After our morning trip up to the gondola, we came back down to sea level and jumped in a cab heading to Tanjung Rhu Beach, a stretch of beach described as one of the most spectacular on the island.
Lunch in the Sand
We grabbed a tasty lunch under some palm trees with our toes in the sand. Like 90%+ of meals we eat in SE Asia, it's on cheap plastic furniture. Even when not in these settings, the occasions I find myself sitting on flimsy plastic chairs, I'll fondly remember these meals.
It continues to amaze that in this part of the world it's still possible to happen upon beaches this beautiful with only a few people on them...
Maybe We Should Do That
As with many of our favorite days on this trip, we often don't know exactly what's in store for us when we wake up in the morning. Seeing a few boats in the water and the beauty of the rock formations, called karsts, we decided we needed to try and get up close.
I approached a lady selling various tours and booked us on a 2hr boat ride. It would take us into the Langkawi Geopark, hit a few touristy stops and then out into the ocean around the rock formations in front of the beach.
Boat Ride
Before we knew it, a boat beached itself and we hopped on (some more gracefully than others) and we were off. The ride took us inland and through mangrove tree forests that took over the entire landscape.
Eagles
First stop was an area where eagles were feeding in the water. Our driver tossed some raw chicken in the water and we got to see them dive in for a treat.
Attack of the Monkeys!
We pulled up to an area of mangroves where a large troupe of monkeys were hanging out. We had some fresh mango with us and Sarah asked our driver if we could feed them. Sure thing.
Before we knew it a monkey jumped into the boat and snatched Paige's coconut smoothie from the floor to enjoy. At that point, 4 to 5 monkeys came from every direction and quickly descended upon us. They jumped on top of the boat, flying in the sides...all looking for some lunch.
During the whole exchange which lasted about one minute, I had to reach over and grab Paige & Sadie, they were so terrified they had jumped up on the edge of the boat - I was afraid they were going to go overboard in the chaos. This video captured it perfectly...amusement, glee, fear and relief.
Bat Cave
We stopped at a cave, where we saw bats sleeping. Sadie was a bit scared. Paige made a funny 'Blair Witch' style video while we were in the cave.
Floating Fish Market
Last stop on the tourist turnstile was a floating fish restaurant where we got to see and feed some large fish in their holding area. We were out of there after just a few minutes.
Choppy Open Ocean
We came out of the inlets and hit the open ocean. It was a bit of a bumpy ride back, but fun to see the coast. It reminded us a little bit of the northern Napali coast on Kauai.
It made for a fun surprise of an afternoon and an encounter with monkeys we'll be talking about for years to come...
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