of forest of the Machinchang Range. The Langkawi cable car was completed in August 2002 at a cost of RM 46 million. It was officially opened in 2003.
We got in the gondola where the base station is 13.5m above sea level. We passed over the canopy of the jungle which gave us a great view and we could see various waterfalls on either side as we went up. We got to the middle station and got out and we got some great views looking down to the sea, however, there was cloud cover above us and when we got into the gondola to go to the top station we were in cloud. We got to the top which is 650 m above sea level and went to the Sky Bridge.
Langkawi Sky Bridge is a 125-metre (410 ft) curved pedestrian cable-stayed bridge in Malaysia, completed in 2005. The bridge deck is 660 metres (2,170 ft) above sea level at the peak of Gunung Mat Cincang on Pulau Langkawi, the main island of the Langkawi archipelago in Kedah. The Langkawi Sky Bridge can be reached by first taking the Langkawi Cable Car to the Top Station, where an inclined lift called SkyGlide takes visitors from the Top Station down to the bridge.
We walked along the bridge which was unfortunately covered in cloud and it was the coolest I have been in many months. However, it was good to see and well we had seen the view from the middle station.
We retraced our steps to the bottom and got a cab to the ferry terminal and then got the ferry back. After a quick shower I met the others and we went for dinner in the resort. We had had a great day and the others had enjoyed their relaxation.
We have to go to check out of Malaysia tomorrow and I think we will go by ferry as it will be easier and we can leave from this marina.
The picture of the day is a picture of a sea otter which we saw at the fish farm.
Need/Opportunity Year Three
In year three I will be going from Thailand to Sri Lanka, India, Maldives and then on to Chagos, Mauritius, Reunion, Cape Town, St Helena, Azores and back to the UK. I am looking for crew from Mauritius/ Reunion Island to Cape Town and from Cape Town to the UK. If of any interest do email me.
The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com