Mixing business with pleasure in Malaysia

Sarah Pickford on 18 March 2019
When I was invited to attend an event in Langkawi about luxury travel, I jumped at the opportunity. It's somewhere I had never been to and having only been to Penang in Malaysia before I figured it was a great time to do a little more. So after a brief discussion my husband and I decided to start my trip with a short break in Kuala Lumpur. Choosing a hotel was quite a daunting task as I didn't know the city at all. In the end we decided on something mid range in the city's 'Golden Triangle' which is basically the commercial, shopping and entertainment hub. Shopping wasn't on the agenda but seeing the sights and having fun was so the location was perfect for us, walking distance to most things including the Petronas Twin towers and the Menara KL Tower. Both towers offer great viewing opportunities and worth doing even though we are used to the height of the Burj Khalifa!

For the most part we walked around the city to see Chinatown and the Sultan Abdul Samad building, but we did also venture further afield - just 25minutes in a cab - to see the famous Batu Caves, the site of a Hindu temple and shrine. It's only 272 steps to the top, it's much easier coming down. It was fun to watch the monkeys here, stealing drinks and food off the unsuspecting tourists. As dedicated 'foodies' we decided to use a guide to walk us around some of the city's vast array of street food vendors. This was a great decision. A gentle pace over 4 hours with stops to try lots of interesting foods produced by the locals. Most of it we loved but there was the occasional 'interesting' snack.

We completely filled our time in KL and we didn't get to use the lovely large pool at the hotel, bigger and more inviting than seen at most city hotels. Next stop was Langkawi. Just an hour hop on a plane for KL, I did get to use the pool and the beach in Langkawi. With a clear island feel the pace was slow and relaxed. With a number of hotels to choose from I had always thought it was really just a 5* luxury location but actually found there was a really good range of properties with something to suit everyone.

My first hotel wasn't beach front but it was just a 5 minute walk and the view then was simply beautiful. Pantah Tengah I felt was the perfect location for anyone not wanting to spend all the time in a resort hotel. There was a little stretch of bars, shops and restaurants frequented by locals so a real authentic feel. Wow, the spices in the food are hot!

After a couple of days R&R here it was onwards to the area of Kuah. Here I was staying on the lovely beach front and enjoyed a long walk when I wasn't working or watching the local monkeys fight. This area is around 45 minutes from one of the main attractions of the island which is the Skybridge and Langkawi cable car. I am scared of heights but not one to miss out I quickly got myself first in line to board vertiginous 15minutes ride to the top of mount Mat Cincang. Here I joined the Skybridge, the longest free span and curved bridge in the world. I shocked myself by walking along it, but I did, suspended from a 82m high single pylon hanging 100m above the ground. Not for the faint hearted! Up here viewing the beautiful landscape was a further reminder of how lush and green Malaysia is. It couldn't be more different from Dubai.