The last stop on our Malaysian trip is Langkawi (浮羅交怡), an archipelago of 104 islands in the Anderman Sea. Situated in the North West corner of the Malay peninsula, it is very close to the Thai border. The Westin resort is located on the main island – Pulau Langkawi, and just about 10 minutes away from the main town named Kuah (瓜鎮), “melon” if literally translated.
We got to the resort a few days later than the booked arrival date, after an unexpected detour to Hong Kong. We called ahead to make sure they did not resell our room.
The resort is somewhat commercial as it has been here for a while. Apparently, it has recently been renovated and is in the process of expanding into a convention center which is under construction behind the resort.
In addition to hotel rooms, they have free-standing villas along the beach front.
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The resort did a reasonably good job blending natural beauty with man-made amenities.
Predictable but not obtrusive.
One major feature is the jetty. Hotel guests can reserve it for a romantic dinner or social function. A wedding ceremony was about to be held there on our last day.
Big change in water level due to tides.
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The lights were pretty at night.
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But the jetty was a bit spooky.
When we saw this notice on our balcony, there was not any sign of the animal.
On our last day, when we opened the curtains, there was a troop of 10 or so monkeys just outside our window.
We have no idea what kind of monkey it was. They are of a different species from the ones we saw in Kuala Lumpur, inside the Batu cave and temple.
They hung around for about 10 minutes and one by one wandered off in different directions.
They were peaceful (unlike the ones in KL) and probably visit the resort regularly.
A mother brought along a baby which was bright orange – there is no way one can miss that baby in a forest of dark green and brown.
So how does the bright color confer a survival advantage to the baby ?
The resort has a spa which is about 10-15 minutes walk away – the subject of our next post.