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Damnoensaduak floating market tourists Ratchaburi Thailand

Thailand 2010: Damnoen Saduak Floating Market tour, Cobra show… and leaving Bangkok

Date:  29th November 2010

My final day in Thailand… and I still made most of the time I had before flying out.

Even though I still had an entry ticket to DreamWorld theme park which I got for free via Cleartrip, I decided to chuck that and opted instead to do something I couldn’t do last year.

I booked myself for a floating market tour via the lady who owns Thai House Inn and she got it for me for ฿600 (Rs. 890/$20/€14).

Bangkok Rama bridge early morning Thailand
Left Bangkok at around 6am; headed to the neighbouring district of Ratchaburi, a 100km drive
Shrimp prawn farms outside Bangkok Thailand
Passed by a lot of shrimp farms. Turns out Thailand is largest exporter of such shrimps. (That explains the abundance of prawn crackers)

After an hour long drive, the van reached a canal where there were other tour groups gathered near some boats.

Floating market tour starting point boats Thailand
We would then be split up into groups for each boat
Canal longtail boat Bangkok Thailand
I grabbed the spot in front

Damnoen Saduak Ratchaburi canal boats Bangkok Thailand

Damnoen Saduak river taxi boats Bangkok Thailand
No roads from here on out, just canals all the way to the ‘floating’ market

Floating village longtail boats parked Thailand

River to Damoen Saduak floating market Thailand
It was a lovely morning ride

Damnoen Saduak river pier Bangkok Thailand Floating village Thai women canal Bangkok

Damnoen Saduak floating village house by river Bangkok Thailand
It was a charming sight to see houses and entire villages live by these canals
Damnoen Saduak floating village river Bangkok Thailand
Kind of appears as though the ‘roads’ are flooded 🙂

Damnoen Saduak floating village Bangkok Thailand Damnoen Saduak river homes Yamaha Fino Bangkok ThailandDamnoen Saduak village boat lift Ratchaburi ThailandDamnoen Saduak floating market flower pots Ratchaburi ThailandDamnoen Saduak floating market sheet Ratchaburi ThailandDamnoen Saduak canal house Ratchaburi ThailandDamnoen Saduak floating market river motorboat Ratchaburi

Damnoen Saduak floating market sign Ratchaburi Thailand
That’s where we were heading

Damnoen Saduak floating market row houses Ratchaburi ThailandDamnoen Saduak floating village houses Ratchaburi ThailandDamnoen Saduak floating market pedestrian bridge Ratchaburi ThailandDamnoen Saduak floating village home Ratchaburi ThailandDamnoen Saduak floating market canal Ratchaburi Thailand

Damnoen Saduak floating market lanes Ratchaburi Thailand

Once we reached the market, we got out of our boats and were informed by our guide that we had nearly an hour here. But, if we wanted to boat ride around the market, we would have to pay ฿50 (Rs. 75/$1.6/€1.16) and it was not included in the tour package. Obviously, none of us wanted to simply walk around the ‘floating’ market, so I paid up.

Damnoen Saduak floating market old boat lady Ratchaburi
I sat right in front again

Damnoen Saduak floating market boats fruit hawker Ratchaburi ThailandDamnoen Saduak floating market paddle boat vendor Ratchaburi Thailand

Damnoen Saduak floating market paddle boats Ratchaburi Thailand
Mind you, there are many boats carrying tourists around the market all morning. The market closes by afternoon.
Damnoen Saduak floating market hats vendor Thailand
Plenty of hawkers (on boats of course) pull your boat over to try and sell you their wares

Damnoen Saduak floating market hats ThailandDamnoen Saduak floating market souvenir vendor ThailandDamnoen Saduak floating market vendor pulling Ratchaburi Thailand

Damnoen Saduak floating market saffron spices Ratchaburi Thailand
A lot of the stuff for sale are souvenirs and other Thailand memorabilia

Damnoen Saduak floating market vendors Ratchaburi Thailand

Damnoen Saduak floating market pork noodles Ratchaburi Thailand
No shortage of eateries as usual

Damnoen Saduak floating market Paew boat service Thailand

Thailand souvenirs for sale floating market Ratchaburi Thailand
And as usual, you can haggle for a much lower price than what they initially quote

Damnoen Saduak floating market morning rush ThailandDamnoen Saduak floating market restaurant Ratchaburi ThailandDamnoen Saduak floating market under bridge Thailand

Damnoen Saduak floating market handicrafts Thailand
Even under a bridge there was no shortage of hawkers

Damnoen Saduak floating market lights boat Thailand

Damnoen Saduak floating market insects bugs Thailand
From preserved animals…
Damnoen Saduak floating market snake Thailand
.. to even getting photographs with a massive snake. All available under the bridge.

Damnoen Saduak floating market hawker boats Thailand

Damnoen Saduak floating market coconut boat Thailand
Nicely shaven coconut 🙂

Damnoen Saduak floating market bags sculptures Thailand Damnoen Saduak floating market hawker boat ThailandDamnoensaduak floating market water canal Ratchaburi ThailandDamnoensaduak floating market tourist paddle boat Thailand

Damnoensaduak floating market fan hats hawker Thailand
After much pandering, I ended up buying two of these hats for my nieces. The hats can be folded into fans as well. Paid around ฿100 each.
Asian tourists floating market Thailand
Best advised to keep your hands inside at all time. The boats do ram into each other.
Damnoen Saduak floating market end Thailand
It was time to turn around and go back

Damnoensanduak floating market souvenirs sale Thailand

Damnoensanduak floating market boats jam Thailand
This is what a floating market traffic jam looks like

And this is what it sounds like 🙂

Damnoensanduak floating market Durian Thailand
Durian. Ugh.
Damnoensanduak floating market hats hawker Thailand
Yes, lots of hats

Damnoensanduak floating market handicrafts Ratchaburi ThailandAfter riding for around half an hour, we were dropped back on to the platform.

Damnoensaduak floating Thailand flag boat Ratchaburi
Continued taking photos on foot

Damnoensaduak floating market morning Ratchaburi Thailand Damnoensaduak floating market boat ride Ratchaburi ThailandDamnoensaduak floating market shops Ratchaburi ThailandDamnoensaduak floating market dog Ratchaburi ThailandDamnoensaduak floating market boats crossing Ratchaburi ThailandDamnoensaduak floating market fruits boat Ratchaburi ThailandDamnoensaduak floating market paddle boats fresh food Thailand

Damnoensaduak floating market tourists Ratchaburi Thailand
The floating market is one of those ‘must see’ places in Thailand
Damnoensaduak floating market massage chairs Thailand
Yes, you can get a massage just about anywhere in Thailand

Damnoensaduak floating market canal boats Ratchaburi ThailandDamnoensaduak floating market long boat Ratchaburi Thailand

Damnoensaduak floating market paddle boats parking Thailand
How paddle boats are ‘parked’
Damnoensaduak floating market smaller canal Thailand
I would have liked to have gone through there

Damnoensaduak floating market entrance king portrait Thailand

Damnoensaduak floating market food boat Ratchaburi Thailand
How heavy must the boats be to hold the weight of two gas cylinders?

I walked back to the designated meeting point for our tour group. It was time to leave, so we all got back to our respective vans.

I was under the impression the floating market tour was over and that we would be on our long drive back. But no, instead, the van took us to a nearby Elephant Village.

Now, I had been to an elephant camp in Chiang Mai back in 2009 so I knew what to expect and more importantly, why they bring tourists here as ‘part of the package’.

Floating market tour elephant ride village Thailand
It’s ฿600 for an elephant ride -_-
Elephant village ride tourists Thailand
I wasn’t interested
Elephant village forest history Thailand
Instead, I sat at the cafe and read up trivia

After waiting for nearly half an hour for the few from my tour group who wanted to go for the elephant ride, we finally got moving again. Next up, the Cobra Show.

Cobra Show entrance ticket counter Ratchaburi Thailand
Again, they only drop you here, you still had the option to pay and enter

Even though I had seen videos from the ‘most exciting show in the world,’ I did not want to wait outside in the heat again. So I paid the ฿30 or ฿50 it was for the ticket and went in.

Cobra Show arena Bangkok Thailand
The arena inside (Panorama comprised of 6 shots)

They start off with the announcer welcoming everyone and explaining in fairly understandable English that the purpose of the facility is to ‘educate’ visitors that snakes are not all that dangerous as people make them out to be.

Cobra show extracting snake venom Thailand
A badass-looking Thai staff member showing us how they extract snake’s venom

The also bring around snakes to you in case you want to take photos with one around your neck. And since I hate snakes…

Cobra show Mithun snake around neck Thailand
I thought I’d give it a try 🙂
Cobra show python snake showing tourists Thailand
They have all kinds of snakes, like huge pythons as well

The ‘exciting’ parts kick in when they demonstrate how the trained staff catch snakes. Which has to be seen in action:

The guy also caught three cobras, one by one, which was quite impressive.

The excitement continues when they bring out a snake’s worst enemy in the animal kingdom, the mongoose — and then make the two fight.

Cobra show mongoose snake fight Thailand
“Snake, meet mongoose”
Cobra show mongoose snake fight tourism Thailand
“Snake… meet mongoose!”
Cobra show mongoose fighting snake Thailand
“Snake… snake…snaaaaake!”*
Cobra show mongoose not fighting snake Thailand
Introductions over I guess

Here’s a video of the mongoose fight some more:

Thirty minutes of, erm, animal cruelty, the show was over. The staff went around seeking donations from the visitors, and I tipped ฿100 to the guy who caught the snakes with his bare hands, because that’s quite some skill.

Outside, there have a mini-zoo with a few reptilian creatures.

Mangrove snake cobra show ThailandCobra show crocodile Thailand

Cobra show python tourist neck photograph Thailand
If you want photos with much bigger snakes, you can take them here
Cobra show Thailand snake park Thailand
But I wanted to sit in the air-conditioned van as it was quite hot!

I asked our guide if the ‘tour’ was over, but he said there was one final stop. Ugh.

This was some handicrafts showroom where they specialize in wooden sculptures.

Thailand wood craftsman at work

Buddha statue wood carving Thailand
But I must say, quite impressive wood work (That sign seems a bit ironic btw)

Thai craftswoman handicraft carving Thailand

Teakwood amazing woodwork craftsman artist Thailand
Scratch that, some *very* impressive wood work!
Teakwood detailed amazing woodwork craftsman artist Thailand
Wonder how many weeks it takes for such stunning works of art
Wooden elephant sculpture handicrafts Thailand
They’re all for sale but it’s not like they’re easy to fit into a suitcase and take back with you

Needless to say, none of these wooden sculptures carved out of teak wood come cheap. Most of them were in the thousands of dollars (yes, dollars, not Thai baht)!

Thai wood handicrafts showroom Thailand
They have a showroom with some smaller pieces of wood work inside

After another half-an-hour spent here, we headed back into our vans. I was finally done with the ‘floating market’ tour. As touristy as the above sights may seem, I still feel a visit to the floating market is a ‘must-do’ in Thailand. Damnoen Suduak is the most popular floating market, thus the hordes of tourists. There are a few other floating markets across Thailand.

The journey back into the city took a lot longer for me as I was going to be the last one dropped. I eventually got down at MBK to have lunch… at KFC.

KFC seaweed flavour chicken Bangkok Thailand
Last year, KFC Thailand introduced a sweet ‘n’ spicy variant of their chicken, and it was my last meal before leaving. This year, KFC introduced a seaweed infused variant. It was alright, better than last year’s sweet ‘n’ spicy.

With my final meal in Thailand complete…

Siam Paragon Krispy Kreme line Bangkok Thailand
Oh for god’s sake Thai people, there’s NOTHING special about Krispy Kreme!

Anyway… I headed back to Thai House Inn to pack up and check out. I sat down for a bit before stepping out again, but this time, without my camera bag for a change. I wanted to give my shoulders a rest after the nearly two weeks I strained them. I walked further down from Nana BTS to see whether there were better sub-฿1000 accommodation available so that next time if I do choose to stay in the Sukhumvit area, I don’t have to stay to at Thai House Inn.

Hopefully, next time I’m in Bangkok, if I don’t have much shopping to do, I’ll stay in Khao San road.

At around 5:30pm, I took the BTS to Phaya Thai station. They had only recently opened the new skytrain link directly to Suvarnabhumi airport, saving passengers both time and money.

Phaya Thai airport line BTS station Bangkok metro
The Phaya Thai airport link station
Phaya Thai airport link to Suvarnabhumi BTS station Bangkok
And as an introductory offer, the ticket to Suvarnabhumi was a cheap ฿15! I paid nearly ฿500 last year for taxi!

The journey took  just 30 minutes. Clearly a better option for those with less luggage. I was early enough for my 9:20pm Thai Airways flight to Bangalore.

Suvarnabhumi airport metro BTS entrance Thailand
The entry into the airport from the BTS station is at the basement

Walking up to the departures section, I was quite stunned to see just about every Indian passenger heading back to Mumbai with a massive LCD/plasma TV in tow. It’s as though everybody knew how much to pay off the Mumbai customs officials upon arrival.

Quite ridiculous really, especially seeing many of them pleading with the check-in personnel not to impose excess baggage charges… because some of them were (unsurprisingly) way over the allowed limit!

Statue Thai art Suvarnabhumi airport ThailandAfter checking-in, I headed to the VAT (value added tax) refund office to declare my purchases and get my VAT refund forms stamped by the officials. Then came the rather long queue at immigration.

Thai sculpture Suvarnabhumi airport gates
Passport stamped, I was through

I checked out the Duty Free, bought two bottles of liquor that my friends requested (prices and selection are fairly good here) and then went to the VAT refund counter to get my cash refund. Submitted my form and got 7% of the total value of my purchases back in cash. I mentioned this last year and I’ll mention it again: for the VAT refund, one needs to shop at stores that participate in the VAT refund scheme for tourists. Upon purchase, you will get a VAT refund form from the store and it’s only upon showing that same form at the airport will you be eligible for a refund. You can’t simply show a bunch of store receipts and expect a cash refund (‘cos I’ve seen people do that).

Sitting at my gate, I had plenty of time for a flashback. Another trip to Thailand that didn’t feel ‘complete’. Had I successfully covered the big lantern release in Mae Jo, Chiang Mai, I would have scratched North Thailand off my list and only focused on South Thailand for my next visit.

I wasn’t even in the best of health the first week, which sucked. Still… all I can say is that I did the best I could and I hope my readers enjoyed this series.

So until Thailand 201_, it’s back to India for now! 🙂


Previous posts in this series:

Thailand 2010: Gurdwara Siri Guru Singh Sabha, Sampeng Market, JJ market (again)

Thailand 2010: Back to Bangkok — Chinatown, Patpong, Platinum Mall and Chatuchak Market

Thailand 2010: Pattaya — Beach road, Viewpoint, Jomtien Beach, Walking Street

Thailand 2010: Golden Triangle in Mae Sai; Chiang Rai’s White Temple (Wat Rong Khun)

Thailand 2010: Heading to Chiang Rai by bus, Wat Jedyod and Golden Clock Tower

Thailand 2010: Last day of Loi Krathong; Sunday Grand Parade (Day 4, Part 2)

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai Zoo (Day 4, Part 1)

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai Loi Krathong celebrations; first Grand Parade

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai cooking class; Loi Krathong celebrations in Mae Jo, Sansai

Thailand 2010: First day in Chiang Mai for Loi Krathong; driving up Doi Suthep

Thailand 2010: Arriving in Bangkok and preparing for Loi Krathong in Chiang Mai

 

*Metal Gear Solid referance

Langkawi Dayang Bunting Loiyumba jumping water

Malaysia 2010: Day 6 — Langkawi (Island hopping tour, Pantai Tengah beach, Night market)

Date: 30th September 2010

After a great first day in Langkawi, today morning we were up and ready for our island hopping tour.

Langkawi roti canai
For breakfast, I had ‘roti canai’ which is similar to Kerala parota, but fluffier. To drink, Milo, which is waaaay more popular in Malaysia than it is in India.

We were picked up by the tour operator at 8am and dropped off at a pier where other tourists were gathered as well.

Langkawi island hopping tour pier

Langkawi island hopping tour private speedboats
These were the kind of boats we were going to be driven around in
Langkawi island hopping cloud sunny skies
It was a lovely sunny day to be out on a boat trip
Langkawi island hopping tour boat steps
All the tourists were divided into groups and we got into our boat

Langkawi island hopping tour boat driver

Langkawi island hopping tour limestone rocks

Langkawi island hopping tour wave splash
Given my past experience going on a similar trip in Krabi, I was more careful this time in protecting my camera equipment

Langkawi island hopping tour speedboat wavesLangkawi island hopping limestone hills

Our first stop on the tour was to get a glimpse of the Pregnant Maiden Island, called so because it looks like a lady lying down with a pregnant tummy.

Langkawi island hopping tour Pregnant Maiden island
Took me a while to make out where the ‘pregnant maiden’ was
Langkawi island hopping Pregnant Maiden island panorama
This is a panorama comprised of 6 shots. See if you can find her. (Hint: Head is on the right)
Langkawi island hopping tour tourists speedboat
We moved on

Langkawi island hopping tour limestone cave

Langkawi Dayang Bunting Marble geoforest park arrival
Soon after, we arrived at our first major stop on the tour

Langkawi Dayang Bunting Marble Geoforest park boatsLangkawi island hopping tour boats parkedWe were at the Dayang Bunting Marble Geoforest Park, which is located inside the Island of the Pregnant Maiden.

Langkawi Dayang Bunting monkey at pier entrance
Our welcoming party. The monkeys, not the old guy.

Langkawi Dayang Bunting monkey scratching

Langkawi Dayang Bunting Marble Geoforest park monkey on tree
Needless to say, there were going to be a lot of monkeys here

Langkawi Dayang Bunting Marble Geoforest parkThe stop was for us to check out a lake inside.

Langkawi Pregnant Maiden island park monkey opening bottle
But I was more amused watching monkeys

Langkawi Dayang Bunting Marble Geoforest steps upLangkawi Dayang Bunting Marble Geoforest steps down

Langkawi Dayang Bunting Marble Geoforest lake
The lake inside is famous because despite being in an island located in the sea, the lake’s water isn’t as salty
Langkawi pregnant maiden island lake
You can also swim here
Langkawi Dayang Bunting Loiyumba jumping water
… or jump in, like Loi did
Langkawi pregnant maiden island lake paddle boats
There are also paddle boats for hire

They also have one of those “fish spas” here with small catfish ever ready to nibble away at your feet’s germs.

Langkawi Pregnant Maiden island lake tourists catfish spa
Plus it’s free
Langkawi pregnant maiden island lake catfish massage
The water is cool, but the nibbling at your feet can be ticklish… and slimy
Langkawi Pregnant Maiden island lake catfish spa
But when people throw bread crumbs near your feet…. it can get a *little* too much!
Langkawi pregnant maiden island lake swimming
We had nearly an hour to spend here
Langkawi Pregnant maiden island changing rooms
They have changing rooms for men and women here itself
Langkawi pregnant maiden island women's changing room
… but it kinda helps to know English

Langkawi pregnant maiden island lake sign45 minutes in, we made our way back to the pier

Langkawi geoforest park monkey by lakeLangkawi Geoforest park trees

Langkawi Geoforest park monkeys on stones
Like I said, lots of monkeys here

You have to be a bit careful though. Yes, they are more afraid of you than your are of the monkeys. But if they see anything enticing in your hands — like juice bottles or food packets — sometimes they will come at you and just grab it. Also, I saw some idiots throw things at them. Please don’t do that.

Langkawi geoforest park monkey coke bottle
2 seconds ago, that Coke bottle was in that old man’s hands. He didn’t fight for it back… because that would make human race look inferior.

Langkawi maiden island geoforest park pier

Langkawi geoforest park boats leaving
We got into our boats and moved on

Langkawi geoforest park islandsOur next stop was a short trip away.

Langkawi geoforest islands

Langkawi island hopping tour fish feeding farm
Next up was a fish feeding farm…
Langkawi island hopping tour fish feeding farm arriving
… which was also a restaurant. Hmmm.

The thing was, you had to pay to feed the fishes. This isn’t exactly included in the package.

Langkawi fish feeding farm baskets
But we didn’t go for it

Langkawi fish feeding farm payWe didn’t opt to feed the fishes because, 1)  all 3 of us weren’t interested 2) the concept of paying to feed fishes, fatten them up  and who then (possibly) end up on the restaurant menu didn’t sound right to me.

Langkawi fish feeding farm tourist
Boring huh?
Langkawi fish feeding farm teal water
Fortunately it was only a 30 minute stop, so I continued clicking

Langkawi boat Malaysia flagLangkawi sea small fish

Langkawi geoforest islands blue sky huge cloud
We moved on
Langkawi island hopping tour guide smoking
Our boat driver, smoking

We rode up to what looked like a mangrove forest, where we would witness an eagle feeding session.

Langkawi eagles grey sky
Langkawi gets its name from eagles. Malay word ‘lang’ = eagle, kawi = reddish brown colour
Langkawi island hopping tour eagle feeding mangrove
The island is inhabited with a lot of eagles of that colour

Langkawi island hopping tour bald eagleThe eagle feeding session works as such. The boats all float apart from each other and the drivers/guides throw some eagle feed (bread bits or some meat) into the waters, and the birds of prey come sweeping in with their beaks ready to eat.

Langkawi island hopping tour eagle glidingProblem was, I didn’t have the right lens for this part of the tour. The most zoom I had was with my Tamron 28-75mm f2.8, which as a macro lens is great, but isn’t much when it comes to photographing fast moving birds.

Langkawi island hopping tour eagle feeding

Here are a few shots Ramesh got using his Canon 55-250mm telephoto lens.

Langkawi white breast eagle Photograph by Ramesh
(Photograph by Ramesh Iyer)
Langkawi brown eagle Photograph by Ramesh
(Photograph by Ramesh Iyer)

After the eagle feeding session, we moved on to our next and final stop on this tour.

Langkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah island
Beras Basah island
Langkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah island sign
If you wanted to swim in the sea or just hang around on the beach, here is where you are allowed to do it
Langkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah island beach
We were all keen to hit the water!
Langkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah island swimming
But I didn’t feel like leaving my camera on the beach
Langkawi Beras Basah island sea level
So I took it with me into the water! But I trod very carefully so as not to get a drop of water on the lens.
Langkawi Beras Basah island Loiyumba coral reef
Loi and Ramesh found broken corals
Langkawi Beras Basah island Ramesh Loiyumba corals
So I asked them to make use of them and pretend to be reindeers!
Langkawi Beras Basah island Mithun corals
Because you know, reindeers in water are… ermm… 🙂
Langkawi island Loiyumba Davidoff ad
Couldn’t help but turn this into an ad 🙂
Langkawi Beras Basah island Mithun floating head
Attempting the ‘head floating in water’ shot
Langkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah island hotel
After some time, we made our way back to shore
Langkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah island overcast skies
Overcast skies in the distance

Langkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah island boat bouy

Langkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah private property
Not sure if this was a hotel or not
Langkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah island dock
After drying ourselves up, we headed back to the pier

Langkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah trees

Langkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah island monkeys
Monkeys inhabit this island too
Langkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah island monkey
Amazing how they survive on the island, considering there are no human residents here.

Langkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah island pierLangkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah island blue waterLangkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah island poles

Langkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah island forest
We left Beras Basah island

Langkawi island hopping tour islandsLangkawi island Malaysian fishing boatLangkawi island hopping tour long islandLangkawi island hopping tour Beras Basah island boat tripLangkawi island hopping long sea bridgeLangkawi island lighthouse pier

Langkawi island Malaysia yacht
We got a bit of rain as we neared the pier from where we set off in the morning
Langkawi island resort hotel
Pretty cool looking resort

The rain was mostly a drizzle once we got back. They were selling memorabilia plates of everybody who went for these boat trips and since they were only RM10,  we all picked up our respective plates.

This was a half-day island hopping tour and it only cost us RM30 (Rs. 450 approx.) per person. I’ve done a similar tour like this last year in South Thailand. Of course, that trip didn’t start of well, with my camera getting wet and all, but I doubt I’ll ever get sick of seeing clear blue water and less crowded beaches far away from civilization.

As we were walking to our vans, Ramesh and I were talking about visiting the Langkawi Underwater World, just when one of the Sri Lankans who was on our boat overheard us. He turned back and advised us against it, saying that the Aquaria KLCC in Kuala Lumpur is “much better”.  So we decided to take his word for it and dropped the idea of going to Langkawi Underwater World.

The tour company dropped us back to our hotel.

Langkawi Sweet Inn Motel chairs lobby
The lobby downstairs at Sweet Inn Motel
Langkawi motel cat licking
One of the many cats that visit Sweet Inn
Langkawi Pantai Cenang village
It had just finished raining

Langkawi village house jeepWe stepped out again, this time for lunch.

Langkawi Skol beer Chang beer
We stopped by a restaurant to quench our throats first with some chilled beer. I tried SKOL which I never had before. It was average in taste.

Unfortunately, looking at the menu, it offered very little in terms of vegetarian for Ramesh. So after beer, we sought some other restaurant.

Langkawi Pantai Cenang lane
So we went further down Pantai Cenang road to check out other restaurants
Langkawi Underwater World Malaysia
This is Underwater World Langkawi
Langkawi restaurant soda pop iced tea
We sat down at a restaurant in front of Underwater World after Ramesh found something he could eat
Langkawi Malaysian chicken curry rice
But the food wasn’t particularly good. I didn’t like my chicken curry rice.

Post lunch, we checked out some Duty Free stores. Langkawi is a Duty Free shopping destination, so one would assume you would find some great bargains. But as we hopped from one shop to another, that wasn’t the case. Especially with electronics. We walked into the Canon store at a mall adjacent to Underwater World and found the prices to be far higher than that of Singapore. We were aware Malaysia isn’t as cheap as Singapore when it comes to electronics, but still, the prices we came across were a bit exorbitant. Some even higher than prices back in India.

I feel Langkawi businesses were taking advantage of the “Duty Free” label and jacking up the prices because you never know, some less-informed tourist would buy into the whole gimmick and assume they got a good deal here.

At this point, Ramesh and Loiyumba wanted to head back to our hotel in Langkawi for some rest. This being our last day on Langkawi, I didn’t feel like resting, so I told them I wanted to roam around a bit more.

I was contemplating heading to Kuah, Langkawi’s main town, just to see what that side of the island had to offer. But since we had already walked quite a bit, I decided to head further on and visit Pantai Tengah beach. In the process, also share some more beachfront hotel options on Pantai Cenang in case you wanted to know where to stay (I highlighted some places in the previous post).

Langkapuri Inn hotel Langkawi
Langkapuri Inn to the left; the yellow building is a BBQ restaurant
Sugary Sands Motel Langkawi
Sugary Sands Motel
Tanjung Malie Beach Motel Langkawi Malaysia
Tanjung Malie Beach Motel
Green Hill Beach motel Mali Perdana Resort Langkawi
Green Hill Beach motel is the one with the green sign
Sunset Beach Resort Langkawi Malaysia
Sunset Beach Resort (http://www.sungroup-langkawi.com/sunset/)
The Cabin Langkawi budget hotel
The Cabin Langkawi (http://www.thecabin.com.my/)
Aseania Resort Langkawi Malaysia
Aseania Resort, not on the beach though (http://www.aseanialangkawi.com/index.html)

Langkawi road to Pantai Tengah

Langkawi Durian fruit melons stall
Durian (similar to Jackfruit), is the national fruit of Malaysia (I think)

Chiew Turkish restaurant Pantai Tengah beach

Langkawi way to Pantai Tengah beach
Head straight down this road to get to Pantai Tengah beach

Langkawi The Lighthouse restaurant Pantai Tengah

Langkawi Pantai Tengah beach Malaysia
This is Pantai Tengah beach
Langkawi Pantai Tengah beach grey skies
It isn’t as big as Pantai Cenang… and the sand isn’t as soft either
Langkawi Pantai Tengah beach sand Malaysia
In fact, the sand was mostly broken shells. Not the best for walking barefoot then.
Langkawi Pantai Tengah beach shore rain
At this point, it began to rain
Langkawi Pantai Tengah field
Fortunately, I had my umbrella in my backpack. So I walked back instead of taking cover.
Langkawi Sri Kijang Bank Negara resort
This nice looking resort isn’t open to public
Langkawi Sri Kijang Bank Negara resort Pantai Cenang
Upon research, it belongs to a bank and is meant only for its employees. Posh.
Debbie's Place Irish pub bar in Langkawi
Debbie’s Place Irish pub on Pantai Cenang

Breakfast Bar Langkawi world directions

Langkawi Sweet Inn Shida Laundrette
There’s a laundry shop very close to Sweet Inn, very reasonable rates for service

I went back to the room to drop off my laundry, and to see what the other two were up to. Ramesh and Loi were taking a nap and so, I decided to step out again.

Way to Rasa Eksotika The Palms guesthouse Langkawi
I wanted to explore the area behind the motel

Langkawi timber wooden village house MalaysiaLangkawi Pantai Cenang village house for rent

Langkawi Pantai Cenang house lodges
Some of the houses here have been turned into budget accommodation for tourists. Good income for villagers.

Langkawi Pantai Cenang village house carsLangkawi Pantai Cenang cows grazing farmLangkawi water buffalo field MalaysiaLangkawi field wooden picket fenceLangkawi Pantai Cenang field flowers

Langkawi village field water buffalo
Apparently all water buffaloes do is stare at you

Langkawi village home MalaysiaLangkawi village life Malaysia

Langkawi Pantai Cenang Malay house
I had reached a main road at this point

Langkawi Malaysia village life moped family

Langkawi weekend market fish Malaysia
I saw this market by the main road…
Langkawi weekend market Nasi Beriani Malaysia
… and since there was a lot of food on display, I had to check it out!
Langkawi weekend market fish balls Malaysia
I forget if these were fish balls or cheese balls… or fish balls with cheese powder coating
Langkawi weekend market Apom Balek Malaysia
Apom Balek, sweet stuff. I sampled a few of these. (‘apom’ sounds like India’s “appam”)

Langkawi weekend market barbecued fish Malaysia

Langkawi weekend market Nasi Beriani price Malaysia
‘Nasi’ is Malay for rice and ‘Beriani’ is well, biriyani (RM 3.50 = Rs. 50)
Langkawi weekend market van vendors
Seemed like this was some sort of weekend market, not a mainstay

Langkawi weekend market hawker tentsLangkawi weekend market fish vendor Malaysia

Langkawi weekend market sotong kangkung Malaysia
Guess I knew where to bring Loi for dinner

Langkawi weekend market fruit stall Malaysia

Langkawi weekend market fruit stalls Malaysia
Lots of fresh fruits and vegetables on offer

Langkawi weekend market vegetables Malaysia

Langkawi weekend market dried fish
Dried fish… lots of it!
Langkawi weekend market cempedak goreng Malaysia
‘Cempedak’ is a type of fruit, ‘goreng’ I’m guessing means fried
Langkawi weekend market lychee Malaysia
Not sure what these were
Langkawi weekend market juices Malaysia
All these colourful juices made me thirsty
Langkawi weekend market corn juice Malaysia
So I had corn milk juice. Weird choice, I know. But I didn’t come all the way here to strawberry milkshake.

Langkawi weekend market chicken vendor Malaysia

Langkawi road cow sign

Langkawi economic rooms village
You got budget accommodation out here as well

Langkawi road tourist cyclists

After spending some time at the market, I knew I was coming back here for dinner. Great street food at very low prices — who am I to complain? I headed back to let the other two know about my ‘discovery’.

Langkawi village road Honda AccordLangkawi village wooden fence shadowsLangkawi village boy girl cycleLangkawi village cat three headLangkawi village mosque MalaysiaOnce I got back to the room at around 6pm, Loi was still napping. So we forced him to get out of bed and get ready. We set out by 7:30pm.

Langkawi Palms guesthouse at night
It was pitch dark and there weren’t any street lights on this route

Langkawi village night market

Langkawi street market orange susu air kelapa
‘Susu’ is the Malay for milk (yup); ‘kelapa’ means coconut and ‘air’ is water (seriously)
Langkawi street food spring potato
Wondering what this is?
Langkawi night market spring potato
It’s potato
Langkawi night market putu mayong
Keralites, looks familiar?
Langkawi Malay street food putu sign
Puttu! Albeit, a slight variation
Langkawi street food making putu
This is how they make lots of it
Langkawi street market fried fish
This is fish apparently
Langkawi street market pizza vendor
I ordered a seafood mini-pizza from here
Langkawi night market seafood pizza
Mostly crab meat and prawns; RM 5 (Rs. 75) for one

Langkawi night market toys tourist

Langkawi street food fried rice noodles
A lot of the food was already sold out
Langkawi night market boiled meat
You take the basket and tongs, pick up whatever you want and you will be charged accordingly
Langkawi street food Loiyumba boiled meat
After you choose, you cook it in boiling water
Langkawi street food baby octopus
… even stuff like this (Yuck)

Langkawi night market fruits

Langkawi street food spring rolls samosas
Picked up some chicken samosas and vegetable spring rolls (RM 2 = Rs. 30)
Langkawi street food fried chicken bbq
Was tempted to get some fried chicken too but I didn’t want overeat 🙂
Langkawi street food burgers
Picked up a beef burger as well. ‘Daging’ = beef, ‘ayam’ = chicken, ‘benjo’ = egg (RM1 = Rs. 15)

Langkawi street food popia fried meat

Langkawi weekend market stalls
The night market was a lot more crowded than earlier

Unfortunately, everybody except Ramesh got what we wanted. There was very little in terms of pure vegetarian on offer at the night market. So we headed back to the main road so that Ramesh could pick up his dinner from a proper restaurant.

Langkawi night market lightsLangkawi Pantai Cenang village house at nightLangkawi Pantai Cenang village house lights reflectionLangkawi village road nightLangkawi Pantai Cenang open air restaurantLangkawi Pantai Cenang taxi at nightSince this was our last night in Langkawi, we hit the beach to the feel wet sand on our feet one last time.

Langkawi Pantai Cenang beach nightlife

Langkawi Pantai Cenang beach at nightLangkawi Pantai Cenang Babylon bar night fireLangkawi Babylon beach bar at nightLangkawi Pantai Cenang Resthouse night lights

Langkawi Pantai Cenang Rasa restaurant
This is the restaurant from where we had lunch yesterday and breakfast today morning

Langkawi Pantai Cenang Thai SpaLangkawi Pantai Cenang Palm View seafood restaurantAfter checking out a few restaurants, Ramesh ended up picking up a vegetarian pizza from Italian coffee chain illy Cafe, which cost as much as all the food myself and Loi picked up from the night market.

Langkawi Pantai Cenang illy cafe

Langkawi stray cat Loiyumba petting
While we waited, Loi petted stray kittens
Langkawi Pantai Cenang Mithun Divakaran
As it is this post has over 200 photos, might as well squeeze in one of me. (Photograph by Ramesh)
Langkawi stray cat fight scar injury
Wonder what animal this cat fought with
Langkawi Sweet Inn Zee Cinema
Back at our motel, this guy was hooked on Hindi movies
Langkawi hotel dinner street food beers
Dinner! 🙂

And just when you thought we had seen enough cats for one day…

Langkawi Sweet Inn cat eating
This came to our door. We had to share our food with it too.
Langkawi Sweet Inn cat Loiyumba
We kept referring to the cat as ‘it’. So, Loi felt the need to check. It was a ‘she’.

Dinner and drinks done, I ended the night satisfied with all that I saw today. Actually, I did want to head to Kuah town after we came back from our island hopping tour. But given that it ended up raining in the afternoon, it’s a good thing I stayed put in Pantai Cenang.

With 208 photos and over 2000 words, this is the largest post I’ve worked on. There were still some more photos I felt like using because they looked good, but in the end decided not to.

It was good day today, but tomorrow onwards, it’s four days in Malaysia’s capital — Kuala Lumpur.


Other posts in this series:

Singapore & Malaysia 2010: Planning and preparing for the trip

Singapore 2010: Day 1 – Little India, CBD, Clarke Quay, China Town… and a lot of walking

Singapore 2010: Day 2 – Orchard Road, mall-hopping… and already shopping

Singapore 2010: Day 3 – Singapore Zoo, Marina Bay Sands; leaving Singapore for Penang

Malaysia 2010: Day 5 — Langkawi (Ferry ride from Penang, Cable car & Sky Bridge)

Malaysia 2010: Day 7 — Kuala Lumpur (Low Yat Plaza, Petronas Towers, Jalan Alor)

Malaysia 2010: Day 8 — Kuala Lumpur (Batu Caves, Petaling Street/China Town)

Malaysia 2010: Day 9 — Kuala Lumpur (KLCC Aquaria, Merdeka Square, KL Tower observation deck)

Malaysia 2010: Leaving Kuala Lumpur… and about going back

Unseen Malaysia | 41 Bucket-list-worthy Destinations. View the interactive version here

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