Dear Langkawi...We LOVE you!

Last weekend we made our 3rd trip in 10 months to our favorite quick and easy island vacation spot.   Now, I bet I know what you are thinking, why are Jenn & Eric going to Langkawi again?  Don't they live on an island and isn't there several thousand other islands they could explore?  Here is our response: 1. Our visits to Langkawi are fun, memorable and we discover something new each time we visit.  2. When I was a kid, our family had a cabin "up north" in Michigan, which we would visit nearly every month.  I think it's fair to say that Langkawi is our "up north" in Malaysia.  3.  Langkawi is a duty free island, meaning you can have $1 Tiger beer and stock the liquor cabinet.  4.  The beaches are clean and the resorts are very nice.  5.  The island has not been ruined by tourism and still remains connected to nature.  6. You can fly from Penang to Langkawi direct in 25 minutes.  I could go on and on, but instead I'll tell you about how awesome our weekend was.

We joined Nikki & Leon and Lou, Mia & Eric for a weekend away.  Our friends share our love for Langkawi and we all could use some downtime at the pool after a busy couple of weeks.  Eric and I decided to stay at a different resort than our friends, as we were celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary (a weekend early). When we checked into our resort, we were immediately upgraded from Temple Tree to the more private and intimate Bon Ton resort next door.  We loved our stay at Bon Ton.  We felt pampered in our traditional Malay house on stilts, that was complete with an air conditioner, two person wood bathtub (!!), ceiling shower that drained through the floor, great breakfast, complementary wine tasting, a surprise anniversary cake and french pressed coffee!  So good!!

Our traditional Malay house at Bon Ton

Check out our bathtub! 

The view that accompanied our breakfast

We also went on an excellent mangrove tour.  We were able to see an abundance of wildlife and we had a very knowledgeable guide.  At the end of our day, we each planted a new mangrove tree, which was a great touch to the eco-friendly tour.

Gorgeous Mangroves

Viper

Can you see the snake?

Yellow King Fisher waiting for the right moment for lunch

Sea Eagle

A large monitor lizard that we almost hit with our boat

Spitting Fish

Apart from our tour, we took it easy for the rest of the weekend, spending time at the pool and eating great meals with our friends.

After this trip to Langkawi, I have decided that the connection that I feel to this island is what I thought I would find in Bali.

Who knew that our Bali, would be so close.  Peaceful, beautiful and a place for us to connect with each other and with nature.  Langkawi, we will be back...probably next month!