I was super excited and anxiously waiting at the Langkawi airport for Ashley’s arrival…. The first of our friends to actually come to travel alongside Brad and I!!!!! She was easy to spot with her blonde hair and I ran up to give her a massive hug!! She was about to experience the life of a budget backpacker….couch surfing style!  Woo hoo… now all the fun adventures could begin!
Hugs at the airport!!
We started simple and went to the beach for what turned out to be a beautiful sunset, before hitting up the massive duty-free shop for some cheap vodka! We checked out a very little local bar/hostel where we ran into Deb, our new Canadian friend who used to live on the island, and taught her and Ash our new favorite drinking game…golf (Thanks Chris and Joe)! It was an easy chill island-style drinking night!
Sunset at Pantai Cenang Beach
They next day we rented a car to go check out the sights! First stop, the Telaga Tujuh, or “Seven Wells” waterfall! It was super nice, walking through the green jungle, seeing monkeys running around on the footpath. Ashley and I both LOVED seeing the monkeys, as most people can tell from my abundance on monkey photos! Then we rocked up to the waterfall and it was so pretty and relaxing. We dropped our stuff, stripped down and jumped in! Places like this are cool because you can actually climb and interact with the nature…it’s not all roped off to prevent unjustly suing.
Climbing around!
After a bit of a play in the water, we explored the bottom part of the falls. We heard you could slide down the rocks, and were sure we found the right ones. Ashley thought she’d give it a try no worries…. Hahah but as soon as she gave herself a little push, she was GONE….no stopping her! After a brief moment of panic, we all started cracking up after witnessing her fully slide, flip and fall down the rocks! Phew…maybe a bruise, but made for a funny memory!
We took off for a further hike to the top of the falls where there was a nice lookout and a bit of a scary drop down!
Brad looking out right at the waterfall dropoff!
The hike DOWN the waterfall however was the most memorable! We decided to eat a couple granola bars for an energy boost on our way down through the jungle, and I start telling Ashley about the monkey that semi-attacked me in Phi Phi when suddenly a MASS HOARD of monkeys is coming straight for us with greed in their eyes! Ashley and I start screaming and trying to hide behind Brad, but he takes off running down the hill and us girls are just freaking out with no idea what to do. We jump up on the bench, but of course, so do the monkeys…grabbing at our legs and arms! It was TERRIFYING!! Ashley then quickly realized she had half a granola bar in her hand and threw it which distracted them, so we took off running in the opposite direction, which happened to be back UP the hill. DANG! We were stuck and too scared to go down again. Some locals were walking up and gave us a few tips…glasses on, don’t look at them, NO food, and grab a stick. We finally worked up the courage to go down, and had no problems but our hearts were BEATING!
One of the NICE monkeys from earlier....
PHEW so we took off to a pretty white beach on the other end of the island to calm ourselves! It was beautiful with white sand, small rocky islands off the coast to admire, and overhanging cliffs in the distance! After a bit of a play in the water, we chowed down on some Malaysian flavored Twisties and headed home. I took Ash to our new favorite dinner joint, “Tomatoâ€, oddly enough an Indian restaurant … but it had the BEST (and cheapest) Roti around!!  We had a long girls chat and catch up, complete with Chai tea!
Time to calm down!
Brad was feeling sick and we thought he was having a reaction to the mold that was in Din’s house. It sounds gross, and it is gross, but it’s also kind of common living on a tropical island with crazy wet seasons. Anyway, he was feeling a bit queasy, so drove us to another waterfall the next morning, but opted to stay in the car! Ashley and I took the hike up, avoiding crazy spiders and insects along the way! It was cool because we were the only ones around, and stumbled upon a broken bridge that we had to climb across! FUN! We didn’t take long though, knowing Brad was waiting, so hurried back to check out the famous Langkawi cable cars.
Climbing over the collapsed bridge!
We arrived at Oriental Village, hoping the weather was calm enough to take the 1 and a half mile long … steep…cable car ride to the top of the mountain! We were lucky! Once we started the ascend, we were able to see beautiful panoramic views of the island, jungle and waterfall on one side, ocean and rocky islands on the other! Once at the top, you get to walk across this incredible sky bridge. You can feel in shake slightly as you walk over it!
Amazing view!
On the sky bridge!
After lots of walking and an increasing appetite, we decided we HAD to take Ashley to a local Malay buffet, and made her eat with her hands! She took to the hands thing well, but don’t think she was a huge fan of the buffet… I’m usually not a buffet girl either! Actually, we were warned to stay away from buffets as travelers. But oh well…do as the locals do!
Ashleys turn!
Come night, Brad was REALLY HOT, so after forcing lots of water and fruit upon him, Ashley and I left him home to sleep while we again went to Sunba with Din and his crew. Same band, same drink coupons….lots of dancing…just as much fun! There were a few funny characters around that gave us lots of laughs throughout the night!
Love her!
We had time for one last relaxing swim on the beach the next morning, with Brad feeling surprisingly better, before heading to the other side of town to catch a ferry to Penang! Â
Love him!