Sitting by the shore, gazing at the starry sky. So tired but feeling relaxed at the same time. This was how I felt the night before I left Langkawi. Looking back at the past 2 days, there is not a single moment that I regret or feel bored about.

My journey to this wonderful island began with a group of 26 people, most of them being complete strangers to me. By the end of the tour we are strangers no more. Even though coming from different parts of the world, we feel part of the same family now; a family that loves to travel.

There are two ways to get to Langkawi; by road and by air. I chose the cheaper option that is to go by bus with a group. A 7-hour long journey and still hadn’t reached the island. Had to take an additional hour journey by ferry toget to the destination. My excited mind lost track of time at the sea. I felt like the ferry journey lasted only a couple of minute. I could see the symbolic eagle from the ferry. I knew instantly that my wait was over. Ihad arrived at Langkawi Island.

As soon as I got off the ferry, I headed straight towards Eagle Square; the place where the gigantic eagle stands. Needless to say, Iand other members of the group didn’t miss the chance to take pictures of this wonderful sight.

The hotel was half an hour drive from the Eagle Square. However, the hotel check in time was at 2:00 pm. So,our group went for a ride around the island.The beauty of the Langkawi is truly eye captivating.Being a duty-free zone is an added bonus of this picturesque island, and the best place for shopping is the city of Kuah. Once I was out of the perimeters of this city, I couldn’t stop admiring the village beauty. Wooden houses, long stretches of paddy fields, grazing cows, little children riding bicycles by the roadside, all of these reminded of my home.

I checked in at the hotel at around 2:30pm and couldn’t stop myself from going to the beach after seeing the view from my room.Slowly the day came to an end.  I saw the sun setting down giving way to dusk. All the water activities for the day came to a halt. My group began preparing for the BBQ night. It was a fun night under the stay sky.

Second day was scheduled for Island hopping. Two vans wereready to take all 26 of us to the port where our speedboats waited. But on reaching the port, I sawmany speedboats, all tied in a row, waiting to be filled before starting off. My boatsuddenly stopped in the middle of the sea. The boat driver was trying to show something. I looked up to the islands. Their shape resembled that of a pregnant woman lying on a bed made of sea. This was our first spot and the name of this island is Maiden Pregnant Woman.

We had an hour to explore the insides of this island. A freshwater lake flows through this island. It is called the Lake of the pregnant maiden. The lake has deep blue water and is a part of the Dayang Bunting Marble Geoforest Park. This is one of the three geoparks of Langkawi with great limestone formations, marbles and unique geological features.An hours’ time is quite insufficient to appreciate natures beauty. Half-heartedly I left to go to the next spot.

The boat stopped once again in the middle of the blue sea. This was our second spot and it wasn’t about any islands this time. It was about the eagles that were flying in flocks just a few metres away from us and eating food from the water. After taking pictures for a few minutes, the boat started off heading to our last spot of island hoping, BerasBasah, which is acoral island. Another hour to spend here. It was a snorkeling spot and I sure know why. The clear and transparent water lets one explore the beauty hidden in the seabed. The time flew by fast.

It is hard to leave such wonderful places but that’s how life is. You cannot hold onto something forever. You need to let go. I headed back to the hotel with my group. Since we were leaving the next day, I decided to take one last dip at the beach in front of our hotel.

My last morning in Langkawi; can’t forget the sight of theblue watercourse and the sound of the fluttering waves through the balcony of my room. Langkawi, an archipelago of 99 islands about 30 km off the coast of northwestern Malaysia, is akind of a paradise. A sad good bye it is for now, but I think I will be returning back soon here.If you are person who loves the sound of waves and the calmness of the sea breeze, one who wants to get lost in the beauty of nature leaving behind all other thoughts of a busy life; Langkawi is a place worth visiting.