

We rented a little (really little!) car near the ferry landing in Kuah, and headed to the place we


Langkawi a gorgeous beachy paradise, with white sand beaches, clear aqua water, and all the water sports anyone could hope for. Plus hiking in the geopark (a UNESCO Heritage Site because this area contains some of the oldest geological features in SE Asia), animal spotting up north, snorkeling and diving in





Well, we managed to drive to our house and meet our hostess, and settle in. Of course our first place to go was the beach, because that's why we came to Langwaki, for the beautiful beaches. Bonus! - Friday and Saturday were the Langkawi Water Festival!!! All kinds of water activities like boat

Okay, so, one of my burning questions has been what do traditional and observant Muslim women wear when swimming - the answer is swimsuits that provide coverage from neck to ankle, with a head scarf. Yup, special swimsuits (though I'm not sure of the fabric, but it did look somewhat like swimsuit nylon) with long slacks, long sleeved top, kind of a long tunic over that. Little girls were in these suits too. Of course, there are less observant people in swimwear with less coverage, but I was curious about the very observant women so I was happy to finally see what these women wear in the water.
One of the big features was the duck chase. In the water. Yeah, I know, one worries about the poor freaked out ducks, duck cruelty,all that, but they didn't fly away, so I guess they are domesticated ducks. The process seemed to be that a group of people would gather in the water, in a line or a circle. Often the group was confined to a certain age group or gender. Then a duck would be released. And everyone would run and swim and splash and try to catch the duck. You catch the duck, it's yours. I'm figuring the duck joins the family flock, and provides eggs. Or maybe becomes dinner. It's the Malaysian version of a greased pig competition, but in the water. (It was pretty crazy, and the photos below show the excitement and craziness, as well as a few proud duck winners.)

I think my favourite photo of the day was this family of kids - I'm not sure which one caught the duck, I think it was the boy in the striped shirt. There was another boy about his age who ran out of the picture. But I love the fact that the boys let their sister hold the duck for the photo - just so cute! (The youngest seems to have won a prize, we weren't sure how or what it was - but no way was he letting go of that box!)








Of course, there were also beach volleyball and beach soccer games going on. A few times errant balls came our way - the best was when a soccer ball game by and I ran up to kick it back - it really was an inflated beach ball so it didn't take a kick well - but a bunch of teenage boys walking by applauded and cheered for me!! Too funny!! (Gotta love teenagers!)
More people poured onto the beach for sunset and dinner, and we headed to a restaurant and then back to our place. Relaxed, unpacked, read, internetted, edited photos - and maybe about midnight, BAM BAM BAM

Wow, what a welcome to Langkawi!
can you bring me back one of those modest swim suits?
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