Monday 16 December Pulau Darat

Yesterday we moved fro Telaga in the north to the south west corner of Langkawi and a fjord like anchorage. Langkawi is uplifted limestone which produces dramatic vertical cliffs and sheer slopes. The spots between the islands can give protection from all winds and surreal calm waters.
We dipped into these calm waters to clean the build up of algae along the water line and David put on his dive kit to check the propeller and bottom of the hull for barnacles. There were some but easily removed. Above us there were white bellied eagles soaring and monkeys running and screaming through the trees. Night time was velvet black with stars as the only visible lights (apart from our anchor light of course).

Darat anchorage

From Pulau Darat we returned to Kuah town anchorage via a quick stop to visit the Lake of the Pregnant Maiden so called because local legend has it Mahsuri of legendary beauty drank the water and conceived her first child shortly afterwards. What's special about the lake for sceptics of the legend is that it's freshwater and only a short walk from the sea. One description I read suggested it had been a large cave and the roof collapsed to make it a lake. Looking at the size of the lake today it would have been a huge cave, or perhaps the walls have receded over the millenia. I digress. 


Lake of Pregnant Maiden

We left Jackster rolling on an onshore swell and went in with the dinghy. We couldn't find a safe place to tie our borrowed dinghy without risking damaging it so David dropped me ashore and waited while I ran up the concreted path (dodging evil Macaque monkeys) and down the other side to the lake. It's a big tourist attraction but not so many people this morning. There's a kiosk selling snacks, a sign saying beware of the otters (beware? I wanted to see them) and floating platforms for bathers. If anyone was watching my visit must have looked most amusing. I came scurrying down the steps onto the swim platform stripped down to swimsuit, dived in, felt the soft warmth of fresh water and swam around to the ladder to get out. Then it was clothes back on and a scurry up and over back to where David was waiting. Hungry monkeys were once again hiding behind trees ready to pounce on tourists with their bags of crisps. I didn't even pause for applause of what must be one of the fastest visits of the week. It was back to Jackster, up anchor and back to the sheltered Kuah bay.