Lounging around in Langkawi

We didn't really have much planned today, which was great because I was feeling a bit dehydrated from the day before and there is no way in hell I am getting heat stroke again. We had to take our car back to the airport, so decided to go the long way and check out the tourist area we walked along last night, but this time in the daylight.

When we arrived, we quickly discovered that the tourist street looked better in the dark, as the street seemed cobbled together and was filled with crappy tourist shops. We did a drive by as it wasnt worth the energy to leave the comfort of the air conditioned car, and proceeded in the direction of the airport in search for a petrol station. This exercise turned out a lot more difficult than was anticipated, as no petrol station could be found. Our car was due back at 11am, and it was now 10.45 and we had to drive back 15 minutes towards our hotel where we knew we could find a station. This resulted in stressed driver (me) questioning Jamie on why he couldn't read a map or why he couldnt make a petrol station magically appear.

When we finally found a station, it was 11am and I was not happy. There is one thing I hate more than anything in this world and it is being late. To me, making people wait for me is so rude, so, as a consequence, I was super stressed. As a result, Jamie dealt with all the petrol transactions before we took off in the direction of the airport.

When we arrived, 20 minutes late, it was absolutely no issue, but I still felt so bad about these guys waiting for me to arrive (there is no rental car centre, so the staff know what time you are coming and wait for you outside the terminal). I had an espresso frappe to calm me down, before we took a taxi back to our hotel. Our taxi driver was super nice and told us some interesting facts about Langkawi including:

1. The island is duty free
2. The population prior to 1978 was around 30,000, however, when a doctor became prime minister, he decided that Langkawi had great tourism potential and ensured it was allowed development. The population now stands at about 150,000.
3. No factories are allowed to be built on the island, the only exception being the one cement factory on the opposite side of the island that existed prior to this law being implemented.
4. There are strict rules around deforestation on the island.

When we got back to our hotel, I felt suitably more informed and went to the pool to digest the information and work on my tan a bit more.

It wasn't long until we started to feel hungry and decided to hit up the local Langkawi Food Festival, where Roti, Fried Chicken, Seafood and Mango related goodies were in high supply. We grabbed some honey glazed bbq chicken and a massive Mango juice and sat down with the locals. We decided it was so good, that we would return for dinner this evening.

We treked back to our hotel and filled in some time playing pool and hitting the gym before we headed back to the market for round 2 which included coconut ice cream in a coconut shell. Delicious!Read more