South East Asia's first Geopark & Cable Car Ride

The Oriental Village Langkawi is located around a beautiful lake, set perfectly against a fantastic mountain backdrop. The mountain is known as Mat Cincang mountain which is the South East Asia's first Geopark. You can find an information centre on Langkawi Geopark inside the Oriental Village.

Oriental Village Langkawi

The base station for Langkawi Cable car ride is located in the middle of this scenic village. It is also place where you can be entertained by exotic snake charmer, silat, traditional music, jugglers, kite flying demonstration and portrait painting.

Oriental Village also houses fine dining outlets such as Mizumi Japanese Restaurant and Krathong Thai Restaurant. And, it's also a duty free shopping heaven where you can find specialty shops selling souveniers and clothings.

Duty Free Shops @Oriental Village Langkawi

Jalan Dang Wangi Kuala Lumpur in Langkawi?

After walking a few steps from the entrance, I noticed this familiar blue road sign. It said, "Jalan Dang Wangi - Poskod 50100 Kuala Lumpur".

Hey! Jalan Dang Wangi is the name of a famous road in Kuala Lumpur -- why on earth they put the road sign here, in Oriental Village Langkawi? Hmmmm... a mystery yet to be solved.

Jalan Dang Wangi @Oriental Village Langkawi

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Langkawi Geopark Hotel

If you would like to stay in the Oriental Village Langkawi, there is a hotel providing accomodation with special packages. The hotel has changed it's name from Oriental Inn to Geopark Hotel. We didn't have enough time to check the hotel, and only managed to snap the hotel picture as below. Notice the beautiful mountain background?

Langkawi Geopark Hotel

There was a lake in the middle of the village, with a wooden bridge connecting one side to another. Zaly quickly went to the bridge and cheerfully said;

"I'm on a bridge where I don't feel dizzy!"

Ha..ha..ha! Come on honey, how can you feel dizzy on a small bridge like that. Okay... just wait til' we get on top of the Mat Cincang mountain. Dare to walk above the clouds on the sky bridge?

The Bridge @Oriental Village Langkawi

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Rabbit Feeding, Deer Farm & Elephant Ride

So, what else is interesting at the Oriental Village Langkawi? Besides the cable car, do you know that there is a mini zoo where you can feed some fluffy rabbits and a deer? The entrance is free and you can buy a packet of animal food for RM1.

What else? Oh yes, the Elephant Ride is also available at Oriental Village! If you book a room with the Geopark Hotel, you can select a package that include a free elephant ride. Each ride will take about 15-20 minutes and is available daily. You can get more information at this website, www.gajah.org

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Langkawi Geopark Information Centre

And... the latest attraction at the Oriental Village is the Langkawi Geopark Info Center. We walked into the air-conditioned gallery and were relieved from the hot sun outside.

Langkawi Geopark Information Centre @Oriental Village

Inside the small gallery, you can get information about Langkawi as one of the world's geopark. And, there were samples of pre-historic stones dated as far back as one billion years on display! A superb collection indeed.

550 Million Years Old Sandstone @ Langkawi Geopark Info Centre

Short description of the stones were given such as the stone's name, age, formation, place where it was found and the factors causing it's pattern. For example, the stone in the below picture is described as:

Name: Batu Pasir / Sandstones Age: 550 million years Formation: Machincang Place: Pasir Tengkorak Summary: The pattern on the surface was tafoni formed by salt weathering.

550 Million Years Old Sandstone @ Langkawi Geopark Info Centre

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1 Billion Years Old Dropstone

The oldest stone that I've ever saw (and touched!) in my whole life was this black dropstone. Dropstone? What on earth is that? A stone that was dropped, huh? Yeap... sort of!

Dropstone is an alien granite that is 1 billion years old that are found in sandstone and mudstone of Langkawi. It was once drifted along in a glacier before it was dropped in Langkawi that was still submerged underwater hundreds of million years ago.

1 Billion Years Old Dropstone @ Langkawi Geopark Info Centre

Name: Batu Jatuh / Dropstone Age: 1 billion years Formation: Singa Place: Pulau Singa Besar Summary: Pebbles of different sizes and origins deposited together with brachiopod fossils within massive black mudstone bed. These pebbles are intrepreted as dropstones of glacial marine origin, while the brachiopods are of cold water fauna.

So, if you happen to be in Langkawi, don't miss the opportunity to touch and feel the texture of that one billion years old dropstone! I did and have fun!