Don & Kully's World Cruise on Viking Neptune

Langkawi is a beautiful archipelago of swaying palms and island shores fringed by powder sand beaches that is approximately 30 miles off Malaysia’s northwest coast. For many years Langkawi was a haven for pirates, but the British cleared out the last of the pirate land bases in the late 1940’s. The island remained a quiet backwater until 1986 when Prime Minister Mahathir Mohanad transformed it into a major tourist resort with duty-free shopping. The island now receives over three million visitors a year. In 2007, Langkawi Island was designated a World Geopark by UNESCO. The three main conservation areas are Machincang Cambrian Geoforest Park, Kilim Karst Geoforest Park and Dayang Bunting Marble Geoforest park.

We had a mid-morning arrival, so we were able to get some beautiful sunrise and coastal photos as we approached the port.

We also felt pretty safe when we saw three Malaysian Navy vessels in the harbor with us.

We booked an independent tour through Viator to visit the Langkawi Cable Car and Sky Bridge. The tour took us to the peak of Gunung Mat Chichang, the highest point on the island at 2,300 feet above sea level that offered stunning views of Langkawi and its surrounding islands.

Our driver Syidi (pronounced She-dee) picked us at the agreed upon time at the pier. After brief introductions we jumped into his very clean Toyota SUV and headed to the Langkawi Cable Car. Along the way, Syidi pointed out local sights and told us a little about himself and his family. It took us about 20 minutes to get to the Cable Car station at the base of the mountain. Syide procured the tickets and off we went.

The Cable car system and series of skybridges are true engineering marvels that provide incredible views of the island, but especially of the Machinchang Cambrian Geoforest Park which the mountain is part of.

After our two-hour visit atop the mountain, we met back with Syidi and took a coastal drive around the island. We stopped at D’Tanjung Rhu Beach where we enjoyed a refreshing iced coffee before heading out to look for Monkeys.

We didn’t have to drive far to find the cute little “Crab-Eating Macaque’s” scrounging for food along the side of the road.

Syidi is an incredible guide and we highly recommend this tour. As mentioned above we booked the tour through Viator, but it’s also listed on the Trip Advisor website as “Private Tour in Langkawi with Sky Bridge and Langkawi Cable Car.” The local tour operator was Langkawi Holidays Packages.

Tomorrow, we make our final port call in Malaysia when we visit George Town.