Arriving at the jetty of our first stop on the island hopping tour in Langkawi; Pulau Dayang Bunting, also known as the island of the pregnant maiden! Let me assure you that its name has no spiritual / supernatural origin; rather, it's pretty much legendary based on a tragic story from eons ago. Speedboats continued to stream in as the island hopping tour is one of the most popular activity in Langkawi and there are usually two basic timings a day; either morning or afternoon.
However, if you have the money for a private tour, i guess you would be in a better position to negotiate for a timing where you wouldn't have to jostle with the crowd.
This looks like a turtle!
My travel mates against the backdrop of Pulau Dayang Bunting. I am not commonly featured in my own blog as i prefer to be the one taking the photographs.
Guess which is the wife and which is the husband!
The road in - don't understand why the jetty couldn't be closer as it would have been more convenient for visitors and from the situation on site, speedboats where using the area nearer the entrance for disembarkation too.
Walk of 100 meters - might be a bit hot for some but hello; this is an island hopping tour and i presume all visitors would have taken the precaution to put on sunblock, wear a hat / cap or / and bring an umbrella.
Limestone cliffs across us although they all fall under Pulau Dayang Bunting; the second largest island in the 99-island cluster that made up the Langkawi archipelago.
Cute woah; two mud-skippers seemingly in love with each other.
Dayang Bunting Marble Geoforest Park; named due to two main limestone formations that took place over a period that's 250 to 490 million years ago!
You may read more above if you are into the scientific / geological information; my brain was already overwhelmed after i read the first sentence.
Coffee and drink station in case you need some morning perks! As our hotel (Cenang Plaza Beach Hotel) didn't offer breakfast; i couldn't recall what was our breakfast that morning!
Main building for admission to the geoforest park.
A wild boar was loitering right outside the building! Given the sheer number of tourists stepping foot onto the island on a daily basis; there's a high chance it might, in fact, be friendly towards humans.
Slightly chaotic situation within the building where no queue system existed for visitors to purchase their admission tickets in an orderly manner.
Take a photo of the Pulau Dayang Bunting backdrop before you go out; we didn't bother as time was of essence (one hour was given for this stopover) and i am so not going to join the queue and waste my time waiting!
Now, i don't commonly research in detail on what to do in an overseas attraction (non-food) as there's a tendency to over-expect and it sometimes comes with great disappointment. Hence, i was literally at almost a blank-sheet status when it comes to Pulau Dayang Bunting.
Our ticketed wrist band - i can't recall how much i paid for the admission but thankfully, i took a picture of the itinerary when i was at LV Island Travel & Tours counter at Cenang Mall and it was indicated that a foreign adult ticket would cost RM 6.00.
Proceeding to the lake, which is the key attraction on the island with a few pointers for your information; most important of which is that there's no toilet at the lake!
There are a few things you can do at the Lake of the Pregnant Maiden (also known as the miracle lake); swimming, kayaking and this solar boat which was said to be the only one in the world? Seriously?
"Life jacket is compulsory for all activities" - as the notice warned even though i did notice some people didn't adhere strictly to it when i was at the 45-feet deep lake. Hence, the disclaimer that the management will not be responsible.
Notice the red clay soil by the sides of the path? It's a naturally occurrence due to the weathering of limestone that results in iron oxide (known as rust for laymen like i).
Limestone spotted along the way; to be honest, i wasn't that impressed as my visit to Guilin had opened my eyes real big when it concerns limestone karts.
Informative panels dotted the route; some would need replacement.
Finally going down although the route, said to be about 300 meters, wasn't exhaustive and i thought would be manageable for many people.
It's the return trip that would tire us out as it's quite a steep staircase down! Do cut the seniors some slack as they would really appreciate your patience in the not very wide stairs.
Monkeys; keep your possessions tightly with you and hide your plastic bags! My main worry was that one was on the tree and if it were to decide to pass motion; there's a chance i might be hit!
The famous, freshwater lake next to us!
Our return leg - it was crowded and i had my suspicion on the load that the staircase can withstand as it didn't seem that well-supported; just don't run and jump.
The steepest climb behind Andy!
Statue of a tiger outside a resting pavilion - as Singapore doesn't have any more tiger since the 1930s; we have taken for granted that there's no way we would face a tiger in the wild. I am not sure if it is as applicable to Langkawi though.
102 calories? That's only slightly more than one pineapple tart and to think i can eat more than ten pieces in one sitting (which is possible during the lunar new year period)!
Abandoned building; would you have dared to stay there? I wouldn't as i simply have the guts for it despite my well documented love for the supernatural and cemeteries.
Wild boar again; was it the same one that was outside the main ticketing building earlier?
About to reach the exit; according to the time stamp on the photographs i have taken; the walk towards the lake would only be about 8 minutes which should be manageable for most people.
The only toilet on the island cost RM 1.00 for usage. Why was everyone crowding around here? Turned out the photo you took after you paid for your tickets would be printed on a photo plate for you to purchase at RM 10.00 each. Non applicable for us since we didn't take with the backdrop.![]()
Exit!
Like many attractions, your end-point would be a souvenir shop where you can buy expensive souvenirs. To be fair, the souvenirs were of a higher quality and unique compared to those cheap ones found on the streets.
Disembarkation was at the jetty but boarding would be by the rocks!
As our tour wasn't a private one; we were mindful to keep to the timing although it's inevitable that some tourists might overlook the time; as in our case where two visitors were missing.
Crowd along the narrow path; funny thing was that we couldn't remember who were the missing two persons! The boatmen definitely had a better memory and the missing visitors were eventually found; guess the years of 'training' helped.
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Location
Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia
Admission Fee to the Geoforest Park
RM 6.00 per foreigner
Information
Part of the Langkawi Island Hopping Tour via LV Island Travel & Tours that cost RM 35 an adult or RM 25 a child for about 3.5 hours.
