Exploring Langkawi

Today we ventured around the island. We looked into renting scooter/s or a  car and in the end we called up the taxi driver that drove us from the airport and he was our driver for the day - win win all round - one vehicle rather than two scooters, no worries about insurance , great local guide and best of all  AC between stops...have I mentioned the humidity :)

Before we hit the road we were admiring the garden in our villa and look what we spotted, eek! I think it was more frightened of us :)

We were telling our driver and he said they're harmless. He then went on in the next breath to say a cobra came into their village house! Yikes! 

Our first stop was the Perdana Quey & Telaga Harbour.  A small marina where you can take a boat to Thailand. 

Fantastic old customs building.

You can see the grandeur of the old marina buildings that are slowly  falling into disrepair.

Next stop was a black sand beach with Thailand just over the water - beautiful!

Onwards we went to a northern beach Tanjung Rhu - stunning!

It was  so hot we set off for the cool of the interior and jungle shade.

As we drove inland there were family groups of monkeys on the side of the road. There were a lot with tiny baby / new born monkeys. They look sweet from inside the car but they can be quick as a flash and  have the glasses off your head or anything loose is fair game! Needless to say they looked great from inside the car!

We did a short walk up the trail to the Durian Perangin Waterfall. With the shade of the jungle it was a little bit cooler but as you hiked up the trail you soon worked up a healthy sweat. It was nice to see family groups having picnics and swimming. 

As we continued driving through the middle of the island we passed rubber tree plantations where the rubber is tapped. 

 
We also passed a coconut plantation and there was a new calf  looking curiously at us. 

The houses in the jungle / plantation areas are built off the ground to protect them from moisture. 

It was so interesting seeing the little settlements, many with very humble housing and facilities and many slowly being taken over by vegetation as they looked deserted.

We were so lucky to visit two temples today.  Our first temple visit was to Wat Tham Kisap which sits under some limestone cliffs in the jungle.

This Buddhist temple looked to be more Thai/Siamese influenced with ornate decoration,  numerous Buddha statues and animals.

It was so quiet and peaceful, we were the only ones there. A groundsman said we could walk up to the Golden Buddha which we greatly appreciated.  

Guarding the stairway was a five headed  dragon leading to upper level temple.

 The golden seated Buddha is magnificent.

We were able to enter a main hall where there were numerous statues of Buddha. 

Just down the road from this temple is a smaller Hindu temple, Hanuman Temple, that looks like the jungle could take it over in a few months. It looks deserted but there was a stunning statue under a limestone cliff that still looked cared for.

Our next stop was the  Buddhist temple Wat Koh Wanararm. It has a beautiful  statue of Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy carved into the  limestone mountain.

 You can walk around the peaceful courtyard and gardens and admire the beautiful stupa and golden Buddha statues. 

The temple is a common place for locals to dump unwanted puppies. At the temples we saw so many dogs that the monks care for. 

There are three Buddhist schools here, Thai, Chinese and Himalayan.

We saw the Stupa of Reconciliation and Nirvana....so beautiful.

Did I say we were the only ones walking around? Unbelievably beautiful and peaceful, perfect way to end our day.