Fact: Langkawi is the most beautiful place I have ever been. Ever felt like you stepped on to the cover of a Conde Nast Traveler magazine? I felt like that every day I was in Langkawi. Pristine white sand beaches, bright blue water dotted with lush, verdant islands, and contrasted with rich, earthy 550-million year old limestone formations. My breath was taken away so frequently, I could barely breathe the entire time. I was so consumed with Awesome on the day we arrived, all I could do was throw my sandals off, and run to the water, shouting for joy from the intense beauty of it all.
There are 14 states that make up Malaysia. Langkawi is a district of the state of Kedah, the northern state that borders Thailand. Formally called "Langkawi, the Jewel of Kedah," it's an easy name to understand once you're there. It's an archipelago in the Andaman sea made up of 99 islands (wikipedia says 104, but all the locals tell me 99, and I'm assuming they know better). Only three of those islands are inhabited--which means fulfilling that dream of finding yourself on a deserted island is totally possible here.
It lies in between Thailand, Indonesia, and mainland Malaysia in a piece of water specifically called the Straits of Malacca. From the main island (the one with the biggest city, Kuah) you can see Thailand across the strait--a fact that, on the first day when it was pointed out to me, made me tear up a little as I realized just where in the world I was.
Sometimes traveling can make you feel so gloriously small.
To say that Langkawi is a paradise is an understatement. It's a beach-goer's dream. It takes "tropical island" to a level that this Wisconsin girl has never understood before. But at the same time, it's way more than the beautiful beaches that bless its shores. There's a population of over 60,000 people here, a culture rich with legends and tradition, an economy based off of rubber tapping, rice farming, and fishing, and a UNESCO mangrove geopark that is filled with monkeys, crabs, and eagles. If you don't want to sprawl on the beach all day, there is plenty to see and learn and do.
Which is good, because (sigh) we were technically there to work, and sitting on the beach all day does not make interesting educational programming.
Sure, the beaches may look like the Caribbean, but driving through Langkawi tells you a completely different story. Rice paddies line the roadside and stretch into the distance, dotted with oxen waiting for their time to plough. Humble mosques rise out of the horizon and most women wear the hijab, reminding you that Malaysia is a predominantly Muslim country, while at the same time welcoming Hindus and Buddhists and Christians as the other prominent religions. Signs are in Malay, the official language of Malaysia, which looks and sounds a whole lot like Indonesian, if you happen have that as a reference point. Since Malaysia is a former British colony, people do speak English here--especially in the service industry--but, unlike Sydney and Singapore, English will only get you so far in public.
(Side note: Due to the heavy tourism from both the Middle East and Japan, Malaysia is the first place in the world where I've been able to use both the weird languages I know to read signs at the airport. I couldn't help but geek out a little.)
We stayed (go ahead, roll your eyes) at the Four Seasons Langkawi, a place that was so immaculately decorated and impressively designed I felt immediately unworthy of its attention--but oddly welcomed at the same time. Man, this place is cool. The architecture and design are Awesome, but it was also the diversity of guests that got my attention. Sure there were Europeans and maybe a few Americans, but also couples and families from the Persian Gulf. Ever seen a woman in a full burqa enjoying the pool next to a woman in a bikini? Not at your average Caribbean resort, I bet.
What I had originally thought was going to be the "break" time in this Round-the-Globe excursion--a time for "work" while I secretly snuck daily trips to tan on the beach--turned out to be a jam-packed few days of Awesome. To be fair, there was a day in there where it rained so much we ended up filming spa treatments for the resort's promotional use (rain delays have never been so relaxing), but otherwise there was way more to the island (and the resort itself) than I had taken into consideration.
If you're bored during a stay in Langkawi, you're not talking to the right people.
We toured the Kilim Karst Geoforest Park, a mangrove forest that is protected as a UNESCO world heritage site. It's got eagles, macaque monkeys, brightly colored crabs, mudskipper fish that walk on land (our guide called them "Living proof of evolution!"), and brightly colored birds. Mangroves grow in super-salty tropical climates, where rainforest meets ocean. Most plants would die in these conditions, but through a series of impressive adaptations (those crazy roots being one of them), Mangroves thrive in this incredibly weird environment.
Our guide for the day, a man name Aidi (pronounced I.D.), added a lot of Awesome to the mix. We started off before the sunrise, on a somewhat choppy semi-covered boat ride that took us deep into the canals of the mangrove forests. Despite a super wet mid-morning downpour, we ended up with an absolutely gorgeous day to admire the ecosystem. I'm pretty convinced Aidi knows everything, and he is also one of those people that lives life with a passion that commands respect. "Now you can understand why I love this place," he said as the sun came out and monkeys started to appear. "To me, this is life. It's real. My friends in Kuala Lumpur tell me to go and get a job in an air conditioned office. I won't." And he laughed at the very absurdity of the thought.
I just love people like that.
The next day, we took a trip into the nearby market with the chef of the Four Seasons, a man named Adee Affende, who is from Langkawi and learned to cook first by practice growing up, and later by putting himself through school after he had worked a variety of kitchen jobs. The market was bustling and a bit overwhelming--but Awesome, because I think markets are one of the best ways to learn about a new place. It's an interesting peek into how other people live; something that seems so average to a person who lives there is almost always a sensory overload to a newcomer.
We went a wet market, meaning it was selling fish and poultry and meat, not just veggies and fruit and herbs. The term "wet market" implies everything you think--I wouldn't wear open-toe shoes or pants that drag on the ground to this one. Fresh fish were still being unloaded and packed with ice, a rhythmic chopping kept the beat of the crowd as butchers broke down chicken carcasses with certainty, livestock hung from hooks. We picked out some tiger prawn (Chef Adee explained to me that the color is what tells you the freshness as he expertly sifted through the bin), and then headed to the back where the vegetables and herbs were being sold. He picked through the different leaves, offering me new things to taste and smell (Ever had bitter leaf? I hadn't.). This is the market where he usually shops and he seemed to know most of the shop keepers well--which was great, because filming in a market can sometimes be super difficult as an outsider.
We took our ingredients back to the kitchen at the resort and Chef Adee prepped everything to be ready for the camera. We cooked Udang Gulai, basically a prawn curry made with coconut milk, spices, tomatoes, sweet potato, and that bitter leaf I tried earlier. Major yum. While we cooked, Chef Adee explained to me some of the basics of Malaysian cooking--that it's all about balancing the sweet, salty, sour and spicy. My favorite thing he told me, however, was how Malaysian cooking has changed a bit, since recipes used to be handed down from generation to generation not with measurements included (one gram or half a cup, that kind of thing), but with quantities by price (one ringgit of tomatoes, five ringgit of prawn, etc.). When prices started to change, however, recipes had to be retaught based on concrete measurements. He's still translating some of his family's recipes as he cooks new things.
And still, there was more to do in Langkawi. We visited the Laman Padi rice museum, something I never thought existed in the world but am totally glad it does. A functioning outdoor series of rice paddies, Laman Padi (literally meaning "rice field" in Malay), is meant to help tourists understand where rice comes from and how it is planted, grown, and harvested. The state of Kedah produces half the rice in Malaysia, something they are (rightfully) proud of. The museum has a rice paddy at every stage, and has people working the fields to show how it's all done.
There is nothing fake about it, either. There are fish jumping around the submerged plants, and an oxen stands on call to plough the fields. I got in to learn how to spread the sprouted seeds, but only after applying a citronella balm to my feet and ankles to "discourage the leeches." Comforting.
During the time we weren't filming, I rock climbed and learned archery, took a boat out to an uninhabited island to hike up 1000 steps deep into the rainforest, and even jet skied for the first time (less cultural maybe, but still Awesome). I didn't lay on the beach once (although I would have, had I not been working). I left feeling as if Langkawi had taught me a lesson--not the kind that necessarily sticks with you forever, but more of a "Don't you dare go back and tell people I'm only just a pretty beach" kind of lesson. There is a depth to the flavor of this place that goes way beyond the crystal blue water and fine white sand.
The people here believe Langkawi was cursed by a maiden that was executed long ago after a dispute with her mother-in-law left her accused of adultery. She is said to have doomed the archipelago for seven generations of bad luck, leaving the people here to constantly blame her for a lack of prosperity. However, most people believe that the curse has finally been lifted, since the eighth generation has just begun. Tourism, they hope, will boom in the coming years.
I, for one, fully support that. Langkawi is Awesome. Truly Awesome. And the brief taste I had has left me convinced that Malaysia, as a whole, is a country deserving a lot of attention.
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