The Wedding and Mangrove tour

The time had come when i could put it off no longer, and i had to stand there and deliver a best man speech (or something which came close to resembling one). To be fair to everyone, they l applauded me at the beginning which really made me feel more at ease, and i managed to deliver it without too many stutters or cock-ups, which was a relief.

The wedding itself was lovely, set on a beach front with perfect white sand all around. I was only entrusted with the rings 5 minutes before the actual ceremony, which is probably a good thing, as i would have probably covered them in a layer of sweat, so sweltering is it out here.

This is the the arch under which my friends were married. I am afraid my photography skills can't really do it justice, but it was a stunning location with some beautiful islands in the background.

Anyway, after delivering the speech, i sat and consumed an immense amount of alcohol, so come the end of the evening i don't even remember ordering the room service that i did, but i do have a vague recollection of Sam forcing a few chips into my drunken mouth.

This morning was lovely. As part of the wedding package, the bride and groom could invite a few people over to the villa they were in for a special breakfast curry (traditional Malay breakfast).

After that we went out on some boats along the river to see bat caves, eagle feeding and a fish farm.

The bat caves were lovely, it was a cave and it had - erm - bats in it. A lot of bats. I can imagine my mum running out of the place screaming, such is her phobia for our furry little friends, but it was great.

Here be bats! Mum, you might not want to look at that picture!! I personally thought they were rather cute, as they would ruffle about when the silly tourists flashed their bright lights at them, as if to say, "do you mind, i am sleeping" - even the bats in Malaysia are polite!

The fish farm was really interesting, it was a flotilla on the river, which seems to hold a few fish in some large nets. Upon seeing us, a kindly old lady came out and showed us a few of the fish. The angler fish (ones that shoot water out of their mouths to hit flies on branches) were great fun, i was sticking some bread to the side of the tank and watching their precision at dislodging it. Also, if you hold the bread out over the water, they will jump out and grab it from your hand, which is pretty cool experience. Finally, i dangled over the edge with a large piece of bread in my mouth, and received a fish kiss!!

The eagle feeding was spectacular, we went to a place where there were at least 50 eagles all soaring over the water and were frantically taking photos to capture this spectacular sight. Each bird has a wingspan of over 6 feet and they are truly amazing creatures to see swooping down onto the water and picking up fish. I was pretty awestruck at this to be honest.


This photo was actually taken by Sam, but is so cool, I have nicked it for use in the blog (my camera fogged up in the humidity). This solitary bird does not do justice to just how many other birds were soaring up in the sky, but this gives an idea of how close they come to you, we were no more than 10 metres away from them picking up food.

The final part of the tour involved parking up on a secluded beach for a few moments to enjoy the scenery and it was from here we could see Thailand in the distance. Then it was off back to the jetty.

We have just been out for a large group meal, and it was a slightly sad feeling as this is the last time we will all be sat in Langkawi together. Quite a few of them are going home to England tomorrow. However, I have had such a great time, and everyone seems to have got on really well together.

Next couple of days will be spent trying to sort out the tour.....still not booked anything yet......