Langkawi. Malaysia-lite

Langkawi experienced an economic boom after being declared a 'duty free' island. With the normal tax rate on beer seemingly being about 800% in Islamic Malaysia, that makes the island an appealing prospect for drinkers, smokers, or lovers of anything imported. It also makes the island an extremely popular destination, and correspondingly expensive to visit. You'd have to drink a lot to recoup the money required to get to and stay on the island.



We wasted a lot of time and energy wandering around looking for some kind of public transport, refusing to believe that the only way to get from the ferry terminal to anywhere was by taxi. At least we stumbled across some good Arabian food while we traipsed about and I got to satisfy a hummus craving I didn't know I had.

Yay, Sidd!

After finding a place with free rooms we set out to find food and much to our surprise we bumped into Sidd again! He'd been scouring the town from one end to the other looking for a good deal on a boat tour, and persuaded us to join him for the 'mangrove tour' the next morning.

The tour was surprisingly fun. 'Fish feeding' hardly sounded like a selling point when we were shown the brochure, but having a couple of species nibbling and snapping at your fingers is quite entertaining. 'Eagle watching' was impressive, if tainted by the knowledge that the sheer density of such predators in a small area had to be caused by tour operators being too liberal with food. The huge monitor lizard sunning itself on a rock was an unscheduled bonus. At a fish farm I got to experience my hand being enveloped by a hungry stingray and saw fish shooting water with pinpoint precision to dislodge insects and bread.

Shlup.

If I have to look like a retro British granny to avoid sunburn, I will.

The 'bat cave' was batty and cave-y. We did learn some interesting titbits from our guide, though. "Bats always turn left when leaving caves". I call bullshit on that one, though perhaps the bats leaving that particular cave do. "The stalactites at the cave entrance curve outward because of algae growth on the upper edge drawing up the water". Cool! "Monkeys (before they started getting used to receiving snacks from tour guides) used to smear the virulent poison from a particular mangrove tree on leaves, drop the leaves and follow them as they floated, snatching up dazed fish that strayed too close to the poison" Nice. "If that poison finds it's way into your mouth you'll be paralysed for days - any movement will trigger explosive diarrhoea" Ick.

That very evening, I started suffering from extremely painful stomach cramps and diarrhoea. A coincidence, right?