Vanilla Coke, Langkawi (Malaysia)

The island of Langkawi (the archipelago is 99 islands) is beautiful, it has long blonde beaches, lots of forest, duty free shopping and magical legends that explain its geography. As it is school holidays, total silly season, it is a complete mix of all eastern nationalities and religions- there are muslim woman with colourful headscarves and full length skirts and blouses, chinese ladies in mini skirts and tank tops, and hindu woman in saris with their red forehead dots.

It is quite a large island but we were staying in Cenang which is on the best stretch of beach and the main tourist area with all the restaurants etc. We were staying at the 5 star Meritus Pelangi Resort and after much deliberation when choosing a place for Langkawi, we were very happy indeed. They really did think of everything ( although made sure they charged for most extras!)

On the first night we headed to the highly recommended Orkid Ria restaurant which was rather pricey compared to what we had been paying in Thailand although a 5 star experience would only be complete with a 5 star meal...and it was. We had a dozen chicken satays to start, Jacqui had amazing indonesian style duck and after eyeing up the tiger prawns the whole trip I opted for 3 butter tiger prawns and boy were they worth it! They were absolute monsters, have never seen so much meat on a prawn (pronounced prown), they were deep fried and then cooked again with an egg yolk, flour and sugar mix sprinkled on the top, like little strands of it. I would highly recommend it! All in all it came to about 120 ringgits (£24)

The following day was put aside for sightseeing so we ambled through town in the stinking heat looking for a car to hire, but as it was school holidays...we ambled for awhile. Finally got a cute Kia Rio for about £12 a day. Was a sweet little car with all the fittings, most NB was aircon, and Langkawi FM blasting on the speakers. Now we were sorted. We headed up to the 7 Wells Waterfall which luckily had swimming pools at the top as we were dripping by the time we climbed the 700+ steep steps to the top. Was funny seeing all the muslim women in the full lengths climbing the stairs and jumping into the water fully clothed. At least I will still be slightly fit for football when we get back!

Then off to the cable car which was very similiar to the table mountain one. After a long wait we hopped into a cable car and started the 700m ascent after which I had to put my hands in ice as Jacqui crushed them the whole way up. The 3 yr old opposite us was less scared!

At the top there is a massive suspension bridge joining the 2 peaks, quite an impressive engineering feat but it does wobble a little when you walk across. Jacqui got about 3m down it and decided it was best from a photography point of view so she stayed on the solid bit and took pictures while I walked across. We got there just in time as they closed the bridge as we got off as there was a storm brewing. Reluctantly Jacqui got back on the cable car, closed her eyes and we headed down. When we got back to the hotel we jumped in the pool to cool down and Jacqui calmed her nerves with a strawberry milkshake...

Dinner time we ate at Rasa, I had barbequed fish with garlic & lemon and Jacqui had the ginger & mushroom beef, wasn't the best meal we have had, although we had banana fritters and ice cream for pudding which were very good.

Up early the next day for our half day tour which involved jumping into local speedboats and holding on for dear life as the driver sped across the Andaman at high speeds with little regard for, well anything. First stop was the Island of the Pregnant Maiden, there is a rather complicated legend about it but I won't bore you with the details. It is basically an island with a mssive lake in the middle. Quite pretty and worth seeing but with it being school holidays it was very busy and the weather was't particularly great either. After that we went to a small bay full of mangrove trees to watch the eagle feeding- was cool to seem them swooping down and picking up food from the water up close. After 10 mins there (it had now started raining) we headed to White Rice Island, again there is a story, but basically it was a beach...and you could swim....and it was raining....and we have just come from the paradise that are Thailands beaches so we kinda sat under a tree and looked at out photos and cleaned up the memory card. That was pretty much the tour, so not the best we have ever done.

With the bad weather we headed into Kuah town which is where all the duty free shops are and managed to find a few things but not that much. Altbough we did have the most amazing double cheesburger meal at McDonalds. . . maybe absence makes the heart grow fonder, but it was amazing, and only £2 for a meal, bargain!

Back to our abode and a late dinner at a local place, Jacqui just had stir fried mix wegetables which were the best we have had, delicious! I had a green chicken curry but they brought me a veg one meant for a local and my mouth nearly exploded, it was SO SO SO hot! They definately tone them down for us tourists.

The next day was a lazy day, chilling round the pool, drinking tea and milkshakes and reading a book. It was our last full day not in a city sort of a place so though we should appreciate it. For dinner we ventured out to Wonderland Foodstore which was the number 1 rated restaurant in Langkawi on Tripadvisor.com. It was a bit of a drive but well worth it, I had butter prawns again and Jacqui had some local chicken dish, can't remember the name right now but it was good and well priced restaurant, all in all, 40 ringgits (£8).

The following day we piled into the all you can eat breakfast again, then rolled back to our rooms to check out before relaxing by the pool and J went for a reflexology foot massage. From what I understand, the guy was pretty good but tried to explain how each part of the foot corresponded to a part of her body but most was lost in translation. We returned the car and got a taxi to the jetty and did some more shopping there before we got on the 3 hour ferry to Penang.

Langkawi was fabulous- we loved it! It was so much fun exploring it in our li'l blue car and staying in a palace fit for royalty with the most scrumptious brekkie! Oh, and the vanilla coke!