Solo trip to Langkawi, Malaysia [June 2016]

This is the most relaxing trip I have ever had. Generally, before and during the trip I will be busy making itineraries, constantly pushing myself to stick to the day plan from one place to another. But Langkawi was my recovery time and I had no itinerary.

Why this place?

I was making rounds to hospital in February and March 2016. A workaholic that I am, I only took 1 day off my 10days Medical Certificate(MC) approved leave and dived deep into my work. With no rest for recovery and travelling almost every alternate week I was feeling worse than ever. Thats when a senior peer of mine told me, "when you need a break you just take it. Work will still be here, but you need to be healthy physically and mentally to deal with it." And thus began the search for my next solo trip destination. My demands were simple, I need a beautiful beach, short distance and safe place to rewind. 

I narrowed down to two options - Langkawi and Krabi(Thailand). My friend from Thailand suggested not to go there alone considering language and safety issues. So, I chose Langkawi for my short 4 days trip in June 2016. Maybe next time Krabi ☺

Getting there:

Langkawi the Jewel of Kedah, is an archipelago of 104 islands in the Andaman Sea, some 30km off the mainland coast of northwestern Malaysia. Its takes 1.5hrs from Singapore to Langkawi via flight. 

The landing and take off is an amazing experience in itself. You land and start walking on the runway itself, like you get out of a chartered plane. As this was my first experience, I was so surprised and engrossed in enjoying it that I forgot to take any pictures.

There is a quick taxi booth that helps you get affordable taxis to your destination. You can book taxi at a fixed rate and use it for hours or simply rent a bike/car to explore the small island. 

My destination hotel - The Frangipani Langkawi Resort & Spa . 

An amazing amazing resort directly on the private beach overlooking the Andaman Sea. It has three types of Villas - beach view, partial view and garden view. I picked the partial view which was as just few meters behind the beach villa and had same amazing at a cheaper rate. 

For the next couple of days, my plan was to get up without alarms, watch TV, hit the beach, lay on the beach all day, take tones of pictures, read a book, enjoy gin and tonic watching beautiful sunsets, do shopping and eat at my hearts content! Yes, a relaxing weekend gateway!

Things to do :

On the Sunday I did roam around the island and visit the famous attractions - Dataran Helang (Eagle Square), cable car and the Sky bridge.

There are lots of adventurous activities like parasailing, jet skies, boat rides, hiking that you can do. Theres also a Underwaterworld aquarium housing some big rare fishes found in the sea and a bird paradise. 

Next time I visit Langkawi I will surely do some of those Mangrove and Island hopping tours which are equally famous.

Langkawi Sky Bridge is a 125 metre-long curved pedestrian bridge that offers an exhilarating (and sometimes terrifying) view. Set 700 metres above sea level, it is only accessible via the final station of the Langkawi Cable Car ride.

The climax scene of bollywood movie Don: The Chase Begins was shot here.

Do check weather reports before you plan to visit it.

Dataran Lang, also known as Eagle Square, is a striking 12 metre-tall sculpture of an eagle poised to take flight is displayed atop an elevated platform. Area around it was under renovation, so my photos are not able to do justice to super views at this place.

After recharging my batteries with solitude it was time to head back to Singapore.