Tag: <span>ocean</span>

Date: 29th September 2010

After a rather disappointing day in Penang yesterday, we woke up early today to set off on our next island destination: Langkawi.

After a rushed breakfast, we hired a taxi and headed to the terminal to board our ferry to Langkawi. We bought our tickets yesterday itself, and its advisable to do so; our boat was full.

Inside ferry from Penang to Langkawi — It’s air-conditioned inside and there’s a “first class” upstairs as well

Inside ferry from Penang to Langkawi Loiyumba peace sign — The ferry leaves at 8:15am every morning

Penang to Langkawi ferry window — Soon after the ferry set off, we decided to get up from our seats and go ‘upstairs’…

Penang to Langkawi ferry ride mushroom cloud — … and then outside. The mushroom cloud from yesterday was still there.

Leaving Penang island ferry ride — Goodbye Penang, until next time

Penang to Langkawi ferry clear sky — On one side it was clear sunny skies…

Penang to Langkawi waters clouds panorama — …on the other, dark clouds with some pockets of rain

Malacca Strait rain showers clouds panorama — In this wide panorama shot, you can see the pockets receiving rainfall in the distance

Malacca strait sea big cloud formation — There were some lovely cloud formations along the way

Malacca Strait ferry trail — The fumes are coming from the ferry

Penang to Langkawi ferry ride Loiyumba sleeping — With a cool breeze, calm waters, and sunshine…

Penang to Langkawi ferry ride Loiyumba bench — … it’s perfect for a nap

Malacca Strait Langkawi waters concentrated rain — It was cool to see rainfall like this

Langkawi ferry ride Mithun AOL Google tshirts — I wasn’t the only one on board donning our company t-shirts (Photograph by Loiyumba)

Reaching Langkawi by ferry boat — By 10:30am, we were nearing Langkawi

Malacca Strait buoy Langkawi — The water was getting clearer

Malacca Strait Langkawi ship — At this point, we were asked to go back to our seats

Langkawi ferry boat docked at terminal — This was our ferry (Taken using my phone camera)

Welcome to Langkawi ferry terminal — Hello Langkawi! (Taken on the Nokia E72)

Langkawi ferry terminal pier — (Taken on the Nokia E72)

Langkawi ferry terminal restaurant — (Taken on the Nokia E72)

Langkawi ferry terminal yachts marina — Plenty of yachts out here (Taken on the Nokia E72)

We hired a taxi to get to our hotel, which was on Pantai Cenang beach. (Cost us RM24)

Taxi Proton Langkawi ferry terminal — There is a pre-paid taxi booth outside the terminal

Langkawi Kuah town road — The main town in Langkawi is Kuah (Photograph by Loiyumba)

By the way, if you wondering where the iconic symbol of Langkawi (the eagle statue) is, you can find it near a park very close to the ferry terminal. We passed it while driving out of the terminal but didn’t bother stopping to take photos… as there isn’t much to it.

Langkawi taxi ride from Kuah to Pantai Cenang — The drive takes around half an hour

Langkawi islands driving by — We were quite happy to see all this

Langkawi Pantai Cenang road — By 11:30 we were at Pantai Cenang

We could see a sign on the main road pointing to Sweet Inn Motel, the place where we had reservations. Problem is, the sign was pointing to the left side, into the mainland and not to the right, where the beach was.

Sweet Inn motel Langkawi Pantai Cenang rooms — We were a *bit* disappointed upon seeing the place

Sweet Inn Motel Langkawi owner's house — This I’m guessing is the motel owner’s house (Photograph by Loiyumba)

When we made the booking via Agoda.com in August, the description read “on Pantai Cenang beach,” and though it is only a 2 minute walk away from the beach, it’s not a sea facing hotel. Oh well, at least it was cheap. Our triple room cost us Rs. 2360 ($52/€37) for two nights — that’s under Rs. 800 per person for 2 nights!

The rooms were also quite decent. The triple room was one double bed and a single bed, a TV with mostly local channels, wardrobe and a clean enough toilet with hot shower.

We couldn’t check in yet because our rooms weren’t cleaned and kept ready. So instead, we dumped our bags in the office room and hit the beach.

Babylon lounge bar Pantai Cenang Langkawi — Is there any beach on the planet that doesn’t have a Jamaica-themed bar?

Langkawi Pantai Cenang beach panorama — Langkawi’s most popular beach — Pantai Cenang beach (panorama comprised of 15 shots)

We couldn’t hand around for too long at the beach. We needed to convert currency as we were running short of Malaysian Ringgits. Loi wanted to sit at the bar, so myself & Ramesh headed back to the main road in search of a money exchange.

Palace of India Malibest resort Pantai Cenang Langkawi — There are a few Indian restaurants here

The resort you see above is Malibest Resort, and it’s by the beach.

AB Motel Pantai Cenag Langkawi Malaysia — So is this place

AB Motel Pantai Cenag Langkawi bike rentals — Just about every hotel has bikes for rent

Langgura Baron resort Pantai Cenang Langkawi — Langgura Baron resort is more ‘motel’ than ‘resort’. Reasonable rates & by the sea.

When we first came across a money exchange center, they were closed for lunch. We had to walk quite a bit before we came across one that was open. There really weren’t that many money exchange centers on Pantai Cenang road. Not as ubiquitous as I noticed in Thailand. My advice is to convert money either prior to landing in Langkawi or outside the ferry terminal if you come by boat.

Money in hand, we headed back to the beach.

Pantai Cenang beach Indians Arabs Langkawi — Judging by the flags, Indians and Arabs form a large chunk of the tourists in Langkawi

Villa Idaman Pantai Cenang Langkawi — Villa Idaman Motel, I couldn’t find their official site so you’ll just have to Google for more info

Pantai Cenang beach Langkawi sand — Despite being Langkawi’s most popular beach, it wasn’t very crowded

Air Asia Langkawi flight in sky — Air Asia has plenty of daily flights to Langkawi

Langkawi Pantai Cenang beach hotel — Not sure if this hotel was open yet

Melati Tanjung Motel Pantai Cenang Langkawi — Melati Tanjung Motel, this another budget sea-facing option

AB Motel Pantai Cenag Langkawi watersports — The usual watersports are on offer

Langkawi Pantai Cenang beach sand art — Lovely ‘sand art’ by beach snails (I presume)…

Langkawi Pantai Cenang beach snail sand formations — … and the shore line had lots of them!

Langkawi Pantai Cenang beach dead jellyfish — A dead jellyfish. Felt like poking it with my fingers… but didn’t.

Babylon beach shack bar Pantai Cenang Langkawi — Inside Babylon bar

After having a beer to cool ourselves, we went back to Sweet Inn to check in to our rooms.

Langkawi Pantai Cenang village split road — Take the left road to get to Sweet Inn motel

After we checked in, we freshened up and then stepped out again for lunch.

Nasi Lemak lunch Pantai Cenang Langkawi — I had Nasi Lemak, pretty much the Malay-equivalent to India’s ‘meals’

Considered to be the national dish of Malaysia, Nasi Lemak consists of some rice, roasted peanuts, papadam bits, small dried anchovies, boiled egg and and sambal, a spicy sauce (in the above photo, it’s the red one with calamari in it). The meal is filling and is usually very reasonably priced.

Nasi Goreng veg egg noodle soup Malay dishes — Ramesh had the one on the left; Loi had the one on the right

After lunch, instead of taking a nap, we decided to rent bikes and head to the Langkawi Sky Bridge while the sun was still up.

We rented 2 scooters at RM22 (Rs. 325/$7/€5) each for 24hrs.

Modena scooters bike rent Pantai Cenang Langkawi — The bikes that were the most common were Modenas. This model is called the Karisma.

The rental shop made a note of all the pre-existing scratches and damages before handing it over to us.

It’s best you inspect the bike as carefully as possible, so that they cannot point at any scratch or damage on the bike claiming you did that when you return it.

Helmets on, we set off. Ramesh rode solo while I rode with Loi sitting behind me.

Riding bikes Langkawi helmets — Photograph by Loiyumba

Langkawi road trip with bikes — Photograph by Loiyumba

Langkawi mosque — Photograph by Loiyumba

Langkawi petrol station — We stopped to fuel up. Filled up petrol for RM8 (Rs. 118). (These are self service stations by the way)

Riding through Langkawi road trip — Quite a scenic drive

Bike road trip Langkawi Loiyumba clicking — … and it kept getting better

Langkawi airfield plane landing — This is one end of the Langkawi International Airport runway

Pantai Cenang to Langkawi cable car sky bridge route map — This is the route we took. ‘B’ is Pantai Cenang beach and ‘A’ is the Langkawi Sky Bridge.

Stopping at Langkawi airfield — We had to stop to take a few photos. (Yes, I was aware of how big the helmet was on my head)

Langkawi bridge panorama — Panorama comprised of 3 shots

Langkawi airfield fishing by the sea — He’s fishing… not anything else

Langkawi scooter ride Mithun Ramesh — We moved ahead and then stopped again. I don’t remember why though.

Langkawi bike ride Ramesh — Ramesh ridin’ solo

We stopped here on the bridge to take a few photos.

We moved on.

Way to Langkawi cable car fruit stall — You reach a T-junction, from where you’ll see this fruit stall. Take the right.

Then, up ahead is a signal. From the signal, you have to take a left turn.

Langkawi yacht club marina — You’ll pass the Langkawi Yacht Club

Langkawi Yacht Club boat — The road to the sky bridge goes all around the marina

After setting off at 2pm, by 4pm we were at the Langkawi Geopark. It’s not that the journey takes that long, we just stopped on the way quite a bit.

Langkawi Cable Car parking lot — There’s ample parking available for cars & bikes

Langkawi Cable Car Oriental Village — There are stores and restaurants below

Langkawi Cable Car entrance — You buy the tickets from here

Langkawi Cable Car pods — Tickets cost RM30 per adult (Rs. 440/$10/€7)

Langkawi Geological Park waterfall — There are few mini-waterfalls here

Langkawi cable car first stop station — This is the first station, there’s another leg to the trip to the top

Langkawi view from cable car — The view is amazing even at half-way point

Langkawi cable car sky bridge — That’s the sky bridge

Langkawi Geological Park forest trees panorama — Panorama comprised of 10 vertical shots

We got into the cable car and continued up.

Langkawi sky bridge Malaysia — Great design

Langkawi Geological Park steps to sky bridge — Once you get to the second platform, you have to take these steps to get down to the sky bridge

Langkawi Geological Park 652 meter above-sea level — That’s how high the sky bridge is above sea level

Langkawi sky bridge platform gap — By the way, there are gaps in between the platform you walk on

Apparently the final scene of the Hindi film Don (starring Shah Rukh Khan) was filmed on the sky bridge. I didn’t see the film, but that’s what Ramesh & Loi said.

Langkawi sky bridge under platform — There were steps leading under the platform. Being curious, I took it.

Langkawi geological park trekking path steps — Apparently you can trek all the way down too. But you need prior permission.

Langkawi geological park trekking path tree — Walked a few steps down and saw this. So went back up again.

Langkawi geological park second highest observation deck — That’s the second highest observation deck

Langkawi Yacht Club marina from sky bridge — That’s the marina of the Langkawi Yacht Club

Langkawi cable car observation deck closed — This observation deck was closed for maintenance

Langkawi cable car 705 meter above sea level — So we went to the other observation deck

Langkawi cable car observation deck Mithun Loiyumba — Me showing Loi where we were staying (Photograph by Ramesh)

Langkawi Pantai Cenang view from observation deck — The first wing of the beach you see in the distance is Pantai Cenang. The one further up is Pantai Tengah.

If you want a video of the sky bridge, watch this HD capture by Ramesh:

The sun was setting, so we decided to head back down.

Ramesh took video of our journey back down:

(You can view it in HD for better clarity)

Langkawi Geopark Temurun waterfall — Temurun waterfall

Once down, we checked out the Oriental Village.

The Oriental Village mostly comprises of shops, restaurants and other services like massage spas. We were a bit hungry so we sat in a cafe to have something to eat.

Roselle flower juice beef burger Langkawi Geopark restaurant — This is what I had: Roselle flower juice (L) & beef burger (R)

It was was past 6pm, which is also closing time for the cable car ride. We wanted to make the most of whatever sunlight was available while heading back. So we set off…

Langkawi near Yacht Club — …buuut we ended up stopping again near the Langkawi Yacht Club

Langkawi Yacht Club lighthouse sunset purple sky — A beautiful evening to close out a lovely first day in Langkawi

Langkawi Petronas station near yacht club — There’s a Petronas gas station near the yacht club

Mithun Loiyumba bike waiting — Yes, me and my big helmet (Photograph by Ramesh)

As darkness fell, we still managed to get back to Pantai Cenang beach road in around 45 minutes. Instead of heading back to our rooms, we decided to make the most of the bikes while we had them. We drove straight, on to Pantai Tengah beach and past it as well, until we hit a dead end which looked like another docking bay for boats.

So we made our way back and decided to return the bikes tonight itself.

Langkawi Pantai Cenang T-shoppe bike rentals — This is the place where we rented our bikes from

The reason why we returned them is because the next morning we had booked ourselves for an island-hopping tour which would last until afternoon. So by the time we would have gotten back to our rooms, it would have been past the 24-hour limit.

Orkid Rea seafood restaurant Pantai Cenang Langkawi — For our early dinner, we went to this restaurant which had a sizable crowd

Orkid Rea seafood restaurant interior Pantai Cenang Langkawi — It’s lovely place and isn’t that expensive

Orkid Rea seafood restaurant lobster tiger prawns Langkawi — Yum

Orkid Rea seafood restaurant mud crab Langkawi — Hmmm…

Orkid Rea seafood restaurant mantis prawn Langkawi — Errrr…

(I kinda wanted to try it though)

Chinese butter prawns dinner Langkawi — But Loi & I ended up ordering this interesting looking butter pan-fried tiger prawns

We had a large plate of fries, some beers, and some pasta; all of which came to around RM44 (Rs. 650).

Kit Kat cone ice cream Malaysia — For dessert, and in my quest to try out new things, I had Kit Kat ice cream. It was okay.

With that, day one in Langkawi came to a close! We had woken up early in Penang today morning and tomorrow, we had to wake up early again for our pick up for the island-hopping tour.

So an early good night in Langkawi it was.

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 6 — Langkawi (Island hopping tour, Pantai Tengah beach, Night market)

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

Continuing with my past travelogues, this is the first of two posts on my road trips to the Union Territory of Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu (Wikipedia link, do read if not familiar with Pondicherry). As I mentioned earlier, I may not be able recount every name or for that matter, everything since, well…. it’s been a while!

Date: 26-27th August, 2005

Two cars. Nine of us. Independence Day weekend.

We set off early morning from Bangalore city and headed down Hosur Road, past Electronic City, for the Tamil Nadu border. The highways (once you enter Tamil Nadu) are remarkably better than Karnataka’s roads but this being India, they don’t stay good for long. You have to get off the main highway off to a smaller road that leads to Puducherry.

Pondicherry highway — You pass through a lot of villages and small towns

The route we took passes through Krishnagiri – Thirvanamalai – Gingee and was expected to take us 6 hours.

Temple Tamil Nadu — A temple at Thirvanamalai

We reached Thirvanamalai at around 7:30am and stopped here for breakfast. It was at a local restaurant/mess so I don’t remember the name — but you’d be hard-pressed to find a bad idli–dosa joint in Tamil Nadu.

By noon, we were in Pondicherry. The (Government run) hotel we stayed at was just after the Pondicherry entrance checkpoint, to the right. It wasn’t much of a place (especially the restaurant) but I do remember the rooms our friend booked were the “suites”. They were big, had A/Cs and looked like a suite… by 1980s India standards. But hey, it was cheap. Around Rs. 600 or so. (Mind you, this was off-season 2005).

We freshened up, had lunch and headed straight to Beach Road.

Pondicherry Beach road — Pondicherry Beach Road

Pondicherry beach — That small stretch of sand you see is all the "beach" you will get in Pondicherry city

Pondicherry Beach road bench — It was very sunny (& hot) in Pondicherry

Most, if not all, of what you’ll want to see in Pondicherry is in and around Beach Road and the “rues” (‘rue’ = ‘street’ in French) behind it. The old French colonial buildings, the Aurobindo Ashram and the big churches are all within walkable reach from here.

Pondicherry elephant — This was at a temple near the Aurobindo Ashram

Pondicherry building night street lamp — The best my point-&-click camera could do at night

After some shopping and dinner, we called it an early night. The plan was to wake up early (funny how it always is on my trips) and head to Beach Road to watch the sunrise.

Which we did.

Pondicherry fishermen — Fishermen heading out to work

Pondicherry Gandhi statue — The Mahatma Gandhi statue on Beach Road

Pondicherry old lighthouse French War Memorial — Left: The old lighthouse; Right: French War Memorial

After breakfast, it was church-hopping. First up, the Eglise de Notre Dame de la Conception Immaculee (The Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception) on Cathedral Street.

Next, Sacred Heart Church on the south boulevard.

Pondicherry Sacred Heart church — 'L'Eglise de Sacre Coeur de Jesus'

Pondicherry Eglise de Sacre Coeur de Jesus — 'Le white pedophile' preying on local children

Okay I kid. Maybe the kids were from out of town. 🙂

The Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is famous for its glass paintings depicting events from the life of Jesus Christ.

Then, we walked to the Eglise de Notre Dame des Anges (The Church of Our Lady of Angels).

Pondicherry Alok Ranjith Sumeet — L - R: Pale face, Grumpy & PJ

Pondicherry statue — Back: The pier; Front: Some famous dude

After grabbing some ice-cream, we took advantage of the lower cost of fuel in Pondicherry and headed back to our rooms to check out. We left Puducherry by noon and decided to head back Bangalore.

Word of advice: Be careful about buying liquor in Pondicherry (as with fuel, liquor is cheaper too) and taking it out of town, there are multiple police inspection points you will have to stop at.

We took the same route back and only stopped on the way to have lunch. Lord knows where it was that we stopped but it was terrible. Best to have lunch at Pondicherry itself and then leave as the options are very slim on the journey back.

Gingee fort, Villupuram — Gingee Fort in Villupuram

I really found Gingee Fort interesting and told myself I wanted to check it out the next time I was around these parts.

Pondicherry Bangalore highway — It rained on the way back

Not that it hindered our journey. It was still a lovely drive and that is one thing about heading to Pondicherry from Bangalore (or even Chennai) — it’s one of the best daytime drives you’ll have in South India.

Camera used: Canon Powershot A95; post processing done in Photoshop CS3, especially the blues which were cyan heavy

A small video from this trip:

ocean

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

Photos from my first trip to Pondicherry

mithunonthenet