Langkawi, Malaysia - 1 of 2

Langkawi (Malay for red-brown eagle) is an archipelago (chain) of 104 islands off the northwestern coast of Malaysia and just south of Thailand. Beautiful mountains and great beaches, mangroves caves and rainforests … what else could you want.

Langkawi was historically the home to the Austronesian peoples but in 1821 the Siamese army invaded and owned the area until 1837. In 1909 the islands came under British rule until Malaysia gained its independence in 1957. Langkawi remained a quiet backwater area until 1986, when the Prime Minister decided to invest in making it a major tourist site that is today (recognized by UNESCO). Only four of the islands are inhabited: Langkawi, the main island, Tuba, Rebak and Dayang Bunting. The population is approximately 99,000, around 65,000 of them in Langkawi, of which 90% are Malays (the rest are Chinese, Indian and Thai). Islam is the primary religion.

Since we had been in Langkawi in 2017 with Lee and toured the island, we decided to focus on a trip to the Langkawi SkyCab Cable Car, the longest free span mono-cable car. After taking a tender from the ship to the dock (last time our ship docked here) we took a 45-minute cab ride there and got a refresher on the beauty of Langkawi. Then we proceeded, just the two of us, in a gondola on the 15 minute, 10’ per second climb for 1.5 miles up the 3,120 feet and 2,323 feet above sea level.
We saw the eastern cliffs of Mt. Machinchang and its summit and breadth taking views of the entire Langkawi archipelago and Southern Thailand, from the Oriental Village at Teluk Burau to the peak of Gunung Machinchang.
As background, the construction of Langkawi Cable Car began in April 2001 and took 2 years. The gondola cable car system was used as it permitted a long span of over 3,000 ft. There are three stations for the cable car, the Top Station is located at the peak of Gunung Machinchang which is the second-highest peak of Langkawi. In the middle is an "angle station" where the gondolas make a 45-degree turn to reach the Top Station. As there is no road to the top due to the steepness of Gunung Machinchang, all the structural components needed to be lifted to top with helicopters in combination with an auxiliary working cable and then assembled on site.

The gradient or the slope between the Base Station and the Middle Station is said to be the one of the steepest in the world at 42°. It has the longest free span for a mono-cable car at 3,120 ft.  The gondolas travel a distance of 230 ft above the canopy of forest of the Machinchang Range (see photos).
The journey from the Base Station to Middle Station covers 5,600 ft in length. The Middle Station is at an elevation of 2,130 ft and then we continued to travel on the gondolas for another 1,480 ft up to the Top Station. Of course! The two circular viewing platforms at the top of Manchinchang  gave us great 360° views (see photos). The top station is located 2,323 ft above sea-level is about 9°F cooler than the lowlands.

The ride gives a view of the surrounding forest, the Telaga Tujuh (Seven Wells) waterfall, as well as the sea. The horizontal distance covered was 6821 feet, the vertical rise was 2231 feet and the inclined distance was 7080 feet. What an incredible ride and views.

On the cab ride back we drove through town and saw the houses in the area, the lighthouse, a few mosques, and some beautiful resorts.Read more