We had a plan this morning and we stuck to it; up at 8am, down to breakfast by 8.30am and then to the pool for a
final swim at 9am. We swam the entire length and Alan had a final play on the waterslides. By 9.50am we were back in our room and packed and on our way to the airport at 10.30am. We organised for James, our chauffeur from 2 days ago, to drive us to the airport.Despite AirAsia’s bad reputation, we were boarded and on our way early again. I won't go into details, but Penang airport was an absolute shambles. Nobody seemed to have a clue. The flight to Langkawi is all of 35 minutes long. It's schedules for 35 but took more like 20. There wasn’t even time for the seat belt sign to come off. It almost took the same amount of time to get our luggage after the flight.
We had toyed with the idea of hiring a car and priced it last night on the internet and for three days it would be RM350 (A$115) and then decided we’d just get it for one day, probably Sunday. However, at the airport, there were counters after counter of rental car companies, all thrusting signs saying 60%, 65% or 70% off. The first guy offered us a car for RM300 and a couple more the same price. Then the first guy said RM240 for the three days and we took it (A$78). The rental company didn't even want to see my license or passport and they only take cash so they don't have our credit card on file either. It's a Nissan Latio and according to them it's brand new, even though the odometer has 57,000 kms on it.
We had to put petrol in it, a whole A$10 got us half a tank. Petrol is the same price everywhere RM1.90 a litre or A$0,62 a litre!!!!After a few wrong turns we found it the 10kms to our hotel. Driving around here seems quite easy. Whereas the drivers in Singapore were intent on breaking the land speed record, Malaysian drivers rarely break 40kmh. The only worry is that nobody ever stays in their lane or looks before pulling out in front of you. If we thought our Penang hotel was paradise, this place must be heaven. The Bon Ton Resort is 8 traditional Malay houses. Ours is the White Frangipani, right across from the pool. Temple Trees, which is the property next door and owned by the same people has two pools that we can use as well (and we will).
The house is huge, which you’ll see below. The houses are all between 80 and 120 years old.
Also, the place is a cat refuge and there are cats everywhere, all beautifully cared for. We’d been in our room for
about 2 minutes when “our” cat came and introduced herself. We don’t know her name so we are calling her Muffin Head. She’s so affectionate and loves to chat. She went out for dinner before we did tonight and when we came back, she was waiting for us under our front steps. Right now she’s asleep under the chair next to Alan. I suspect we may be sharing our bed with her tonight. I hope she doesn't take up too much room.The only problem with the place is the heat. I have the fan on high and the air conditioning set to 16c and it’s still quite warm in here. I like the heat, but it's really boiling in here. We might end up having a midnight swim but we've been warned the frogs might join us.
Anyway, I digress. When we arrived they sat us down and gave us an orientation of the place and a really nice drink of pineapple juice, ginger ale and mint. It was really really good. After settling, we took a walk around the place, where Alan proceeded to introduce himself to every kitty we met (and there are heaps),. One even took a tour with us of Temple Trees. They're all so friendly. They all come from the animal hospital next door when people bring in sick or injured cats which they can no longer look after. We've seen a few around the place with only 3 legs and a lot of them are missing their tails or ears.
Here are some photos of another one of the Malay houses and the Temple Trees pools. Also, we saw a water buffalo living in the field next door.
We went for a swim about 4.30pm for about 30 minutes. The second we got out of the pool a waiter arrived with ice water for us both and six complimentary chicken satay skewers. Nice!!!!
We took a drive down to the next main part of the shopping area and had Mexican food for dinner. They asked us if we wanted spicy or not spicy. I went not spicy which was a good call. I had one mouthful of Alan’s food and it burned for the next 30 minutes. Hottest Mexican food I've ever had. My mouth was on fire. But we also had a banana split for dessert which was delicious.
We stopped by the beach at sunset. We had been warned that this place is notorious for the watersports trying to kill people in the water, and I can see why. It was 7.45pm and I could see at least 20 jetskis within 50 metres, plus all the boats.
Tomorrow we are off to drive and explore the Island. Can’t wait. Apparently there are some really beautiful beaches to the north. And some waterfalls. There's also a crocodile farm but apparently it's the lamest tourist attraction ever so I think we'll give that one a miss.
No comments:
Post a Comment