temple – Scribbles and Snapshots

December 30, 2025

Our next stop was Langkawi, Malaysia where we had booked an island hopping tour with the ship. We were excited for this tour because we knew we would be going around in a high speed boat from to a few different destinations and it was only for a few hours.

Once we got to port, it was a quick walk off of the pier and that’s where we met our group. We didn’t have to take a bus this time to get to the boat, which was a nice change of pace and our boat was right there! We hopped right on and were on our way.

Along the way our tour guide pointed out a few islands that were shaped like different things: a pregnant woman and the other a crocodile. The next stop was where a cluster of islands came together and created an echo chamber, which was really fun for the group to play around with.

Our next stop was a bat cave, but unfortunately for us there weren’t any bats in there at that time. However, we did get to go really far in! The weather was perfect for boating around and it was beautiful to look at all of the limestone islands.

We pulled up to a more isolated island where we were going to stop to swim or walk around for an hour. The description in the excursion didn’t mention swimming, but Andy and I own a boat so we came prepared. A lot of people were upset because they didn’t bring one so they couldn’t get in the water (I would be too!).

It was a nice beach to walk around and dip your feet in the water regardless. The island even had monkeys that were waiting for us to leave so they could steal any food. They all came out of the trees as the boat pulled away!

Once the excursion ended, we had lunch back on the ship and then we decided to walk back out to the port to do some shopping. There wasn’t much right there and we didn’t feel like taking the bus all the way back into town. We did decide to opt for a quieter day on the ship and take advantage of the pool.

We thought about renting jet skis, but it looked like you needed a guide to rent them. We didn’t think we had enough time for the guided tour, but if you’re in the area in the future – it could be a really fun option!

This was one of our favorite stops on the trip and we really enjoyed it. We know from chatting with other passengers that they liked it too!

Up Next: Phuket, Thailand

December 27, 2025

We arrived in Port Klang on Saturday morning and we were eager to get off the ship after 2 days at sea. Both days had been really nice sailing days though – the water had been really smooth and the ship had done a nice job with Christmas entertainment and food. At a certain point you’re just excited to see land again!

Port Klang is a major port in Malaysia and serves as a gateway to Kuala Lumpur, which means it is at least an hour to hour and a half bus ride to get into the city. We had booked an excursion with the ship this time to show us around.

Our first stop was at a hotel for a buffet lunch, which was a bit unusual that we didn’t start with an activity first. There was quite a bit of local cuisine, with some international cuisine mixed in too. We got to try some new things without worrying about going hungry if we didn’t like it!

After lunch we hopped back on the bus before making a quick stop at Petronas Twin Towers. If you’re a Formula 1 fan, you probably recognize the name as they are a huge sponsor of F1. If you’re a Harry Potter fan you might think I’ve misspelled patronus but I swear I know what I’m talking about! They are one of the most prominent fixtures in the city skyline – and they are really cool to look at!

Merdeka 118, 2nd tallest tower in the world (2,227 feet tall)

We continued over to their central square area where we started a mild walking tour towards the Central Market, stopping along the way to look at a few of their landmarks.

River of life (2 rivers coming together into one)

Next we made our way over to the Central Market to do a little shopping, and the group had an option to go to the market or head into China Town. It was a no brainer for us because the Central Market was air conditioned and at this point we were both melting.

We bought a few things and made our way to the meeting point. This is where things started to take a turn. The whole group wasn’t there, which started to push our timeline back for Batu Caves (the real reason we had all booked this tour). Our guide suggested we split up and some of us head to the bus, as we got outside we realized the bus wasn’t there, it was easily 90 degrees Fahrenheit and 60%+ humidity, and it looked like it might start to rain.

Now we were getting pretty annoyed because I think all of us would have rather had started at the caves when the weather was better and skipped the shopping, the 15 minutes at the towers, etc. And where was our bus anyhow?!

Short story long… Our bus finally pulled up, along with the rest of our group. We’ve all been there, our guide had originally said an hour and then changed his mind and said a specific time. They had heard the hour first and immediately left to capitalize on their time shopping. But that left 40 minutes at the caves.

I’ll tell you why this matters. Batu Caves has 272 stairs to climb to get into the caves, yes. You read that right. It isn’t something you want to sprint up. And now imagine you’re doing that in the rain. Throw in the added pressure of needing to get back in time for the ship’s departure time.

People were getting really upset, rightfully so. Eventually our guide called the company and was able to get us 20 more minutes at the caves, which wasn’t much. But it did help.

Did I mention it’s a sacred site so women had to cover their shoulders and knees? An added pleasure on a particularly humid day.

Now that I got that off my chest. IT WAS STUNNING! And there were monkeys everywhere. It was sooooo cool!

We saw a few monkeys actually grab food out of people’s hands, some were a little aggressive, but most were well behaved

The colorful stairs were so fun to look at from a distance (not so much as you were walking up them and trying to catch your breath). The caves themself were really cool – there were different ceremonies being performed while we were there too.

It was worth it. We were really happy that we went, and if you’re in the area I would highly recommend going! The hour we had was just the right amount of time to fully take in and enjoy the temple, any less and we would’ve been rushing.

After we returned to the ship and had dinner we were even able to catch a magic show on the ship. (No, I didn’t get selected to volunteer this time. 😉).

Up Next: Penang

Tag: temple

Langkawi

Port Klang / Kuala Lumpur