Another Caving Trip
The inside of the cave was really dark
The morning after the Langkawi storm, we head into the main island for another caving and mangrove trip. This time, we took off from a different location, Kubang Badak Jetty. This also meant another early start - quick breakfast before catching the early boat to Pantai Cenang.
And here was where we caught the first glimpse of the effect from the storm. There was some debris lying around the road. We ordered a Grab ride this time to Kubang Badak, and along the way, we could see trees being cleared up. I could tell that the authority had been working overnight as the main roads were already open. The route we took passed by the airport. The runway appeared unaffected, and flights were already started to come in.
Leaving Rebak Island Marina
Such tranquility
Speeding past our resort. You can see the moon deck to the right of center.
Everything was clam otherwise during the half an hour drive to Kubang Badak. The jetty was buzzing since the UNESCO Inspectors were there today. So, plenty of games and events - fishing and others, taking place. We found our guide shortly after and set off, firstly to see another mangrove swamp. We spent a long time here, and since we did not have to pedal like we did on the last trip, we enjoyed this outing a bit more.
At Kubang Badak Jetty where a fishing competition was being held
Leaving Kubang Badak to see more mangrove
Syuhada briefing us on what we would expect to see
Idlan and Anita looking on
A lot more tranquil here
Next stop was a bat cave. This one was bigger - called Gua Pinang. It was a limestone cave with and adjacent working quarry. Apparently, every so often, there would be an explosion as people were working the quarries. This particular cave was huge, and our guide, a Malay lady, called Syuhada, explained to us that this region used to under the sea at one point as there were plenty of shells strewn on the cave floor. Since this cave was a lot bigger than the last, we could hardly see any bats, although we could hear the shrieks.
Getting in and out of the cave took a bit of walking, and the next stop was lunch at a traditional Malay house - serving authentic Malay food, of course. Anita enjoyed this one particularly. With us in the group was a British couple and a French family. I was not sure how they fared.
Passing by Kubang Badak Jetty again en route to the bat cave
Passing by other boats
Entering Pinang Cave
Only for the more adventurous amongst us …
They looked Jurassic
We split up after lunch. The trip included a trek into a waterfall nearby, but since we were still tired from the kayaking the day before, and not fancying getting ourselves wet, we decided to head into Pekan Kuah - for a spot of shopping. Things were really cheap here, especially the dinnerware and chocolates. Since we had to bring the dinnerware with us, we could only manage to buy a small set - much to Anita’s disappointment. They do not offer to ship to the mainland due to tax reasons.
We hired a cab, which took us shopping and waited for us, and then took us back to Pantai Cenang for our boat ride back to the resort. But as soon as we reached the jetty, the wind picked up. The boat captain decided against going into the sea, and we waited for the wind and rain to subside 45 minutes later. But the fun did not stop there. The water was really choppy, especially when we were entering the marina. We were exposed to the sea at that point, and the current rocked our small speed boat all around. People were crying. Luckily Idlan and Irfan kept their cool and everybody was relieved when we entered the calm water of the marina.
Irfan heading out of the cave
The floor was strewn with shells. It used to a beach here …
Back up the platform
Last order of business, shopping at Pekan Kuah
The choppy sea went on all evening. We could see the boats being pushed up and down in the rough sea as I spent the latter part of the evening just chilling by the beach. We also walked around the resort looking at the staffs doing maintenance work as some of the paths were covered by small branches. They said that it would take them at least another couple of weeks to get everything back to normal again ...
A tiring day, and Anita and I slept through the night after that. We did not plan to leave the island the next day as it was Hari Raya. We would be chilling out at the resort instead ...