Langkawi Island is the largest one in the 140-island Langkawi archipelago chain which in times past was a perfect pirate hideaway and today is a sought after luxury tourist destination.

The fun begins as you make your way through rice paddy fields and rubber plantations to Makam Mahsuri. This is the birthplace of Mahsuri, a princess who was falsely accused of adultery. Legend has it she placed a curse on the island for 7 generations right before her death. Visit her shrine and see her jewelry in the on-site museum as well as the weapon she was murdered with.

From there you will travel to a rubber plantation for a brief demonstration of rubber tapping. While on tour, hop inside a cable car and soar along the rainforest treetops. Savor the birds eye views and pass high waterfalls to reach Gunung Machinchang; at 2,100 feet high its circular platforms offer 360 degree breathtaking views of the archipelago and nearby Thailand. Be sure to bring your camera!

Take a seat in a local restaurant for lunch; afterwards be greeted at Kuah, the main town and capital of Langkawi, by an impressive 12-meter-high statue of an eagle about to take flight. Take advantage of your time here to do a little duty-free shopping and mingle with the locals before your return trip to port.

Langkawi is home to lovely scenery and deeply rich culture. Historic destinations and a dash of beautiful backdrops are yours to explore on this Langkawi tour. Visiting a few of the island’s most noteworthy landmarks, this tour is ideal for nature lovers, photographers, and anyone looking for a historically informative experience.

Begin your tour at the Batik Factory, where the creation of an interesting cloth unfolds. Batik is a cloth traditionally made using a manual wax-resist dyeing technique. Workers can be viewed in plain sight displaying the creative process in designing beautiful patterns and vibrant colors. This factory provides interesting, informative, and professional insight into a native Langkawi practice.

Next on your tour is Mahsuri’s tomb, an elegant crypt belonging to Princess Mahsuri, an iconic island figure. One of Langkawi’s most famous legends stems from this historic landmark. Enjoy the fascinating story behind the legend before heading to your next destination, Black Sand Beach. A sense of calm and serenity envelops this ancient fishing dock. Mysterious stretches of black sand here still confuse scientists to this day on the black color’s origin.

Your Langkawi tour continues to one of the island’s most recognized man-made attractions, an impressively large sculpture of a majestic eagle poised to take flight. This striking statue stands at almost 40-feet tall, ideal for memorable photographs. Around the sculpture, beautiful miniature fountains, charming terraces, and picturesque bridges provide incredible snapshots of Langkawi’s gorgeous scenery. Then visit Kuah Town, where you can purchase souvenirs and assorted items from the excellent variety of duty-free shops before continuing your tour outside the city.

View the tropical rainforest on northern Langkawi and Malaysia’s largest crocodile farm, a must-see destination which houses over a thousand “Crocodylus Porosus” crocodiles. Continue the adventure and experience the thrill of being in the longest free span single rope cable car in Malaysia at 919.5 meters, which enjoying the breathtaking scenery of Gunung Mat Cincang.

A half day visit to gain a brief overview of Langkawi is perfect for those wanting to see a lot in a small amount of time. Your Langkwai tour will bring you to a functioning rubber estate to witness the origins of the ubiquitous material. Take time to photograph classic vistas of rice paddy fields with water buffalo being used by farmers to cultivate rice. Then, learn the local legend of the martyred Princess Mahsuri with visit to her tomb.

You will meet your tour representative at the port and be driven throughout this Malaysian island. You will have the opportunity to visit a working rubber plantation. Colonial Europeans explored Southeast Asia in the late 19th Century and planted rubber trees to harvest the sap these trees produce. It was at one time one of Malaysia’s prime industries. To this day, rubber is still extracted from the trees and a local worker will demonstrate the process called tapping. Looking nothing like its end product, the sap oozes out as a viscous white liquid.

Some of the most iconic and inspirational images are rice paddies dotted with coconut palms along their edges. Though modern machinery is used, water buffalo are domesticated by local farmers to plough the paddies, or the buffalo can be seen grazing in nearby grass. You will also see kampungs, villages with typical Malay houses built on stilts for protection from flooding. Make sure you bring a camera to capture photographs of this beautiful and exotic scenery.

You will thus be escorted to the tomb of one of Langkawi’s most time honored legends, Princess Mahsuri. According to the story, Mahsuri’s parents originated from Phuket in Thailand. In search of a better life, they moved to Langkawi. Regarded as a beautiful young woman, Mahsuri married a warrior Wan Darus, whose mother was jealous of Mahsuri’s beauty. In the early 19th Century, Wan Darus was called off to war leaving Mahsuri alone. It was during his absence that Wan Darus’ mother accused Mahsuri of adultery. She was found guilty by the village elders and sentenced to die by impalement. With her dying breath, she protested for her innocence and cursed the island to experience seven generations of misfortune. Whether her curse worked or not is up to you, but you will nonetheless hear an intriguing tale of love, jealousy, and justice gone awry.

This insightful Langkawi excursion to the Jewel of Kedah will leave you with a new and enlightened appreciation for Malay culture.