Travels with St Jude: Malaysia one more time; first stop, Langkawi

One last push through the big-sites of the west coast of Peninsula Malaysia, back down to home in Singapore.

(Well, home for a short while longer - after three happy years, my job in Singapore ended last Spring, so I took the opportunity to have a grown-up gap trip in SE Asia before shipping my furniture and myself back to England).

After I left Thailand, it was an easy run down to Singapore via Langkawi, Penang, KL, and Malacca (all the biggest tourist sites in Malaysia). I'd been to all of them before, some more than once. And some (one) that had terrible memories for me (Penang was where I had that bad accident in 2016 that resulted in 2 weeks in hospital and titanium rods in my spine).

But I've always loved Malaysia (hospitalisation notwithstanding), so let's dive in.

Panorama of Pantai Tengah

First stop is Langkawi, an easy ferry journey from Satun, and a lovely place to spend Christmas.

It's a hugely popular resort island, filled with domestic and foreign tourists. There are beaches and watersports, and plenty of attractions to keep everyone busy: an aquarium, a cable car up the mountain to a viewing platform, the rice garden (an educational site focusing on traditional rice growing and production), spas, and go-carts.

Rice Garden

Food wise, you're spoiled for choice. There are loads of international cuisines. There's a version of a night market made from a bunch of food trucks that take over a parking lot near the beach each evening. There are hole-in-the-wall curry rice shops, and Western tourist-oriented cafes selling burgers and shakes. There are toes-in-the-sand beach bars and rooftop cocktail lounges. There's also Starbucks and duty free shopping. In other words, most tourists will find what they want there.

Food trucks at the tourist-focused "night market"

Those who read this blog will have undoubtedly noticed I tend to veer towards less touristy sites most of the time, but every now and then I find myself craving some familiar comforts, like pizza that doesn't suck, or margheritas and enchiladas. And Langkawi delivered on that respect.

I found a nice small guesthouse in Pantai Tengah (the smaller beach just south of the main beach, Pantai Cenang) and had my Christmas dinner watching the sun set from a rooftop Tex-Mex restaurant (which was outstanding, I must say).

Get in my belly! Enchiladas at El Toro Restaurant

In between enjoying the food and cocktails, I walked miles along the beach, and revisited the rice garden (which I'd enjoyed on my previous trip to the island). I'd already been up the cablecar last time, so instead I took some boat trips. On one, we cruised slowly through some mangrove forest looking for snakes and birds. On another, we visited three nearby islands, including one (Pulau Dayang Bunting) featuring an inland lake that's popular with swimmers and paddleboaters. It was a lovely way to spend Christmas.