Saturday, March 3, 2018

Soaring Over Malaysia

Rice Museum, Cable Car, Craft & Cultural Complex 
Tour Code:LGK200A

Sapphire Princess arrived in the beautiful port of Langkawi, Malaysia around 8 am. We were already checked in for our shore excursion and waiting in Princess Theater for "Green 2" to be called. Our tour was one of the first to leave after the ship received clearance from local authorities.

click images to enlarge
Our guide, Sarah, met us at the bus and welcomed us to Langkawi. When all 32 passengers were on the motor coach, we departed for a scenic drive southwest to Pantai Cenang, a white-sand beach lined with picturesque chalets and coconut trees, overlooking the waters of the Andaman Sea.

Langkawi Skycab

About 30 minutes later, we arrived at our first stop, Oriental Village, for a cable car ride to the Mount Mat Cincang, Langkawi's second highest peak, soaring over 2,000 feet above sea level.

Tip:  book the earliest excursion or go early if venturing to the skycab on your own, to avoid the long lines.

There can be long lines for the cable car, but since we were the first group from the ship to arrive there, we had no wait. There are three lines to select from for the cable car. The line our guide suggested, was the one that bypassed the middle stopping point and proceeded directly to the highest point. At the top there are several viewing areas, including one that affords a 360 degree view of the archipelago. We had 1.5 hours total time at the sight, which included the ride itself which takes about 15 to 20 minutes each way.

When we got down to ground level there now was a huge queue for the cable car. Whether you go independently or with a ship tour, book the earliest excursion to avoid the lines. It started to mist as we walked to the bus and shortly afterwards there was a downpour. We had certainly timed things perfectly.



Craft Complex

The rain didn't hamper us since our next stop was indoors at Komplex Kraf (Craft Complex) Langkowi. Inside the complex there was a large selection of batik art clothing and wall hangings.  We purchased a scarf as a gift as well as wall hangings for ourselves.  We could have spent more time there exploring all the crafts.
Laman Padi

The final stop was at  Laman Padi. Laman means field and Padi stands for rice in Malay. So Laman Padi essentially means rice field. This vast open complex comprised a number of rice fields, herb gardens and galleries or museums where the process and evolution of rice cultivation & harvesting in Langkawi was exhibited.


We first walked through the fields learning about the cultivation, nurturing and harvesting of rice ("padi") and then went inside the museum for a closer look at the history of rice harvesting.

There were large glass cabinets in the gallery which exhibit the equipment and tools that were once used for cultivation & harvesting of paddy in Langkawi.  The museum is a tribute to the staple diet of rice in almost all of Asia.

This concluded our half day tour in Langkawi, Malaysia.

We really enjoyed this tour and our stay in Langkawi - it was one of our favorite ports of call on this cruise. 


Click on the image to the left for more Blog posts about this trip.

Related Album:

Langkawi Skycab
Craft Complex
Laman Padi
Scenic Langkawi



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