Langkawi, Malaysia

It was just too hot for even the diehard tourists to go out.  I have never seen the Colonnade so full for lunch.  Whoo boy, it was the hottest and most humid day we have had so far on this trip, and that’s saying something.  We have had plenty of it as you well know from my descriptive complaining and whining about it.

This island is part of a 100 island archipelago off the northwest coast of Malaysia, near the Thai border.  There are numerous beach resorts and luxury hotels scattered along the beautiful and abundant beaches.  The island itself is quite mountainous and part of it is a UNESCO biosphere reserve.  Langkawi means Brown Eagle.  This would be a wonderful place to explore if it weren’t so damn hot.

Beautiful scenery as seen from the ship

There are several sites to see on this island, but we did not have an excursion.  I thought it would be a great beach day instead.  That was before I woke up and tested the air outside the ship.  Not really knowing anything about the beaches and where they were located, we just decided to take the shuttle into town and see if Michael could find a barber and I could locate a nice spa for a massage.  There was a local representative on board and when I asked if there was a barber shop nearby he said the “saloon” was quite close.  I gave him a puzzled look and pantomimed a drinking motioned, and then I got it – a salon!  We all got a good chucked over that.

We took the 10 am shuttle into town, which was a ten minute ride.  We passed a military operations headquarters at the head of the pier.  There were numerous navy and coast guard ships, a submarine, and assorted helicopters both navy and coast guard out in the bay and on shore.  They were planning for an international air and military show tomorrow.  Apparently, there are American, European, and Russian airplanes in town for the show; it is going to be a week long event.  And here I thought they were here to protect us!

           

Coast Guard and Navy helicopters

A submarine

Navy ships off our port side

                                                                                                      

We arrived in town at the underwater aquarium.  There were numerous duty free shops that sold everything we didn’t need.  After walking around and checking out prices (which were not very good), I was feeling very tired and getting really hot.  I opted to go back and wait on the air-conditioned bus while Michael went in search of the never to be found barbershop.  He came back to the bus soaking wet.  When anyone says it’s just a short five minute walk or is nearby, my advice it to either ignore it or triple the time and distance.  In this case, it was the wrong direction as well as triple the time and distance. 

Nice shop in a resort

Main street in town

So we took the 11 am shuttle back to the ship.  By this time, I was sorely in need of a nap.  As many of you know, I have a difficult time sleeping and I think it finally caught up with me.  I took a 1 ½ hour nap, which I hardly ever do.  I was thinking about going out to the pool and assumed Michael was there as he was not in the room when I woke up.  Nope, there were maybe five people out on the pool deck, most of whom were crew.  I found him in the Colonnade where he just finished lunch.  It was way too hot to even get in the pool.

Michael found a bridge game and I found a nice cool spot in my suite.  After a while, it got so cold in my suite that I actually voluntarily went out to the pool to warm up.  Michael couldn’t believe it when he saw me there. 

Tonight was Passover and the Seder dinner.  It was a very beautiful affair with the Seder plate filled with all the accoutrements:  parsley, hard-boiled egg, bitters, salt water and chopped apple.  Elijah even made an appearance.  Rabbi Morry lead the service in Hebrew and English.  Since I was the youngest (as determined by the fact I am the only one in the room not on Medicare), I got to ask the four questions.

We finished the evening off by attending the show.  And that is how we passed the day in Langkawi.