Langkawi Top Ten

As is traditional, and in no particular order, here are my top ten most memorable moments in Langkawi. Oh, except there are eleven.

Sorry.

But Langkawi was eleven out of ten worth of amazing.

- lying in a hammock on a rock, monkeys whooping in the jungle behind me, watching a snake sliding, gracefully out of the undergrowth to raise its head and hiss at the two cats, a safe distance away, who are solemnly and carefully regarding it.

- packing our bag as per Gemmy's instructions, prior to taking a walk in the jungle. Salt for the leeches, a stick to alert the snakes, long sleeves for the mosquitoes and the termites. We saw none of these things, even the mosquitoes were absent, but it felt intrepid. It felt like proper jungle walking. It made me worthy of my khaki shorts and my walking boots. It basically made me Indiana Jones. Though with less blatant bare faced cultural theivery.

- Lying on our backs on the grass at midnight, the better to regard the moon. Gemmy's excited face, emerging carrying three glasses and a bottle. " Who wants wine?". Wine in my hand, giddiness in all three of us, cat using me as a mattress, toasting the moon.

- plodding wet and filthy through rice paddies and jungle paths, wheeling battered old bikes and giving in to the soaking monsoon rains.

- Sitting outside in the darkness, kitten asleep half on my lap, half on M's, listening to Gemmy serenading us on his ukulele, the jungle around us humming along.

- watching a flying lemur grip onto the tree, while it provided us with a clear upwards view of its anus and the waste it was busy extracting from it. The contrast between this, the unearthly almost mechanical motion of its head slowly circling all the way round, and finally, its silent and graceful flight.

- swimming once again through another world as we snorkell through muted underwater kingdoms and swim amid a shoal of fluorescent fishes, made all the more notable by the recent reminder, as I floundered in high waves and gulped back panic and salt water, of the strength and power of the sea.

- Gemmy's proud array of breakfasts, ("a different one for each morning for two weeks!"). Eating them with strong Malaysian coffee, from elephant place mats perched on an outdoor breakfast bar made of chopped palm trees and recycled boat wood, mosquito coils being knocked over by excited dogs and inquisitive kittens, and birds, monkeys and lizards calling from the jungle or flying, suddenly, through the trees.

- bathing in a natural jacuzzi half way up a huge waterfall, and sliding around like otters on natural rock slides in and out of pure spring water pools.

- the two of us losing hours wandering, fascinated, alone in the dusky past splendour of the Legenda Park, drinking in the pathos, chills and slapstick comedy of Langkawi's many stories and legends.

- weaving our kayak with surprising expertise through the root entwined maze that is the mangrove forest, eagles whirling overhead.

I have really loved Langkawi, though it has been without fail a love forged in nature, far from the fun but frothy bars, beaches and duty free Toblerones that make up the tourist zone.

That nature has somehow encompassed not only the jungle itself, but the people, with their honesty, tolerance and generosity and - above all, the marvellous and inspirational Gemmy himself.

We have him to thank for Langkawi. He, the birds, the monkeys, the lizards, the snakes, the cats, the maniacal dogs and even, dare I say it, the hornets.

Thank you, and farewell.