Monday 16th

Eventually arrive in Langkawi after our flight was delayed by about an hour and a half. We catch a taxi to our hotel (Kunang Kunang Heritage Villas) which is lovely. Dump bags and finally get some food at the hotel restaurant (fasting since yesterday), very lovely. We chill out by the pool which is amazing floating pool amidst a Lilly pond. Then we get ready and hop on our scooter and head to Temple Tree which was a place we stayed at 6 years ago, they’ve changed ownership and installed a very shishy bar. We get there just in time before happy hour closes and promptly order some cocktails. We decide to stay and eat and it’s delicious, fish curry and grilled seabass, it was all a bit too spicy for one of us!

Tuesday 17th

Slept well but very aware of noises in the night as our villa borders the jungle and the reservoir so plenty of animal sounds which I don’t mind at all. Breakfast was lovely. Weather is nice this morning so we relax by the pool, I’m listening to an audiobook so that keeps me amused… then we try and decide where we fancy heading next and work out our logistics to move from here to Koh Libong but we still have a few days here.

Popped back to Temple Tree for Happy Hour (rude not too!) and then off on the scooter onto the night market… where we sampled a number of local delicacies. I mistakenly purchased chicken claw salad thinking it was seaweed and mushroom salad… I nearly vomited on the spot… needless to say upon realising my mistake it went straight in the bin. We tried some satay, some noodles, a weird roti sandwich and finally tracked down some mango with sticky rice… all for the princely sum of around £4.

Wednesday 18th

Move to a different hotel (Kangkawi Chantique) which is closer to Chennai Beach, hotel is vety clean, bright and staff are lovely. It’s very much walking distance to the main town and beach. Head down to dine in the beach (Penglai Grill) ok, not overly memorable.

Thursday 19th

Can’t believe we’re so close to Christmas and in the sunshine…we’re both feeling much better which is great so the sunshine has helped at last! We cycle into town and dump the bikes and wander around the streets and beach. Neither of us is bothered about staying on the beach, it’s soooo touristy and they have very poisonous jelly fish in the water right now so I’m not bothered about sea swimming! I don’t think I’d come back to Langkawi (this is our 2nd visit) but if you want a lively, busy place this might be for you but I’ve decided I prefer the opposite! We cycle back to our place and spend a few hours by the pool, reading and swimming, the water in the pool is perfect. I leave J there and head off for a yoga session. We then walk to collect laundry and then onto Temple Tree for dinner, although there’s a perfectly good night market where we could get dinner for a fraction of the price… we decide to opt for the more civilised option 😘 Had a gorgeous fish curry (really spicy which I loved!). We also bumped into a chap called Mike Scouse in Temple Tree, turns out Mike’s a super yacht captain (I won’t name drop his client) so we swapped stories for most of the night and we’re now going to meet Mike next May in Genoa! Small but crazy world…

Friday 20th

We’re on the move again, this time not by plane thankfully, catching the ferry to Koh Lipa, where we plan to spend Christmas… so hope it’s not too early to say Happy Christmas to everyone!