Hello Langkawi

Day 20 - Monday October 1.
Day 21 - Tuesday October 2.

Well after three weeks of on the go travel with five kids Mum, Simon and I were ready for a week of doing absolutely nothing here in Langkawi. We were so excited to book into our resort, the Meritus Pelangi Beach Resort and Spa. I spent SO much time researching where we would stay for our final week on Langkawi and I was really stressed about getting the right place because I knew if the accommodation wasn't nice then it would dampen our experience and "rest" time for the last part of our holiday.

The resort was undergoing renovations and we were put in one of the newly renovated villas. We had two right next to each other with an interconnecting door which gave us heaps of room. The resort was very expensive so at first I glossed over it because I knew we couldn't afford to stay there and then after weeks of looking and not finding anything up to scratch, I found a UK site that had amazing deals to stay there, almost too good to be true. I rang the UK to make sure they weren't bogus. It was the time of the London Olympics and so everytime I would ring to check something, we would banter back and forth about the Games and the Brits versus the Aussie rivalry. Sure enough they were legit and our reservations at the resort went very smoothly.

This is the beach at dusk on our first night - the water was so warm and the weather never changed from night to day. It stayed around 30 degrees, no matter the time of the day.

It was SO nice to just sit and do absolutely nothing and even though we had a few touristy things planned, we knew the majority of the time was going to be all about relaxing at the beach.

We loved looking back toward the resort from the beach and seeing all the trees lined up, just like on a postcard.

This was the back of our villa.

And this was the front with its own little balcony looking down to the beach, only about 20 metres away. We loved siting here each morning for a little bit and Mum had bought some great books and we sat outside each day for awhile, reading. Oh it was paradise.





To give you an idea how far the beach was from our villa, the umbrella through the trees is on the beach.

Every morning we would go for breakfast and it was amazing. The kids had so much fun trying to decide each morning what they would have to eat.

We even had a chef, who would cook your eggs whichever way you wanted and then would cook right there in front of you with all fresh ingredients.

It was so easy to be healthy when you didn't have to cook anything yourself or come up with any ideas on what to cook, which I always find is half the battle.

The gardens around the resort were beautifully kept and it really felt like we were in our own little peaceful sanctuary.

We also loved discovering little insects that we wouldn't see back home.

The streets were the exact opposite of the resort, full of sights, sounds and smells and where we would go each day for massages or to look in the shops or to have tea. It's why we loved Langkawi so much. We could spend as much time as we wanted, in the quiet and peacefulness surrounds of the resort and beach but also walk straight out of the resort into the hustle and bustle of the town. 

One night we found MacDonalds and just couldn't resist seeing what it was like and the kids were so happy to see the golden arches. They thought it was  really cool to eat Maccas in a different country and unlike Korea, they did have salt on their french fries.

The other great thing about the resort was the kids club. We wouldn't leave the kids there all day because I didn't think it was fair to them to be doing that all day but every second day, they would run a fun activity for an hr and a half, which the kids would participate in, except Flynn who wasn't quite old enough.

This is inside the kids club room. It gave us a little time every now and again to sit on the beach with a good book or go down the street, without having to keep our eyes constantly on the kids.

At our villa, we loved the little water bucket near our front door to wash our feet before we went inside our rooms. Even though some of the streets may have been a little dirty and unkempt, the people were really fastidious about clean feet and taking your shoes off before going inside.

Jonty particularly loved washing his feet every time we returned to the villa.

our villa number.

Here is a glimpse inside our villa. The dark wood made it nice and cool against the heat outside and we had air-con which we ran constantly. Our bar fridge was stocked full of free cans of lemonade every day. The kids loved having fizz on tap and I let them have it whenever they wanted. Why not, we were on holidays.

The bed was king size and so so comfortable.

the bathroom.

The inter-connecting door to the other room where Mum and some of the kids slept. They would actually rotate around so they all had turns sleeping with us and with Mum. It was kinda annoying fighting with them constantly over where we were up to on the sleeping roster. :)

A few times, Mum would send us out by ourselves while she looked after the kids.
One night, we started with an amazing authentic meal of Indian. It was so yummy and the flavours were so much better than what I have tasted at home.

We then finished the night off with an amazing massage. It was so much cheaper than at home and the staff were so lovely and took care of us like we were royalty.

I took a photo of Simon just before we went into our massages, where they first washed our feet and served us a beautiful herbal tea.

A photo of the tranquil surrounds of the massage place.

After a few days of unwinding, after the past few weeks of constant sightseeing, we all really started to feel like we never wanted to leave.