Langkawi, Malaysia Pt. 1

Langkawi, Malaysia

Our adventure begins! We decided to start our holiday in the south of Malaysia, on a small island called Langkawi, adjacent to the Thai border. (Well actually, Langkawi is a cluster of 99 islands in total).

We were absolutely exhausted after around 45 hours of travel; the airlines lost our luggage (which we didnt get for four days) and the humidity hit us like a tonne of bricks. Yes, even though we live in the Caribbean, it impacted us greatly. However, my cold that had developed during travel quickly vanished.

We were greeted by monkeys, geckos, frogs and many more local wildlife in the jungle, which is where we stayed the first couple of days.

Langkawi reminds us of many ways of Thailand - the people are extremely friendly and the cuisine is also very similar - spicy, fresh and lots of noodle/rice dishes. However, Langkawi is renowned for its wonderful seafood, so guess what we had most nights?

Kayaking to Thailand!

Exploring the caves

The plan was to relax the first couple of days on our trip in order to get ready for the next 7, action packed weeks but we were too excited when we arrived so we undertook a guided nature trail, went on a kayak trip and explored some caves, partook in a Malay cooking class and ate loooots of good food!

Datai Bay, Langkawi

Local girl making roti (traditional bread)

Traditional dessert: Glutinous coconut rice ball, deep-fried with sesame seeds ontop of shredded coconut. The other is a coconut pudding with fresh mango puree. Yum!

Spider Lily

View of Datai Bay

Local Caterpillar

Datai Bay

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Buck Island Hike

Yesterday we headed out once again to Buck Island - this time with a different group of people on a different boat. The most perfect day weather-wise, lots of good food and once we were there, boat-hopping. Geoff and I also got to do the hike to the peak - something we've always wanted to do but weren't quite sure where the trail started.

This was the yacht we went out on!

Julianne enjoying the ride over

Geoff and I on the second level of the yacht (there were about 5 levels!)

Almost there.........

Juli and I

Yay! We made it to the top! It was a really hot and sweaty hike!

The reef view was beautiful

Back down to the beach

On the way home - this big boat made some serious waves!

Christiansted from the ocean

Agrifest 2012

Agricultural Fair 2012

This is an annual agricultural fair where farmers and small businesses from all over the Caribbean set up their goods and sell anything from handmade local jewelry to Kallaloo to plants and self-written books. As usual, it did not disappoint!
We sampled some "Cane Fruit" or "Sugar Cane Fig" (second photo) which was very interesting. The flesh was stringy like sugar cane, but it was slightly more tart in flavor. Interesting to say the least.

We also saw lots of farm animals that the local farmers brought along, including the fattest rabbit I've EVER seen (photo 4)!
All in all a great day - I bought some really funky Afgan-style pants as well as a bunch of plants to add to our garden including lemon grass and chives.

When I say I live in the Virgin Islands.....

Game Day at Buck

What a gorgeous day to be out at Buck Island today!

New friends, great food and perfect swimming conditions!

Hehe..the boys trying to haul in the boat

Lighthouse Hike

Today we went out with our usual hike/dine group (Ericson, Sid, Ericson Jr., Arissa and Roberta) out to the West End to the old, abandoned lighthouse. What a view!!

After our hike up, Ericson Jr. fell asleep...and wasnt too happy when we woke him up again!

Yep, the boys carried the BBQ all the way up just so we could have a grilled chicken lunch!