Day 167 - A temple and flight to another Malaysian island

– I still don’t feel well at all, full of a head cold, and barking like a dog.  After so much time in bed though, I was determined to get out.  It was our last day in Penang, we were due to fly to Langkawi at lunch-time, and it was not raining too hard so Nic and I grabbed a take-away coffee and jumped in a taxi.  Our guide books had spoken about Kek Lok Si Temple – the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia that was built by an immigrant Chinese Buddhist in 1890.  I am really pleased that we went, as in fact it is a site with a number of beautifully decorated temples.  Although we had limited time and had to work our way through the temples fairly quickly, it really blew me away the work that has gone into this place, and it was great seeing some many people in attendance using the buildings for prayer.

We grabbed a taxi and headed back to our hotel, grabbed our bags, checked out then headed to the Penang airport.  The island is fairly small, and it only took us 30min to get to the airport.  We had an uneventful flight on a fairly small plane to Langkawi.  It was only a half hour flight – possibly the shortest flight I have ever been on!!

We had hoped to arrive to bright blue skies in Langkawi as we have had so much rain to date but unfortunately it wasn’t the case.  It was hosing it down!  Our hearts sank when the taxi driver told us it had been raining non-stop for a whole week.  No idea what we are going to do with ourselves for the next 6 days if it continues to rain, even taking into account the fact that we are staying at a 5 star resort!!  Nic and I had decided to lash out in Langkawi and get a really nice hotel.  I think my body is finally telling me it has had enough of life on the road, so I am really looking forward to staying put in one place for 5 nights straight – have not been in one place for this length of time since Croatia.

Our hotel is lovely, with a big room, two double beds, a huge tv screen, 3 pools, 3 restaurants etc.  It isn’t as flash as the Shangri-La in Borneo, but close.  Nic and I spent some time unpacking, then grabbed our umbrellas and went for a wander to the local shops – 1 shopping centre is 10 min walk away, and the other a further 10 min walk.  We filled in a couple of hours as it was still raining outside, and pick up supplies eg snacks, water and mixers for the vodka (finished the gin!)

We made our way back to the hotel, past the wild monkeys that hang out off the road, had happy hour then headed to one of the restaurants at the hotel.  The meal was really good, and we had a great table overlooking to pools and beach.  Very nice relaxing night.