Malaysia - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 442

ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
The budget guesthouses face the beach and are all on the
same street.
Ali's T 04 881 1316. A welcoming guesthouse with simple
rooms set over two floors that open on to a leafy courtyard.
Some have private bath and there's a sh aded l ounge area
perfect for a short afternoon kip. Double RM80
Baba Guesthouse T 04 881 1686, E babaguesthouse
[e-mail]. Friendly, budget family-run guesthouse
with clean rooms and a welcoming owner who can
organize onward domestic tra vel, as well as buses to
Thailand and Singapore. Double RM45
Bora Bora This laidback beachside bar with fairy lights
and a jungle-like ambience is a popular spot to enjoy a
sundowner. There's Western food too, and beach boys
lighten up the scene with fire shows. Mains RM15.90, beer
RM10. Mon-Fri noon-1am, Sat & Sun noon-3am.

Pantai Tengah and Pantai Cenang
A clearly signed junction 18km west
from Kuah points you to the popular
beaches of Pantai Cenang and Pantai
Tengah . Within walking distance of
each other, these two main strips are
the best places for cheap
accommodation. Pantai Cenang has
numerous bars and restaurants with
Malaysia's largest aquarium, the soulless
concrete Underwater World (daily
10am-6pm; RM38), lying about half
way down.
he bay itself forms a large sweep of
wide, white beach with crisp, sugary
sand, and is hugely popular with
travellers and revellers. Plenty of places
offer watersports such as jet skiing
(RM120 per 30min), waterskiing
(RM120 per 15min) and parasailing
(RM100). Boat trips are also easy to
arrange (see box, p.448).

6

PULAU LANGKAWI
Situated 30km off the coast at the very
northwestern tip of the Peninsula is a
cluster of 104 tropical islands, the
largest of which is PULAU LANGKAWI , a
resort island popular with travellers and
locals alike. Here it's easy to while away
a good few days, snorkelling, beach-
hopping, taking trips to the mangrove
areas and exploring the waters around
the island by boat. he name Langkawi
combines the Malay words helang
(eagle) and kawi (strong) - hence the
eagle is the symbol for the island.
Langkawi's principal town is Kuah , on
the southeastern side of the island, but
the main tourist developments have
been on the west of the island, at Pantai
Tengah and Pantai Cenang .
Langkawi is a large island - almost
500 square kilometres - and to explore
it properly you'll need to rent a car or
scooter. here is basically one circular
road around the island, with the other
main road running north and south
along with some minor roads branching
off from it.

Gunung Machinchang
Head north along the coast past the
airport and you'll eventually reach
Mount Machinchang , the vertiginous hilly
jungle (708m high at its peak) scaled by
the Langkawi Cable Car (daily 10am-
7pm, Wed from noon; 15min; RM30)
from the touristy shopping complex
below. It is allegedly the steepest in the
world, and the journey up is pretty
spectacular, with the cable cars wobbling
up a sheer cliff at an angle of 42 degrees.
From the Skybridge and the two viewing
stations at the top you can see the
entirety of the island, as well as some
hai islands. If it's windy, the cable cars
won't run.

Telaga Tujuh (Seven Wells)
Shortly before the turn-off for the
cable car, a side road leads to Seven
Wells , a series of natural rock pools
connected by a stream gliding over
smooth rock, making natural water
slides - great, refreshing fun. It's
reached via a ten-minute climb up a
long staircase leading up from the car
park; there is also a signposted 2.5km
trail that runs up to the top of Gunung
Machinchang, from which you can
descend by cable car.

Kuah
Located in the southeastern corner of
the island, Kuah is the largest town on
Langkawi and has a ferry terminal, hotels
and duty-free shopping complexes. You'll
be passing through here if taking a boat
to Penang or hailand.