LANGKAWI TROPICAL PARADISE! Ep 4

Gunung Raya… We take you on a trip of the beautiful holiday island of Langkawi and show you why it is so popular with sailboat owners and holiday makers. We go for a drive through the rainforests and check out the highest point on Langkawi. Most tourists aim straight for Langkawi’s famous cable car “SkyCab”. But that isn’t the highest point on the island. The highest point is a well-kept secret that you won’t find in any of the travel brochures, and whilst the Sky Cab is tucked away on the north west corner of Langkawi, the highest peak is in the centre of the island and offers, in our opinion, the best views all round… (con’t below)

******************************

Join us: https://www.patreon.com/followtheboat

Be the first to know: http://eepurl.com/B9Ykn

Subscribe to our youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=spannerheadz

Blog: http://www.followtheboat.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/followtheboat

******************************

Gunung Raya takes around 20 minutes to ascend by car once you’re off the main road. At the top is a look-out tower and secluded hotel.

Gunung Raya has 360 degree views: North and east towards Thailand, south over the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club and neighboring Pulau Tuba, west down the main channel from Bass Harbour and north west over to the Butang Islands. At such an altitude the temperature is noticely cooler and well worth the drive.

After our trip to Gunung Raya a we drive north east and head to Tanjan Rue. Here you’ll find the Scarborough Fish and Chips restaurant, run by local man Dylan. Dylan spent six years living in Leeds in the UK, and every weekend would head to Britain’s famous seaside resort, Scarborough… for fish and chips, of course. He returned to Langkawi and now runs this extremely popular restaurant whick offers some fantastic views of neighbouring Taratao Island and mainland Thailand. For some unknown reason, it always seems to rain whenever we visit.

As we head back to the marina we take in another little secret area in the south east corner of the island called Kampung Penarak. This is a tiny fishing village popular with local people. It has a beautiful beach and a few residents living by the shore.

We meet Anwar, a local man who rents a beach hut by the sea, next to a small piece of land he owns and is looking to sell for development.

Langkawi has three marinas: Royal Langkawi Yacht Club, Telaga and Rebak Island. RLYC is the closest to town and therefore the easiest from which to provision. During 2015 it is undergoing a major refit which means part of the club is now closed. For those staying there during the refit the workers are building a temporary dinghy dock. We bump into Azrin, the marina manager, who explains what’s going on.

It’s Saturday, and after scrubbing the decks we head into Kuah town to find those Morse cables. Multiquip is a well-stocked hardware store that covers most yacht-related bases. Since we’re in town we check out the market.

Pantai Chenang is the most popular spot for tourists. Sadly over the three years we’ve been coming to visit its development seems to be getting out of hand. Small beach bars have closed down and land is being handed over to the corporate property developers. The main strip boasts all the usual restaurants and watering holes. Despite this, it’s a great spot to watch the sunset and forget about boaty problems like leaking fuel pipes. Oh, sorry, didn’t we mention that? What followtheboat video wouldn’t be complete without continuing boat maintenance issues?

******************************

Show some love for our musical contributors 🙂

00:00 – Followtheboat’s theme music: ‘Suddenly’ by Otis McDonald
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y66Dh5lx4qY

02:27 – ‘Pink Fluid’ by Jahzzar

08:30 – ‘Restoration’ by Kubbi
https://kubbi.bandcamp.com/track/restoration

14:23- ‘B-Roll (Ska)’ by Kevin MacLeod
http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html/index.html?genre=Reggae&page=1

17:54- ‘B-Roll’ by Kevin MacLeod
http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html/index.html?genre=Reggae&page=1

19:09- ‘Shut Your Eyes’ by DL Music
http://www.dl-sounds.com/index.php?main_page=preview&title=Shut%20your%20eyes