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Jungle VIPs in Tropical Langkawi

There is something rather surreal about queuing up to board an alpine-style cable car when the temperature is tropical and there's not a flake of snow to be seen. But this cable car, in the west of the Malaysian island of Langkawi, has been doing a roaring trade with locals and visitors alike since it opened a few months ago.

It is just one of many newly opened attractions aimed at encouraging more tourists to visit Langkawi. As well as the cable car there's a couple of very impressive marinas; the Langkawi Yacht Club, where you can charter a luxury boat for a private cruise; the Underwater World theme park on the beachfront at Pantai Cenang, which is said to house 6,000 species of fish; and the impressive Galleria Perdana, specially constructed to house the prime minister of Malaysia's collection of gifts from his diplomatic journeys around the world - he has been given some pretty amazing presents.

There are plenty of rather more traditional attractions, too. Visit the Air Hangat village and learn all you need to know about planting rice in paddy fields, batik painting and pottery. Drop in to the Ibrahim Hussein museum and art gallery and you can admire some fine works by contemporary artists, or visit Atma Alam, also known as the Batik Village, which showcases local arts and handicrafts, from cloth painting and cultural dances to kite making. But the real reason to visit Langkawi is for the sheer natural beauty of the place.

You notice it within minutes of landing at the sparkling new international airport, to the west of the island's largest town, Kuah. When I arrive at my hotel, the Andaman, the manager begins immediately to explain the intricacies of my very stylish, hi-tech room. But I can't help gazing through the glass door to the ancient jungle just beyond the sun loungers on the terrace.

The journey from the main road and the mile or so down the steep, winding drive to the hotel have already revealed more wildlife than I have ever spotted outside a zoo. It is only the fact that traffic here is very sparse - and the roads twisting and often narrow - that prevents road kill becoming a problem.

Now I am actually living in the wild, experiencing nature in the raw - give or take some plate glass, air-conditioning, room service, satellite TV and all the other essentials of life for urban man getting back to nature.

"You can safely leave the doors to the terrace open when you are in your room, but close them when you go out," the manager warns me. To keep the snakes out, or perhaps the insects? "No, it's to keep the monkeys out." Since the hotel was built a few years ago they have become expert at stealing the fruit from the guest rooms, he tells me. I can already see a family of what I later discover are long-tailed macaques lurking playfully in the branches of the tropical trees, eyeing up this newcomer to their territory.

It is exactly this intriguing mix of comfortable sophistication and raw jungle, unchanged for perhaps millions of years, that makes Langkawi such an appealing prospect for those who have had their fill of more obvious holiday destinations.

Add some excellent beaches, near-perfect weather - with a daytime temperature in the low 30s year-round and just the right number of brief and refreshing tropical downpours at certain times of year - and some of the friendliest people you will find anywhere, and it is easy to understand why this island is fast finding a place on the itineraries of those who know Asia well.

Langkawi, or Pulau Langkawi, to give the island its correct name, is just 30km off the coast from Kuala Perlis, at the very north-western tip of the Malaysian peninsula; so far north that it is only about an hour's ferry trip away from the border with Thailand. From various points on the north coast you can clearly see a number of Thai and Malaysian islands, not so long ago the haunt of pirates.

Take a stroll down a jungle trail to one of the near-deserted beaches - even those close to the major hotels are rarely very busy - turn inland and look up towards the two mountains that dominate the interior, Gunung Raya and Gunung Mat Cincang. It takes little imagination to understand just why so many ancient legends abound in these parts.

But the 21st century is never far away, even from the depths of the unspoiled jungle. Just a few minutes' drive will take you to modern developments providing everything a sophisticated visitor could desire, whether it be modern hotels, galleries or shopping in a large, state-of-the-art mall.

Kuah, in the south-east of the island, is Langkawi's largest town. In spite of having no proper beaches, it has been at the centre of a hotel-building frenzy in recent years. This is the place to seek out if you really must find shops, banks, markets or even internet cafe's and fast-food outlets, all of them prepared for the day when the tourist floodgates open wide.

Some locals picture a future when the bars and restaurants of Kuah, and the main resort areas of Pantai Tengah and Pantai Cenang in the west, are alive with thousands of tourists taking advantage of Lankawi's duty-free status. There are concerns that the island could become a kind of Far Eastern Ibiza, with ear-shattering nightclubs and excessive drinking. But the island's tourism authorities seem too wise to encourage such a fate.

Visitors use the country's national carrier, Malaysia Airlines, which now flies non-stop from Heathrow to Langkawi on Wednesdays and Sundays each week, eliminating the need to change planes in Kuala Lumpur and saving a couple of hours' travelling time on the outbound leg of the journey. Travellers must still come home via Malaysia's capital, but the connections are easy.

Langkawi will certainly remain on the backpackers' list of places to visit. But it is the sophisticated and experienced travellers in search of a little luxury deep in the peaceful rainforest who will ensure this treasure of an island joins the growing list of places where you simply have to be seen.

FIVE THINGS YOU MUST DO...

1. Take a boat trip to explore the mysterious offshore islands.

2. Ride in a tri-shaw - but agree the fare before you start.

3. Try the food at the hawker stalls to be found all over the island - standards of hygiene in Malaysia are very high.

4. Take a trip on the cable car to see the magnificent views from the top.

5. Visit one the night markets that operate in Kuah and a number of the small villages, where you'll find everything from local souvenirs to fake designer clothes.

HOW TO GET THERE

You can fly non-stop to Langkawi from the UK with Malaysia Airlines (0870 607 9090), which has return fares from about 690, including taxes and other charges. It is worth checking for special deals.

WHERE TO STAY

Best value is probably to buy a package deal through one of the tour operators specialising in the area. Golden Holidays, for example, is part of Malaysia Airlines (number as above) and has holidays from '625 to well over '1,000, depending on accommodation.

CURRENCY

Malaysian dollar (also called the ringgit), about 6.5 to '1.

WEATHER

Daytime temperatures are around 30C all year. In the rainy season (November to February), there are frequent heavy downpours.

Langkawi 1/8/2004