Malaysia: 2 Weeks Between Cities, Jungle and Sea

Cagliari-Roma-Dubai

Our preparations end with one backpack as hand luggage and a medium-sized duffel bag / trolley each. We were good. At 11:00 our first flight departs with the airline Air One from Elmas-Cagliari airport, which lands in Rome after exactly one hour. While waiting for the international flight we stop at Terrazza Roma, an area of Fiumicino that Ste and I now know by heart. Here we buy what will become our travel mascot: a little chimpanzee plush toy that we nickname Umpa Lumpa. At 16:55 our Emirates flight 93 departs, a Boeing 777/300, which after 5 and a half hours and 4,328 Km lands at 24:05 (local time) in Dubai (DBX). We are curious about this airport which does not disappoint expectations at all!

Dubai-Kuala Lumpur. Concorde hotel. Petronas.

We stay a few hours strolling through the enormous corridors of the airport: splendid, gleaming, and above all incredibly vital despite it being the middle of the night. You almost have to push your way through; it seems like rush hour but it's one in the morning... Italian airports at this hour are deserted! We take off at 3:10 with flight Emirates 343, changing our Boeing to a 777/200, bigger and longer than the first. Another 5,533 Km and 7 hours by plane until landing past 14:00 in Kuala Lumpur. Here we immediately change some euros at the rate of 1 = 4.43 MYR (Ringgit) and take a taxi to get to the Concorde Hotel. The airport is about seventy Km from the centre of the capital and our taxi driver, named Deva, sets a fare of MYR 90 in a minivan. During the journey he explains some interesting things (including the basic words of Malay). He is very kind and nice.

The motorway is in perfect condition, wide and smooth-flowing. It's raining a lot, but that was a given. The first view of the Petronas Twin Towers from a distance is thrilling, even before entering the city traffic, which little by little becomes more and more intense. Arrived at the Concorde, a 3-star hotel, we get through the registration formalities. Strangely they only take my passport and none of Erika's and Stefania's documents, also taking a security deposit of 400 MYR! But if the room is already paid for is it really necessary? "When in Rome, do as the Romans do..." comes immediately to mind... Our room is superior executive n° 1216 on the 12th floor, with a splendid view of the Petronas Twin Towers and the pool below! Unfortunately the window can't be opened in any way to lean out...

the room is nice, spacious, the bathroom very nice and with a large marble countertop to put all the necessities on. The 3rd bed is brought later together with the suitcases and isn't really great... Erika sacrifices herself for us and "voluntarily" chooses to sleep in it, after however demanding to have Umpa Lumpa as company.... After getting settled we attempt our first walk in Kuala Lumpur. It's 19:00 and the rain is incessant. Luckily we chose well because the Concorde is right in the centre and much closer than we thought to the Petronas. We start a route clockwise in a loop, stopping at the Tourist Information right next to the hotel on the right side. It's open but there's no one there. You can hear the typical Muslim chant in the background and we suspect they're all praying. We'll come back tomorrow. We continue until we reach the Petronas.

A real spectacle to be admired with your mouth open! Enormous, very tall and excellently lit! Much more fascinating by night than in daylight I'd say... we enter Suria KLCC, an immense shopping centre at the base of the towers which occupies the first 4 floors. It's swarming with people and is truly immense: a great sight! It's all quite Americanised and if I didn't see the physiognomy of the Malaysians on the streets I could easily think I was in a large Western metropolis. We leave the Petronas and head back towards the hotel along the main street, which Deva told us is the café and restaurant area. In fact for dinner we are immediately inspired by the Italian place "Modesto's". A very nice and well-kept place, where we get 2 pizzas and pasta with three coca-colas for the price of MYR 130. We take this price as a reference for a classy restaurant. There's time to eat Oriental cuisine!

Skybridge at the Petronas. Chinatown. Merdeka Square. Little India.

As suggested by Deva, we go out early at 7:00, before having breakfast, to manage to get the tickets for the visit to the Skybridge (the bridge that connects the two towers) of the Petronas. The tickets are free but the daily visits are in limited numbers. In reality we arrive when there's almost no one there and the shutters of the ticket office are still closed. People don't take long to arrive and in no time at all a long winding queue forms! The visit lasts 15 minutes and ours is booked for 9:00. We wait right there watching the documentaries in the adjacent room. The Petronas are still today the tallest twin towers in the world, reaching almost 500 metres in height. The skybridge is the only visitable point and is located "only" on the 41st floor at 170 metres.

In all there are 88 floors in the tower used for offices of big multinational companies: just as you see in the film Entrapment, which can't help but come to mind as you go up the towers! The panorama from above is impressive, even though there is a lot of haze and a totally overcast sky. You can see a large part of the city, lots of skyscrapers, the park and the shopping centre below, while the intense city traffic appears as tiny little moving dots that are the vehicles! An avalanche of the ritual photos and videos and finally we earned the buffet breakfast at the Concorde at 10 in the morning... After a short tour to discover our hotel, at 11:00 we are at the Tourism Information Center where this time a very cordial Malaysian girl calmly explains all the possible trips to do in the area and outside the city, either by buying the organised packages or by travelling on our own.

Following her advice, we decide to visit the city starting from Chinatown, further south. To get there we take the Monorail, which has its stop just to the right of the office. The ticket costs just 1.60 MYR and the journey is great fun, considering that we're talking about a train that runs suspended 40 metres above the city traffic! Our stop is Maharajalela, at the entrance to Petaling Street with its attached market on the street. The panorama changes radically and from the technological skyscrapers you pass to houses of 3 floors at most with traditional stalls on the street, which sell every sort of trinket, clothing, and so on... It's still pouring with rain and despite the partial roof cover, wisdom suggests as a first purchase a very useful Malaysian umbrella.... we walk the whole street, go up some escalators and continue to other little markets scattered everywhere.

For lunch we choose a quick and super cheap McDonald's, spending 20 MYR between the three of us. Then we continue the walk crossing the city from south to north, visiting the Central Market, Merdeka Square with the notable Sultan Abdul Samad Palace and the tallest flag of Malaysia (in this too they are very American and recall their nationalism because there are flags everywhere!). The last stop is Little India, more contained than Chinatown and also more (let's say so) "down to earth". This area of the city gives a good idea of a suburb, even though it never reaches the levels of squalor seen in Bangkok... From this point of view Kuala Lumpur (at least the centre) is on another planet: much more orderly and clean (even though someone might probably consider it more impersonal and too Westernised...). We buy an international phone card for MYR 30 and walk back to the hotel.

Still on foot, to finish in style, at 19:45 we go to visit the K.L.C.C. Tower, on the opposite side from the Petronas (the Concorde is located exactly halfway between the two). You enter a park and go up a bit until you reach the base of the tower: quite impressive I must say! The ticket costs MYR 60 and allows you to go really high up to 400 metres from the ground (muuuch higher than the skybridge!!!). The lift takes off like a rocket with a speed that's rather "annoying" for the stomach... The night-time panorama from above is amazing, entirely 360° and truly worth it, especially the side facing the Petronas.

To think that one floor below there's the restaurant: it must be fabulous to dine with this view! There are binoculars to "zoom in" on the points of interest of the city and the audio guide, but more interesting than all is the photo that is taken on the spot by a photographer equipped with a tripod and digital Nikon with immediate printing. For MYR 33 you really take home a nice souvenir! Once out of the tower we go back to the centre and opt for dinner at the Japanese restaurant "Hanabi", where between sushi and various dishes we spend MYR 176. This too is certainly a notable and worthy restaurant. Quite challenging for me, never having tried Japanese food and considering the effort of eating with chopsticks...

Guided tour of Melaka (Malacca).

After breakfast we go down to the lobby and wait for the pick-up that will come to collect us for the one-day tour to Malacca (lasting 8 hours), booked at the Tourist Information center for MYR 360. Actually, the minibus that arrives at 8.45 drops us next to the same Tourism center (where we could easily have walked calmly in 2 minutes) and we wait until 9.30 for the actual tour bus. The worst I've ever taken in my life so far! The shock absorbers are non-existent and our seats at the back are terrible. We travel two hours of road through annoying jolts and a continuous screeching, until we finally set foot on the ground for the first stop: the oldest Christian Church still in use in Malaysia. It stands opposite a lovely colorful little square where peculiar characteristic three-wheeled bicycle "taxis", splendidly decorated with fresh and vivid flowers, take tourists around.

By the way, it's the first time we see the sun: about time! The visits go by a bit too fast. Our guide explains but it's hard for the whole group to hear: there are many of us and there's (rightly) someone who stops for a moment to take at least two photos, falling behind... At least we have our little yellow adhesive badge so we don't get mixed up in the crowd... We climb up a hill to see the Sultan's Well. A decent panorama opens up with a nice view over the red roofs of the little houses near the port and over the bizarre buildings built identically at increasing heights (they really look like Russian dolls, one could fit inside another...). A few old ruins and cannons from the former European colonization make the place more interesting, along with old trains, airplanes and cars that would delight any collector.

We visit the Porta de Santiago and the Portuguese Settlement, then the ruins of St. Paul's Church. Our lunch is eaten in a local restaurant, with Malaysian cuisine. A nice place where you eat well, though we avoid the chicken because of the bird flu phobia of this period (probably unfounded around here since no declared cases have occurred yet). The trip ends with a bit of shopping in Chinatown, where we are finally left free even if only for a short time. We buy some spirit chasers, some little chains and postcards but there would be so many of those objects to buy.... especially those things that back home cost 3-4 times as much, like the water fountains, the vases and the candle holders. Unfortunately, heavy stuff to carry in a suitcase...

We also give a quick look at a Buddhist temple, where Stefania and Erika are literally "captured" by an elderly gentleman who tries to instill his spiritual theories (of which, however, they only understand half the sentences given his difficult spoken English...). Finally we return to the bus where, with another two hours of spine massacre, we are taken back to the Concorde Hotel. Fate wills that as soon as we set foot in Kuala Lumpur it's cloudy again! An interesting trip because Melaka deserves to be visited, but the guided tour is perhaps a bit disappointing and too rushed. It would have been better to arrange to visit it on our own. In the evening we go out to the Petronas and take another stroll through the shopping mall. For dinner, instead, we go to the Argentina Steakhouse Maredo's, nourishing our bodies with a fine steak and a bit of salad.

Guided tour of the Batu Caves. Lake Gardens in K.L.

Same scene as yesterday morning. For the half-day Batu Caves Tour (booked at a cost of MYR 150), the pickup comes at 8.45 to the hotel to take us to the Tourist Center just a few meters away. A wait of three quarters of an hour when we could have been there in a few minutes on foot... Today I have a terrible sore throat due to a sleepless night and a classic chill from the temperature swings of the air conditioning.. This time far fewer people show up and the bus isn't wrecked like yesterday's. The trip starts at 9.30 sharp and the first stop is the pewter factory. It's the largest in the world and the visit is very interesting. It's a big open workshop where hundreds of people work this material by hand, which looks like a mix between steel and tin, creating the most varied objects.

We end up in the usual final shopping room, with slightly expensive prices but with objects unique in the world of their kind. Just to give an example, the Lord of the Rings set: a customized chessboard with the good and bad protagonists of the story, themed chalices and glasses, etc. etc. Our second stop, on the other hand, is also related to craftsmanship, this time batik. Excellent sarongs, clothes and little pictures. We buy two representing cats for MYR 150. We arrive at the third and last stop: the Batu Caves. We are free to visit them, we just have to of course respect the time to return to the bus. A long staircase, very tiring because of the heat, leads up to the caves. It's a beautiful sight. And above all it's packed with macaques that pop up everywhere and of which you have to be very careful because of their skill and shamelessness in stealing bags and objects from tourists.

We witness several robberies of poor children unaware of it... An enormous cavity opens up in the middle of the mountain and emerges a little further on where a small Hindu temple has been built. The whole thing is characteristic but never as much as these little monkeys that become the real attraction of the Batu Caves. It's wonderful to observe the mothers with their tiny babies in the most affectionate or outlandish poses. And to conclude, on the way back I risk something too, coming down the stairs with my nice packet of crackers and a macaque on my back ready to rob me! At 1:00 pm we are back at the hotel. We have lunch at the Petronas in an area dedicated to every type of food existing on earth, with various restaurants and fast foods. In the afternoon we take the Putra LRT to Chinatown and set off on a long walk through the Lake Gardens.

We underestimated the distances and above all the fact that the road is completely uphill! It would definitely have been better to take a taxi... Besides, once we entered the park, which is much bigger and more sprawling than expected, we discover that all the kiosks are closed because of Ramadan. We are dying of thirst! In the end we discover that it's possible to buy a bottle of water in the paid toilets, where the lady at the entrance keeps the drinks cool for emergencies... The park is beautiful, enormous, divided into many sectors and paths, impossible to visit in a couple of hours. We return exhausted by taxi to the hotel, taking just a few minutes of road and spending barely MYR 6! Erika and I go grocery shopping at a 7-Eleven near the Crowne Plaza, the hotel where tomorrow's tour for Taman Negara departs from.

It's ten minutes of road from here to the Concorde but to get back we're so tired that we take a taxi anyway since it costs next to nothing. However, we get an eccentric Malaysian as our driver who really seems like a drunk in the way he talks, in his gestures and... in his driving! He probably thinks he's in Bangkok, where tuk-tuks zip around and race in anarchic traffic... but here we're in K.L. and things of this kind I had never seen before! After various hysterical laughs and the narrow rescue of some pedestrians who escaped by a few centimeters the hood of the taxi, we finally all make it back intact to the Concorde... For dinner we're at Modesto's again, the only restaurant that truly deserves a repeat.

Besides, better to eat Italian today since in the jungle of Taman Negara we don't know what awaits us! This time our table is outdoors, with excellent live music from a very good duo. The pasta with clams does not disappoint expectations at all...

Transfer to Taman Negara

We walk with our suitcases to the Crowne Plaza Mutiara Hotel. Here I have booked (from the website of the Mutiara chain) the Explorer Packages 4 days/3 nights at Taman Negara, including practically everything: accommodation, meals, guided excursions, transfers to and from Kuala Lumpur. At 8.45 a girl shows up at the lower lobby for registration and points out the bus. There are very few of us. We wait a few minutes, observing the astonishing luxury of the hotel lobby, load the suitcases and leave at 9.00. The bus is new and very comfortable and the journey passes peacefully under the music of the headphones of my mp3 player... After two and a half hours, at 11.30 we arrive at Kuala Tembeling. Here we do another quick registration for Taman Negara (paying 1 MYR each) and for the Mutiara Chalet (5 MYR per room).

We have to wait until 1:00 pm for the arrival of the wooden boats (the characteristic typical local wooden boats). There isn't much to do or see around here, in fact. We're in a sort of open-air complex, with a spartan little restaurant and a wooden pier reachable by steep stairways, while on the street opposite there are just a couple of markets for basic necessities. It's very hot. During the wait we meet the first two Italians of the trip, and to our immense astonishment none other than people from Cagliari! An almost incredible coincidence given that there are ten tourists in this place... Boarding the wooden boat is quite an experience...

The experience begins to take on adventurous connotations completely different from the city! We leave civilization to enter nature and we realize it immediately during the two and a half hours going up the river on this little boat (fortunately motorized - we were only missing the rowing...). Two other boats left full right before ours. So luckily for us we can enjoy the journey sprawled out five in a hull meant for twelve people. The arrival at the Mutiara is eagerly awaited... Finally there it is appearing after the last bend of the river! We disembark onto a floating wooden platform, climb a nice steep staircase and we're in the heart of the resort and of Taman Negara. It's really cute! Very particular and evocative.

Also singular because, besides being considered the best accommodation in the place, it's positioned on its own on the left side of the river, while the rest of the village with floating restaurants, other lodgings and modest little shops is on the right. Obviously there's a crossing service at a ridiculous price from one bank to the other. The beauty of the Mutiara then is having three rows of chalets, of which the outermost are in full contact with the jungle. From the reception we are assigned room no. 65, which unfortunately is in the middle row and also at the farthest end... maybe the macaques won't come knocking on our roof - too bad! The place is nothing short of wonderful. We observe everything open-mouthed as this is our first real experience in the jungle.

The chalets look like mountain lodges, entirely made of wood, some raised off the ground surely to prevent the danger of flooding. The village in fact slopes slightly down toward the river. To stay in theme, of course it rains and the trek planned for tonight risks being compromised. The signs marked on the path "Monkey Crossing", or "Snake Crossing" and "Monitor Lizards" might make you laugh: instead they're all too real! The proof is the half-meter lizard under our feet hidden in the grass... Our room is obviously more spartan than a city hotel, but there's everything essential. The only things missing are the hairdryer (which we intelligently brought ourselves as a precaution), the minibar fridge, and the third bed (again!), which is added later.

The latter is really ugly: in short, an insubstantial mattress thrown on the floor! The first rule we impose as fundamental is: never leave the door and windows open to avoid an invasion of unpleasant insects! After a quick tidy-up and a general dose of repellent, we return to the reception and meet our guide Azam: a calm and thoughtful guy. Beyond all pleasant expectations, he will always be the one following us for all three days we'll spend in the jungle: all just for us! This means we'll do every excursion on our own and be totally independent without other tourists deciding for us. It's an excellent start! We arrange to meet at 8.30 pm for the night trek, then we take a look at the Minimarket of the village. It's very small, it has just a little of the essentials like food, clothing, repellents, etc.

We have dinner buffet-style at the Tahan Restaurant, the only restaurant at the Mutiara: outdoors (but of course with a roof overhead), nice and spacious. The choice is not very extensive but you eat decently. At 8.30 pm sharp we meet Azam for the night trek. It's simply pouring rain. We're equipped with ponchos and umbrella but a shower is guaranteed anyway... We actually manage to take just a few steps and reach a covered two-story wooden platform where, equipped with a flashlight given the total lack of lighting, we observe the jungle under the rain and in the dark. Unfortunately we don't see any insects (which were the real purpose of the night trek) because with the rain they retreat. We do see instead some sleeping deer that the universal flood doesn't bother in the least...

For the rest, you still breathe an extraordinary atmosphere! You just have to turn off the torch and you remain in the deepest blackness listening only to the pouring rain and the sounds of the jungle. There are no words to describe the emotion in the eyes of a city dweller. We wait about half an hour and return. Azam seems sorry but the rain shows no sign at all of letting up. He still proposes to try again tomorrow. We arrive rather soaked in the room and meanwhile the electricity is also out in the whole village, after an endless series of thunderclaps worthy of the Guinness World Records...

Jungle trekking (Bukit Teresek). Canopy Walkway

We can forget the sleepy schedules of Kuala Lumpur. Here you have breakfast at 7.30 to make the most of the hours of daylight. At 8.30 we set off with Azam for the trek in the jungle. Just a few meters beyond the village, every sign of civilization disappears. The path leads to a climb up the hill of Bukit Teresek. Quite a struggle between the crazy humidity and the steep ascent (at times there are actually ropes to hold onto, given the slippery ground). The sounds of the jungle are extraordinary and sometimes a bit gloomy. The route, moreover, is entirely in shade, first because the sky is cloudy and second because in any case we are covered by the thick shade of the vegetation. Azam explains a bit of flora and fauna and warns about the danger of leeches, which after last night's rain will come out into the open. Apart from that, he's not much of a talker.

Often we're the ones who have to ask him questions. Without doubt, though, he's a true man of the jungle. He has the courage not to carry even the shadow of a fanny pack with him, nor an umbrella, nor a drop of water. We are dripping and panting, weighed down by our backpacks and exhausted, and he doesn't have even a drop of sweat on his little glasses...! He's perfectly "intact" as from the first moment we met him this morning. Anyway, don't even mention the leeches and here's the first one attacking! It's completely different from the way I imagined it. In films you always see them big and round, but instead they're little more than stretched-out little worms, soft and jumping. It's only when they attach themselves and suck blood that they swell up frighteningly. Unfortunately, exactly like mosquitoes, it's impossible to notice their presence except by sight.

And from this moment on the leech "phobia" is born! Everyone watches the other's legs trying to prevent unpleasant surprises... thank goodness we're equipped with high boots, thick socks and long pants. It takes a couple of hours to reach the top of the hill, which Azam claims is 330 meters. What? Only 330 meters? It felt like we'd climbed something more substantial here.... The panorama you admire is very beautiful and shows every imaginable shade of green. A few photos and we descend, taking the detour for the Canopy Walkway. It's the renowned rope bridges suspended among the trees that we've heard so much about. They're a must for anyone coming to Taman Negara! Azam leaves us alone. Since the eight bridges form a loop, he'll wait for us directly at the exit.

He advises staying at least 5 meters apart from each other and no more than 4 people per bridge, and of course avoiding swinging too much... The crossing is initially hesitant but soon becomes quite fun. The sense of the void is limited by the vegetation below, except in the last bridge which reaches a maximum height of a full 45 meters from the ground! We return at 12.30 to the room, very tired and dripping wet. At 1.30 pm we take our most unfortunate items of clothing, which suffered the devastation of the jungle, to the laundry service. We have lunch and at 2.30 pm we're ready and lively again for a nice boat ride. Not even a few minutes up the river and we're soaked again, this time because of the buckets of water coming from the rapids that our boatman can't avoid...

amid general laughter we come ashore and after another half hour of trekking we reach Lata Berkoh on a stretch of river full of little waterfalls. Unfortunately it's impossible to swim because the water is too high and the current is very strong. Azam (who had the courage to come with open sandals) finds a leech on his foot and detaches it, continuing to bleed for several minutes anyway... the real danger of having many attached, in fact, is the risk of bleeding to death because the wounds take quite a while to close. We stay a bit on the spot and return at 4.00 pm to the Mutiara completely wet, just for a change... the nice thing is that we still haven't seen the sun and drying things with this humidity is practically impossible! We have to resort to using the hairdryer... At 7.00 pm we have dinner and at 8.30 pm it starts pouring rain.

The power is still out and consequently, given the weather conditions, the second attempt at a night trek in the jungle is also cancelled. Patience, it's not meant to be! We stay a bit at the restaurant by candlelight in a magical atmosphere and go back to the room to sleep.

Cave Exploration. Local tribe. Rapids

At 9.00 we have an appointment with Azam at the reception. He's always extremely punctual. We wait a few minutes for our wooden boat at the floating platform, which then takes us on a short crossing of the river of about ten minutes. Then begins a 45-minute adventure of trekking in the muddy jungle. With yesterday's downpour, the ground is a slippery swamp. We walk slowly, trying to set our feet on the roots of the trees that form an intricate labyrinth. Besides, we always have the leech worry in our heads, since, on Azam's advice, we're wearing shorts today... and indeed it doesn't take long for one to appear on my trekking shoe, happily jumping for joy! We arrive at our destination: Gua Telinga and the Ear Cave. Azam goes in for a moment to check the conditions of the cave and comes out a bit rueful... the water level is high.

Which means a complete bath up to the thigh, or maybe worse... he leaves the decision to us: we can go in or turn back, it's all the same to him. We ask him if there are dangers, but his answer is no. It's not dangerous: there are just bats and various spiders, maybe some snakes... normal business for the jungle, but maybe not for us city dwellers... we observe the entrance of the cave, which is not at all nice and reassuring, and put it to a vote.

Erika and I are very hesitant, also because getting our trekking shoes wet inside is a tremendous nuisance: they'll never dry again! Stefy instead improvises as our Rambo and spurs us on: what, we've come all the way here and we're not going ahead? Are you kidding? In no time at all here we are then in a narrow corridor, all dirty with mud, with our little torch tied to our left hand, while with the right we're forced to grab some outcropping to avoid tumbling down... two French people with another guide are immediately behind us. Some stretches are so narrow that I have to take off my backpack and drag it ahead of me.

Speaking of backpacks, I'm the only one who brought one, and I made a super smart choice from home, pack a legendary dry bag (the kind used for kayaks, just to be clear) which shrinks according to the space it takes up and is perfect for keeping expensive equipment and change of clothes dry. The only downside of this type of bag is that it's not comfortable to carry by hand, but I got around the problem by attaching two carabiners and shoulder straps so it can be used exactly like a backpack on the shoulders. Our route continues slowly and cautiously on all fours. It drips everywhere, and we're full of mud, forced to crawl between the walls on all fours, but for now we still haven't gotten our shoes wet. The biggest thrill is reaching a cavity full of bats flying everywhere following a circular path and brushing past our heads.

Azam assures us they don't get stuck in your hair and that those are legends from movies. The fact is that, taking my flashlight and pointing it at the left wall (which I can easily touch with my hand it's so close), I see hundreds of bats one attached to the other in their classic vertical hanging position, like Dracula... and it makes quite an impression! I can really look them in the eyes with those disturbing little epileptic twitches of theirs! But sure... it's just suggestion, they're not dangerous animals... shall we also talk about the hairy spider similar to a tarantula that Erika was about to squish with her hand? But sure...

they're stereotyped fears instilled in us civilized folk! It's all fine: you just have to not let claustrophobia panic take over and the adrenaline is guaranteed! We're on the last meters of the cave and here's the expected catch: we have to cross a river of deep water and getting wet is obligatory! We send the French ahead to check the water level and it's better than it seemed: "only" up to the knee! Goodbye trekking shoes... there's no escape and we cover these few meters with the strange sensation of not seeing at all where we put our feet and what there is below the knees. Now yes, I really feel like Rambo in the first episode as he walked through the tunnel with water up to his throat, torch in hand and vampire bats. Only the rats are missing... At least Azam advised well to wear short pants, otherwise it would have been worse...

A last effort to get out of the flooded river and a glimmer of outside light can be seen. We climb a few boulders and we're out in the open air, in indescribable conditions. Azam says we went just 80 meters through the cave... incredible! An unforgettable experience that unfortunately won't be documented with photos or videos since it was unthinkable to open the bag in the cave (and in any case no one would have dared a flash, risking unleashing the wrath of the bats!!!). Now the fun part is going back, walking for half an hour with socks squishing brutally in our soaked shoes... anyway we chose to round out our day with a visit to a local tribe (the only excursion not included in the Explorer package of the Mutiara) that Azam has slotted in before the rapids... we really have to resign ourselves to a long and very "wet" day...

We thus arrive at the village of the Orang Asli (the native tribe of Taman Negara), consisting of a few huts and a few families. They have no electricity or any services. The women and children are very shy and stay apart. We therefore keep company with some men who talk with Azam and give a demonstration of lighting a fire with wood, even though the proximity to the park lodgings and to civilization has by now taught them the good use of the lighter (much more convenient). We spot on a tree the singular animal called the Slow Loris, of which I am not quite sure of the Italian translation. It moves very slowly and is rarely seen. Then they let us try shooting with a blowgun. They say they can hit a small prey up to 40 meters away: not bad at all... We go back by boat for the last stop of today. It's 1.00 pm and we have to face the rapids on the river.

We go up a good stretch of it, observing other people bathing, probably from some tribe even more "native" than the one we saw. In the rapids the laughter and the buckets of water abound but it's certainly not a novelty to be wet on this jungle stay... On the way back it also starts pouring rain, just in case some centimeter of our body had by mistake stayed dry. We disembark at the Mutiara completely soaked, right on time for lunch. We say goodbye to Azam, who turned out to be really very prepared and likeable: an excellent guide! We give him the well-deserved tip. We spend the afternoon resting.

We've been in the jungle three days but we've done so many things packed together that it feels like we've been here a month! We take a little walk around the village at dusk and see a troop of macaques looking for food (that is, packets of peanuts, chips and anything edible that can be stolen from the Homo Sapiens race). They inspire a bit of fear, they seem to be the masters of the place (and they probably really are, as proof that here nature has total dominance over man). A cocktail at the bar to celebrate my birthday is the least we can do.

Mandarin Oriental hotel.

We leave our chalet with deep regret. Taman Negara was an experience beyond all expectations. Extraordinary and thrilling, and much less touristy than we thought. I thought I'd find much more crowding and instead it seemed the village was all for us. Probably the off-season period was also our luck. We came in as civilized people and we're leaving as Rambo. It's an indescribable feeling... After checkout at the reception we have breakfast. At 9.00 we wait for the boat for the return to Kuala Tembeling, where we arrive after two hours going down the river. We have lunch on the spot with bread and a sort of snack bought in the market across the street. At 12.30 we're on the bus to Kuala Lumpur and after almost three hours here we are in front of the Crowne Plaza hotel. We take a taxi to the Mandarin Oriental, a short distance away, exactly beside the Petronas.

We have booked one night of luxury in this 5-star hotel taking advantage of an offer from Expedia. From the outside the building looks cloyingly drab and insignificant, similar to a hospital, but as soon as you cross the entrance threshold the interior changes radically! Besides being wonderful and in perfect Oriental style, you're served and catered to in everything. From the instant you open the taxi door they appear: a doorman who accompanies you to the entrance, the welcome young lady who takes you to the reception, as well as the one who accompanies you to the elevator and to the room showing how the hotel works. It's a bit embarrassing for those not used to so much luxury... Our room is deluxe no. 19 on the nineteenth floor.

In a word: beautiful! The bathroom is stratospheric: all marble with golden fixtures, a splendid bathtub, telephone, music, the possibility of listening to the TV audio and little touches of that sort... The room is very spacious, furnished with everything, and the large bright window has a breathtaking view facing the Petronas! The only flaw is also here the third foldaway bed, which clashes with the luxurious furnishings. Small matters. We don't waste time and, having put on our swimsuits, at 4.30 we run to try a warm bath in the Jacuzzi, beside the terrace where the astonishing outdoor pool seems to end in nothingness (and in fact it really does because the water cascades down into the park below!). At 6.30 we stroll in the Suria KLCC (the Petronas shopping mall), connected directly to the Mandarin by a few meters of corridor. We have dinner in a very nice Vietnamese restaurant.

We're dying of thirst and order "no ice" water, but we are brought boiling water: just like had happened at the Concorde! Does room-temperature water not exist? We then order a mixed appetizer where it's impossible to recognize the origin of what you're looking at. We ask the waiter if there's chicken anywhere and the answer is: "On almost everything!"... good heavens, we've been so careful not to eat it these days... patience, at worst they'll put us in quarantine when we get back to Italy... The evening finally ends with a walk in the outdoor park and a bit of music.

Langkawi Village Resort.

The alarm is at the crack of dawn. Deva, the taxi driver who took us on the first day and whom we called again yesterday for the transfer to the airport, comes to the lobby on time. It's still pitch black but dawn isn't long in coming as we leave the sleepy capital behind us. At 8.00 our Malaysia Airlines flight no. 1430 to Langkawi (LGK) takes off. It's 431 kilometers of route lasting exactly one hour. At 9.00 the plane lands on the only existing runway. And it's also the one and only plane present! As was to be expected, the airport of this island is anyway very small despite some international flights being present. We stop for about an hour at the bar for breakfast and take a taxi to reach the Langkawi Village Resort ***, on the southwest coast of the island, only ten minutes away.

Various resorts and restaurants follow one after another along the main road that runs along the ocean with the beaches facing west, until reaching this resort which is one of the last in the succession. A little further on there's only the Holiday Villa which ends on the promontory, after which the road turns east and the beaches face south. At the reception everyone appears very slow and relaxed, and since our room won't be ready for another hour, we leave the suitcases and go to explore the surroundings. Going left on the main road we have just a few steps away the "Gecko" market, sufficiently large to provide every basic necessity, including a handicraft room and various souvenirs. Further on follows a long sequence of scattered restaurants and shops. In ten to twenty minutes of walking you have practically everything within reach.

Back at the reception we're assigned standard room with garden view no. 127. It's located at the opposite end of the village, which requires a good five minutes' walk to reach it! The structure of the resort is all in all very simple: the reception, the restaurant and the pool are at one end of the village, and from here follow three parallel rows of bungalows separated by a lovely lawn garden (the ones closest to the sea are the superior rooms and cost a tiny bit more, but unfortunately they weren't available at the time of booking...). The row farthest from the sea also marks the boundary of the village and faces a pond behind it where monitor lizards run around. Moreover the bungalows of this last row are on two floors (ours is on the upper floor). The room is spacious, clean, with a table, television, minibar, wardrobe, a nice panoramic balcony and a decent bathroom.

We're far from the luxury of the Mandarin Oriental but everything is still nice and perfectly functional. We try to get an hour of sun on the beach loungers. The coastline is beautiful and evocative. The green lawn ends with tall palms on the golden beach, wide and spacious. On the left the village ends in a promontory, which hides the beach of the Holiday Villa, easily reachable by climbing over some rocks. On the right, instead, the coastline stretches out and in the background you can glimpse the whole gulf to the west of the island. Every now and then you notice the landing of some plane that seems to end up in the sea! In front, a small green islet instead seems to invite a visit with a beautiful white sand where kayaks can be glimpsed. We have lunch at the kiosk/bar on the beach at the edge of the pool and make use of the two beautiful hot-water Jacuzzis with hydromassage.

This will be our relaxation center, that's for sure! We ask at the reception for information about various excursion brochures hanging on the wall, but the guys aren't able to be very thorough and turn out rather unprepared and clumsy: very kind otherwise but really slow. Here life moves at different rhythms, I think we'll have to make peace with that! The evening passes and at dinner time we go out on the main road in search of a restaurant. Several follow one another, among them many Chinese, and almost all on the beach. We are attracted to a certain "TJay's", an Anglo-Italian restaurant opposite the Underwaterworld. The owner is a likeable lady with a typically English manner and very kind, with whom we strike up a cordial conversation. There are few tables outdoors and it's almost empty.

We think it's because this restaurant is not on the beach but actually the owner claims that the whole coastline is semi-deserted: we're still in low season and there aren't many tourists around. We order pasta with salmon and lasagna: all nothing short of divine! The bill is MYR 120, the equivalent of 27 euros for us. Not bad for having eaten very well, three of us!

Seven Wells. Oriental Village. Cable Car.

The breakfast buffet takes place outdoors at the wooden tables facing the beach (but fortunately there are also some indoors in the restaurant in case of rain). Then we spend an endless amount of time at the reception trying to book the canopy tour and the mangrove kayak: it seems like a joke but we just can't do it! The girl splits her time between reception and tour desk and keeps moving constantly. Then another guy arrives and we have to start all over again. In the end we're tempted to take a taxi to have ourselves taken directly to the tour operator's office. But we give up: it seems in the end that at least the canopy has been booked for tomorrow... It gets to 11.30 and we take a taxi to the Seven Wells, which are in the northwest area of Langkawi. The ride costs MYR 22 and is at a fixed rate.

This part of the island is mountainous and wooded, wilder than the flat and cultivated southern part. We are very close to the Mutiara Bay, which was the second resort on the list after the Langkawi Village in case we hadn't found a place. The taxi driver leaves us in front of a few souvenir shops, where a path begins that in 15 minutes of very steep climbing leads to some wonderful waterfalls. We're in the middle of a lush and very green forest. We stop for a little while and continue for another 20 minutes among an infinity of steps that lead further up to some fairy-tale emerald pools. They've built a panoramic tower, some facilities to change and bathe, and created trekking paths to go deeper into the jungle.

Unfortunately we don't have time to walk them because in the background, in the distance, a spectacular cable car can be glimpsed climbing vertiginously among the mountains: that's where we want to go! We return to the starting point and buy some souvenirs, then rest at an outdoor table drinking a refreshing fresh coconut. We meet a certain Mr. Mie, likeable and quick-witted, who offers trips to the marine park at a much lower price than the brochures found in the hotel: we'll think about it. At 2.30 pm we walk a stretch of the road that leads in a few minutes to the Oriental Village. There are macaques lying blissfully on the asphalt as if nothing were the matter. In fact there's not a shadow of a car to be seen: the road is deserted. We arrive at the Oriental Village, which is a very cute typical little village created especially for tourists, with various shops, restaurants and a

Canopy Air Trekking Tour.

At 8:20 the pickup passes by the hotel to come and get us. It's our first guided excursion here in Langkawi: the Canopy Air Trekking. Among other things, one of the most expensive: 180 MYR per person. The brochure is rather impressive, and shows tourists climbing, hanging from a rope as they launch themselves. Buoyed by our experience in the jungle at Taman Negara and by the fact that among the requirements it mentions a tour suitable even for beginners and children over 12, we take for granted that this will anyway be a feasible and tourist-friendly excursion. An illusion that lasted only the half hour of the drive to reach the center of the island, where our "boss" Jurgen has outdone himself by going far beyond the limits of adventure, preserving the extreme-sports spirit of an innate German tradition. He and who we believe is his son will lead us in this madness.

His tone is immediately joking but at the same time very authoritarian. Once off the van he shows us the equipment and we start the harness fitting. The poor victims are us three Italians and a couple of German tourists who already have some basic experience. As for us, we've never tried what climbing and "scrambling" mean. It makes me laugh just to see myself with all this stuff on, the helmet and the damp, torn gloves. We enter a beautiful mountain park and turn onto a path with a very steep staircase (again today! this is the trip of endless steps....) where we continue with a twenty-minute trek through the jungle at a relentless pace. Jurgen doesn't stop for a single second: our hearts are bursting here!! We reach the real starting point already desperately sweaty and worn out. We listen to the epic briefing where Jurgen unleashes his qualities as a general.

He can decide and judge whether we're able or not to face "the final test," and at any moment he can call off the excursion if the weather turns bad. His legendary military gesture and the phrase: "The tour is over" will go down in history. He's quite a singular character. We practice some climbing on a big boulder where our "boss" briefly explains how to behave, how to let the rope slide to descend, what position to hold, etc. But the most important thing of all to keep in mind is to always have one of the two carabiners attached somewhere. To move forward you unhook it only after hooking the other, in a chain succession, because in a little while we'll be on a platform suspended in nothingness, with no safety railing.

And you don't want to risk falling, right? Maybe that's why we signed the form of our absolute responsibility and they insisted so much on having our passport number?!? The first impact with the canopy is almost terrifying. We climb onto a rock, from which a small ladder leads to a wooden platform on the tree opposite. From here a long rope reaches another platform on another tree. Jurgen's son goes first because he'll be waiting for us down there, meanwhile showing us what awaits us. He sits on the platform and launches himself at crazy speed attached to the rope... do we really have to do it too?!? Is this a joke? The German goes first and then it's my turn. Now there are two of them waiting for me on the other side, what a consolation... Jurgen hooks my carabiner and explains the procedure step by step.

The main crux of it all is never to let go of the rope you hold with your right hand because that is our "salvation." When I'm about to arrive there, I'll have to pull hard to brake, otherwise I'll arrive too fast. So I find myself sitting on this wooden platform with my feet dangling in the void but I'm still asking myself what on earth I'm doing here! I get the signal to go but endless seconds pass before I really decide to launch myself into the void like a paratrooper jumping from a plane. Adrenaline galore and, as Sean Connery said: "if you don't feel alive now, you never will!" I'm not able to really enjoy the crossing, being focused on looking at the tree opposite where it seems I'm about to crash... I pull the rope too early to brake and turn sideways, but in the end the Germans catch me "in flight" (in the literal sense of the phrase).

How shaken am I? And the whole thing lasted only a few seconds. I unhook and rehook the carabiners and here I am on the platform waiting for Ste, who launches himself with much less hesitation than me! Then it's Erika's turn, but she backs out: she suffers from vertigo, how could she ever do such a thing? It's already a lot that she faced the Cable Car yesterday! She'll join us via an alternative route on foot accompanied by Jurgen. The other German woman arrives and we're complete, ready to make another launch on the second canopy. This one is shorter and the flight is interrupted by friction halfway, where we're picked up. Reached by Erika and Jurgen, we continue the route, which involves crossing a chasm by walking with our feet on a single taut rope, like tightrope walkers at the circus (from above, of course, we're always hooked to the safety rope).

This is almost more impressive than flying, because you're forced to look where you put your feet and inevitably your gaze also gets lost in the void below. All operations are carried out with due calm and safety, but the physical and psychological tension is sky-high! Right after, we do a short rappel down leaning against a vertical rock. Jurgen warns us to stay to the right since the wall tends to push the rope to the opposite side and you end up in the void where you can't put your feet. No sooner said than done, we all fall for it and the German woman gets into serious difficulty... Another rappel follows, longer but less complicated, until we reach the starting point for the final canopy.

And here things get really serious! Jurgen gives a nice, precise, incisive little speech: if you don't feel up to it, it's better not to jump because the canopy is 140 meters long, you fly at a height of 40 meters from the ground and if you stop halfway it's a real mess to come and rescue the poor soul... not only that: the real problem lies in the fact that there's no alternative way to get down from the tree we'll reach except by a vertical descent which, for beginners, can be quite difficult and demanding. In reality, let's be clear, there's no real danger of falling: what Jurgen rightly wants to make clear is that if someone has a panic attack up there, it's trouble and you can get hurt... very hurt! Erika is excluded first, since she didn't even do the other canopies, and Ste backs out on the boss's suggestion, who isn't convinced he'll really manage to "enjoy" it.

In fact, we paid for the tour also for this, right? I'm the only one left, and I accept after a thousand second thoughts, along with the two Germans. They go first. I watch them float in that very long flight that disappears into the green of the jungle together with their shouts of release. Jurgen and his son on the opposite side communicate via walkie-talkie, and he always has the courage to joke to lighten the mood. He also knows many words in Italian and calls us by our nicknames. "Pippo's coming!" he shouts after having autoritatively repeated to me everything I must and must not do. Right! Pippo is me and it's my turn! Erika

Pulau Payar Marine Park Tour.

The minibus arrives at the hotel at 8:10 for the tour to Pulau Payar Marine Park. Sea excursions are found just about everywhere. There are also guys on the beach of our resort who organize them every day. But we booked through Mr. Mie, whom we met at the Seven Wells, who offered the same trip as other brochures, with boat and lunch in a restaurant, at a clearly lower price: MYR 130 per person instead of 180 and, in some cases, even 220. After just a minute we're in the square of the Aseania, a hotel very close to ours but not located on the sea. Here we have to take the bigger bus to reach Kuah, the capital of Langkawi, where the ferries leave from. Together with us a very large group of Chinese gets on. Mr. Mie shows up for a moment, takes the money for the tour and also a deposit for the Island Hopping we book for tomorrow. After half an hour by bus we're in Kuah.

Everything starts to get a bit chaotic: getting off the coach, the line for tickets at the port, the wait. There's an impressive crowd and we don't have a guide, so in order not to get lost we try to follow the flood of Chinese from our group marked with the same little sticker. Boarding the ferry is equally critical amid pushings, tight spaces, muggy heat. As usual, once past the entrance door the temperature drops by 10 degrees because of the air conditioning turned on full blast. Here you even need a scarf! The attempt to stay on the open deck is completely futile: it's overrun by the Chinese! We leave the port passing among various islands of the Langkawi archipelago and after an hour we arrive at Pulau Payar Marine Park.

The disembarkation turns into a nightmare with the horde of Chinese running like mad on the pier, while a local gentleman, looking at our relaxed European faces, rightly senses that we haven't grasped the frenetic spirit of this tour. He urges, almost scolds us, to stop observing the beautiful scenery and move our little legs to go get masks and fins, which aren't enough for everyone. Is he serious? We paid! What do you mean there's no equipment for everyone? I cross the pier and, making my way among the Chinese crowded around two boxes (one for masks and one for fins), I try and try again in the confusion to find the right fin sizes and some decent mask. It's an impossible undertaking, because many things are broken, snorkels are missing, there are bent fins, there's dirt and even insects inside! We remain astounded and dumbfounded while the Chinese have by now left only the rejects.

Not only that, within a couple of minutes there's no living soul left on the pier except us: they're all already en masse in the water swimming. Two Malaysian guys who work on site come over, noticing our total bewilderment. Erika flies into a rage and bursts out, but they, obviously, can't do much and say to take it up with the organizer. Uh oh, Mr. Mie, you've really made a big mess of it! The guys actually also prove to be very kind, and say they're willing to lend us their personal masks, which are at least new, clean and well kept. At first we hesitate but so as not to completely ruin the day in the end we accept. The place, moreover, is truly beautiful: the water is crystal clear, the weather is great, and this island really seems like a postcard paradise.

We get in at almost ambient temperature, it's 11:15, and right away near the pier one of the Malaysian guys makes himself noticed with mask and fins. He motions for us to follow him. So now we even have our own personal guide! We leave behind the human cloud of Chinese, who all remain in the same spot in a circle, and in an hour of swimming we do a

Underwater world.

The morning shows what the day will be like: it's pouring rain and the sea is rough! We haven't seen much sun so far during our stay on this island... could that be why they call it 'low season'? We take it for granted that the Island Hopping tour booked yesterday with Mr. Mie will be postponed to the afternoon. That's what the guys booking the same excursion on the beach told me, assuring me that if it rains in the morning the tour gets postponed to the afternoon. At 9:20, however, we get a call from reception in our room with the notice that the minibus is waiting for us... come on! Do we really have to do the boat tour among the islands in this downpour? We reach the resort entrance to get an explanation, but the pickup driver doesn't speak English well. Suddenly he storms off without saying a word, leaving us stunned! Erika goes full speed ahead again, calling Mr.

Mie, fuming with rage, while the reception guys, always kind, ask me if there are any problems. They're a bit shamefaced about various shortcomings of theirs during our stay. For example forgetting to put towels in the room, not delivering the tour confirmation messages, and so on, a long list... by now we take everything as a joke because there's nothing else we can do! Also because they're so kind that they make you feel tender, and it's pointless to get upset. Erika hangs up the phone after giving Mr. Mie the peremptory order to come immediately and explain. In a couple of minutes he arrives at reception all sleepy. Even before he starts talking, two guys approach him with the receipt of a tour booked through him, saying they've been waiting for the pickup for half an hour and no one has shown up yet. Mr.

Mie stands looking at the little slip of paper muttering something incomprehensible, answering the guys that he'll look into it... what can you say... he's done another one of his!! Erika and I are stunned: this guy is really a first-rate agent! He opens the car door and shows the flat tire, apologizing for not having come to pick us up himself. Then we have a calm discussion in which Erika, after making a few complaints about yesterday's excursion, tries to explain to Mr. Mie that we tourists are here to have fun and he can't send us on the island hopping in the biblical flood. He stays with his head down and at times even seems absent. Who knows... maybe he's still wondering what happened to those guys' pickup... In the end he gives us back yesterday's deposit without batting an eye and leaves after suffering one of the many scoldings he is by now, I believe, in fact used to.

So as not to stay doing nothing all morning, at 11:00 we go to visit the Underwater World. At least it's indoors! Admission costs MYR 38 per person. The aquarium isn't very big and is divided into zones. The first is the Rainforest, with various animal species typical of the tropical belt (not only fish, but also flamingos, parrots, anacondas and the capybara - the largest rodent existing on earth). Then you move on to the Arctic, with the interesting pavilion of penguins and sea lions. Then follows a bit of a queue to enter Theatre 3d, which in reality (perhaps because of the little glasses) doesn't feel very three-dimensional... Finally we cross the final room with an infinity of fish and, at the exit, the ritual shopping store.

But we spend our money further on at the Gecko market in the crafts section, buying some hilarious statues of macaques in the 'see no evil - hear no evil - speak no evil' sequence and so many postcards as to surprise even the cashier. We have lunch at the hotel restaurant, which without a doubt is the best part of the Langkawi Village. It's very nice and above all functional. We rest a bit in the room while the bad weather gives no respite. Just to mention the mishap that the Langkawi Village offers today, the cleaning girls arrive to tidy the room at 18:00... a bit late I'd say... and before leaving they even lock the bathroom door from the outside! I notice by chance because, given yesterday's experience, I wanted to check whether they had put the replacement towels... and I can't get in! Uh oh... every day there's a new one, it seems like the journey of Fantozzi...

After chasing the girl and having the bathroom door reopened, we notice once again that they forgot the laundry bag in the room with our dirty clothes. No comment. Are we too unlucky or can they just not manage it? A little later we hear a knock at the door and to our astonishment we find ourselves facing Jurgen. He has come to our room in person to confirm tomorrow's tour, even though he left the sheet at reception! So professional! So legendary! Talk about Mr. Mie! He makes us die laughing with his jokes and advises what to bring for tomorrow's excursion. We go and do a bit more shopping in an excellent clothing, shoes and backpack store, called "De region shope" where I buy a watch for MYR 36 and some cheeky shirts. Meanwhile it's dinner time and we move on to T-Jay's, having a salmon pizza. Very good but quite heavy on the stomach, I must say.

Then we also go back to Gecko to buy 42 stamps (but we'd need more!) for our postcards at 50 cents each. The cashier is flabbergasted: we've cleaned him out...

Mangrove kayak & caves Tour.

Today is the fateful day of the Mangrove Safari and Secret Caves kayak tour, from which we expect great emotions, having done a similar one in Thailand in 2002 at Krabi, which is located a little further north of Langkawi. Most agencies offer the tour by boat, but we are convinced that the kayak offers a more immersive experience, allowing us to enter the most hidden recesses and have a more ecological and intense contact with nature. The effort of two strokes of the paddle gives much more satisfaction and is undoubtedly well repaid. The 'boss' Jurgen offers it at a high price, MYR 220 per person, but we are certain of his professional reliability and besides he is practically the only one who organizes it. He arrives with his van punctually at 8:30.

With us there are two big German lads from the Holiday Villa and a slight couple from Hong Kong from the Pelangi Hotel whom, I don't know why, we improperly nickname the 'Japs' as if they were wrongly Japanese. It takes us a good 40 minutes to reach the north-east of Langkawi. We have crossed the island from side to side because the mangrove area, which is the most wild and unspoiled, is located in the north-east while the Langkawi Village is in the south-west. We reach a pier on a river where Jurgen prepares the equipment and does the usual briefing. He asks if we know how to swim and, despite everyone answering yes, he insists on making the girl from Hong Kong wear the life jacket. He must have already sized them up, realizing that she and the boy don't have much familiarity with the paddle.

On board a small boat with the kayaks tied at the stern, we reach the mouth of the river in twenty minutes and follow a short stretch of coast until we reach a strip of sand in a very small cove where we disembark. We barely fit, along with the four double kayaks. The weather is great and the sea is flat. Jurgen chooses the pairs: him and the 'Jap girl', me and Ste, Erika and a German, the 'Jap guy' with the other German. We get into the kayaks and the adventure begins! We travel for twenty minutes on a sea smooth as oil following the coast, until we reach a 'secret cave', that is, a hidden cave that reveals itself only at low tide. We go through it passing underneath and emerge on the other side into a collapsed sinkhole discovered by Jurgen himself during his explorations, of which he is very proud.

He earned a million points with this place: it's fabulous! The walls are high, vertical and tangled with dense vegetation: it is impossible to get here by land. And the fact that it is also inaccessible by sea at high tide, which hides the cave, gives it a truly special charm and mystery! The landscape is stunning and really recalls the wonders of Krabi, even if it is a little less bizarre in its shapes. The great Jurgen leaves us open-mouthed once again... A major unforeseen event is, however, at the door: a sudden howling is heard between the walls and the stagnant water quickly ripples amid the strong gusts of wind. The 'boss's' face turns gloomy and serious: we must get out of there immediately and return to the cove. The storm is looming. No sooner said than done, within two minutes flat the wonderful day turns into the apocalypse.

It starts pouring and from the cave we glimpse outside surging waves that make it difficult to exit. Once outside we are against the current, the waves hit us full in the face by the bucketload along with the pouring rain and, beyond the risk of capsizing, there is the risk of not being able to move forward an inch. Ste and I are forced to give it our all with all our energy and stay focused to keep panic and seasickness at bay. We synchronize our paddling and finally manage to reach the beach, trying to push the kayak as far inland as possible to pull it out of the waves' suck. Everything seems incredible and surreal because a few minutes ago it felt like being in paradise and it was a splendid day! The others' backpacks are completely soaked, while fortunately I have my indispensable dry bag that saved me at Taman Negara too.

It's much appreciated even by Jurgen who observes it carefully and a bit enviously, complimenting me. They probably don't have them here, or they're hard to find. Meanwhile we wait for the boat that will take care of our 'rescue' and we stay in the rain, worried that the tour is already well and truly over. But the boss cannot disappoint us: as a good general he will certainly also have a 'plan B'. We tie the kayaks to the boat which, with serious difficulty, amid flights worthy of the most stomach-churning roller coasters (thank goodness I took the Xamamina!), returns inland up the river where the water is calmer. Jurgen says not to worry: we will do what we paid for! And here's how our 'plan B' proved itself. After traveling a few bends of the river, the water turns to oil again and it even stops raining.

We bring the kayaks alongside the boat and climb aboard somewhat awkwardly, with some risk of capsizing. We resume the adventure exploring the mangroves inside labyrinthine nooks and crannies that require some familiarity with handling the kayak. And here our Jurgen loses quite a few points for the first time, having changed the pairs and pairing himself with the German and the two 'Japs' from Hong Kong together. Very bad because the poor things bump into everything, unable to maneuver, under the powerless eyes of me and Ste who are behind them. Which is very dangerous because the first lesson about the mangroves is precisely to avoid contact with the branches from which spiders and venomous snakes can emerge.

In the end we beg for the boss's help and he comes running, immediately thinking of some trouble! A nice basic explanation follows on how to move and use the paddles, after which the two slowly manage to improve and cope, while we enjoy the absolute peace of this place in the thick and gloomy shade of the mangroves. It's beautiful and also relaxing because, I don't know by what sorcery, we always have the current in our favor. Even when we go back from the same point with a 180-degree "U" turn. How is that possible? Jurgen explains it all in his immense wisdom and knowledge of these places: he really is the Indiana Jones of Langkawi! We reach another cave but the tide is too high and it's not possible to pass inside with the kayak. We just visit the entrance. From here we see the mangrove tour boat passing by, showing the cave from afar to the crowded tourists...

I'm sorry for those who booked it but with the kayak and with Jurgen it's a whole other thing! Through the maze of mangroves, we proceed slowly, cautiously observing a venomous snake kept at a safe distance. It's past 13:00 when we reach a quiet bend where the boss orders us to put on our shoes. Now it's time for a bit of trekking. We disembark slowly one by one, awkwardly, among a group of slippery rocks, trying not to put our feet in the muddy water. Meanwhile we tie the kayaks to each other while Jurgen is forced to take a good soaking to recover a bag that fell into the river... A steep scramble, on a mere hint of a trail covered in slippery mud, leads to today's last cave. It's a place that only Jurgen knows, just for a change. He pulls the miners' headlamps out of his backpack and hands one to each of us.

We enter the exploration with adrenaline at a thousand, trying to be careful not to tumble and moving

Island Hopping & Eagles Feeding Tour.

During the night the storm forces us to open our eyes wide several times with thunder that makes the floor tremble! At 8.00 we are up for breakfast, while it continues to drizzle and the sea is a bit rough. We are uncertain again today about what to do for the Island Hopping trip, which this time we booked not through Mr. Mie but through a gentleman stationed every day with an umbrella and table on the beach of Langkawi Village. I go to find out and he replies that if the conditions are very bad we can move the tour to the afternoon. The pickup arrives anyway at 9.35 and in the end we decide to go, since today is the last chance left: either this way or nothing! In a few minutes we reach the small harbor a little further south where, to our great amazement, the sea is much more sheltered and almost flat. Here we receive the usual tour sticker to attach to our T-shirt.

There are hordes of Chinese boarding the small boats by storm, but luckily for us we wait last and set sail on a boat with another small group of only three Chinese girls: what luck! The girls put on their life jackets and immediately go into a frenzy: it seems it's the first time they've seen the sea... Our 'captain' hands them to us too and faced with our initial refusal to put them on (since the sea is fairly calm and we know how to swim), he imposes it on us as an order! And he is absolutely right because shortly after leaving the port we enter an open stretch where we start bouncing terribly! But let's set aside the seasickness and laugh about it with the Chinese girls in front of us screaming as if they were on the craziest roller coaster at Disneyland...

The crossing lasts about 20 minutes and, while we admire the wonderful landscape created by countless islets dotting the archipelago, we are dropped off on one of the most famous islands where the legend of the princess who seems to have cursed Langkawi for many generations holds sway. We have an hour to visit it. Once we step onto the pier we are surrounded by an army of macaques looking for something to steal from tourists. The island is uninhabited so they are the masters around here... a large sign also warns of their danger and points the way into the interior of the island. With a long flight of steps we reach in ten minutes the princess's lake set in an extraordinary place, surrounded by high green walls and dense vegetation. We swim with difficulty in the very heavy fresh water that makes it very hard to stay afloat.

Legend says that drinking this water grants remarkable fertile properties. There are quite a few tourists but no one moves away from the platform, which is the only handhold, since the bottom is very deep and the dark color (almost black) that allows no visibility below is a bit unsettling. There are also those who, instead of swimming, prefer to rent a paddle boat for a relaxing scenic ride. We return to the pier at the agreed time, but our Oriental companions make us wait a good 20 minutes, when our boat is by now practically the last one moored. In ten minutes of crossing we reach a sheltered cove where our captain stops the engines and starts throwing fish into the water. In no time at all hundreds of hungry sea eagles arrive, elegantly diving to catch their lunch! Here they call it Eagle's Feeling and it is very popular, since eagles are also the symbol of Langkawi.

You can't believe how many there are: it's magnificent! A unique opportunity to take unrepeatable photos with a good telephoto lens, despite the difficulty of following their fast dives and the rocking of the boat... We admire, enchanted, this unusual and superlative event until the fish runs out and the eagles slowly vanish. We continue toward the last stop, which is Beras Basah island. This one is also uninhabited but there is at least a kiosk for drinks and food. We disembark in front of a beautiful white beach where they do parasailing and the banana boat with speedboats that come at full speed to within a few meters of the shore and the swimmers! We again have an hour of free time. Meanwhile the longed-for and much-awaited warm sun comes out, bringing considerable mugginess, easily defeated by staying soaked in the calm, crystal-clear water.

Finally, once the hour has passed, we return to the small and characteristic little harbor of Langkawi and from there to our resort at 13.30. We are more than satisfied to have done the Island Hopping: it went very well! We have lunch by the pool and spend the whole afternoon at our resort on the loungers under a scorching sun: about time! I take the opportunity to walk along the seafront until I reach the beach of the Holiday Villa, a few hundred meters further south. This is one of the most chosen hotels in the catalogs of Italian tour operators. As it happens, it also has a restaurant-pizzeria called "Da Mario" inside... The loungers are more comfortable and private, but the beach is narrower and the hotel less characteristic (there are no bungalows but classic multi-story apartments).

On the whole I consider the location and appearance of the Langkawi Village much better (I obviously cannot judge the service and quality, though). We go back to our pool where we have a cocojam cocktail and enjoy the beneficial properties of the jacuzzi. This is the best way to spend our last evening in the sea of Malaysia. For dinner we go back for a second round at the Lighthouse Restaurant and it starts pouring again. We order an excellent soup tomato (tomato soup), tunasteak (tuna steak) and coconut crepe (fabulous coconut crepe!).

Langkawi-Singapore.

Last breakfast in Langkawi, still and always under the rain. Fortunately after about an hour a bit of sun arrives and while Erika stays in the pool to tan, Ste and I go to buy our last souvenirs. By the time we return it's already cloudy again! We close the suitcases and at 12.30 we have lunch at the restaurant. We go through a long and slow check-out at the reception and book the taxi to reach the airport. We are close to tears, distressed by a strong melancholy: despite the weather conditions not being kind to us, we spent an incredible week rich in extraordinary experiences day by day... Langkawi turned out to be a magnificent island that gave us unforgettable and exciting memories!

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