After breakfast, Aliyah and I took a walk to the nearby fishing village about 200m away. There we found that the island hopping fees is cheaper than at the hotel. As much as I want to go on boat, we had already plans for the day to go to GeoPark for cable car ride and our rented car was on its way. So 3D/2N is not enough actually.
We drove to GeoPark at around 11am. Nice place. Besides the cable car, there are other attractions like rabbit and deer and elephants. Horse riding village is just next door. The queue for cable car ride was long since it's the school holidays. Locals get discounts by producing MyKad.
Anyway, here's when our trip got a little bit nasty. We were queuing up in the long line. Behind us was an Arab couple probably on honeymoon. Not far in front of us was a Chinese family bringing along 2 blind men, maybe their relatives. There's one staff going up and down the line and suddenly came and led the Arab couple to the front. After a few minutes we saw them in a cable car - just the 2 of them. I wondered why the staff didn't pull the family with the OKU and bring them to the front. Bukan lagi layak ke?
We also notice that the staff leading people into the cable cars tried to cram the maximum number of people ie 6 into each car. There were a few families who didn't look happy and protested. When our turn came, hubby asked that the 3 of us to be given a car to our own but the staff refused. Hubby asked how come that Arab couple got a car to themselves. That staff said - they paid more, you got a discount. What??? Did we ask for a discount? No. We were offered discounts. Hubby refused to relent and we finally got a car to ourselves. But the experience has been marred by the 2 GeoPark staff.
When we got up dah rasa tak seronok sangat so after taking pictures, we went down. Again we had the same experience. The queue to go down tak panjang pun, but the staff kept on asking us to share with other people. Hubby was firm but I finally gave in, and hubby was not so happy. I was determined to complain and was trying to compare the experience. So, on the way down we shared car with this family of 4 and the 2 little boys were loud and lasak and made us uncomfortable. At one point one of the boys leaned against my knees and the parents buat tak tau je. Rasa nak sepak je budak tu.
My point is - that cable car is not a means of transportation like the LRT. People would like to experience the ride, take photos, crack jokes but if you are crammed together inside the small car with strangers, you wouldn't be able to do all that. And there are many cable cars, people wouldn't mind waiting as long as they can get in a car with people they know. Anyway, this morning I sent an email of complain. Let's see what their response will be.
After that bad experience, memang no mood nak jalan sangat. Since Aliyah loves animal, we stopped to feed rabbits and deers and watched people take elephant rides. After that we went back, singgah kejap kat Padang Matsirat beli gamat stuff for my parents and back to the hotel. The rest of the day was spent at the pool. Lagi enjoyable.
Such little thing actually spoiled our holiday. After this if anybody who wants to go to Langkawi and ask us how's the cable car trip, would we give a positive feedback? Of course not. And don't underestimate the power of word of mouth. What I wrote to the authority of GeoPark were 1) why favour foreign tourists especially Arabs? (they are very rude anyway) 2) why OKU was not given privilege (give way to 2 healthy Arab honeymooners rather than 2 blind men?) 3) cable car there is not for people to go from one place to another, it's for people to enjoy the view so why deny requests for families to be in a car on their own (we've had enough of LRT in KL lah).
Our Day 2 trip was not so nice. But the dinner compensated for the sour feelings. We had spaghetti and pizza again and hubby ordered this dish with fresh prawns, beef and squids. Awesome.
Update (26 Aug):
Here's the reply I got from GeoPark authorities:
Terima kasih.
From Megat, Pengurus Pelancongan, LADA
Puan Aniza,
Point taken. Saya akan berjumpa dengan pihak cable car berkenaan perkara ini. Saya percaya, perkara seperti ini tidak akan berlaku lagi. Terima kasih atas kritikan membina tersebut.
Salam.
That was fast!. OKla, as long as I've put my points across.
We drove to GeoPark at around 11am. Nice place. Besides the cable car, there are other attractions like rabbit and deer and elephants. Horse riding village is just next door. The queue for cable car ride was long since it's the school holidays. Locals get discounts by producing MyKad.
Anyway, here's when our trip got a little bit nasty. We were queuing up in the long line. Behind us was an Arab couple probably on honeymoon. Not far in front of us was a Chinese family bringing along 2 blind men, maybe their relatives. There's one staff going up and down the line and suddenly came and led the Arab couple to the front. After a few minutes we saw them in a cable car - just the 2 of them. I wondered why the staff didn't pull the family with the OKU and bring them to the front. Bukan lagi layak ke?
We also notice that the staff leading people into the cable cars tried to cram the maximum number of people ie 6 into each car. There were a few families who didn't look happy and protested. When our turn came, hubby asked that the 3 of us to be given a car to our own but the staff refused. Hubby asked how come that Arab couple got a car to themselves. That staff said - they paid more, you got a discount. What??? Did we ask for a discount? No. We were offered discounts. Hubby refused to relent and we finally got a car to ourselves. But the experience has been marred by the 2 GeoPark staff.
When we got up dah rasa tak seronok sangat so after taking pictures, we went down. Again we had the same experience. The queue to go down tak panjang pun, but the staff kept on asking us to share with other people. Hubby was firm but I finally gave in, and hubby was not so happy. I was determined to complain and was trying to compare the experience. So, on the way down we shared car with this family of 4 and the 2 little boys were loud and lasak and made us uncomfortable. At one point one of the boys leaned against my knees and the parents buat tak tau je. Rasa nak sepak je budak tu.
My point is - that cable car is not a means of transportation like the LRT. People would like to experience the ride, take photos, crack jokes but if you are crammed together inside the small car with strangers, you wouldn't be able to do all that. And there are many cable cars, people wouldn't mind waiting as long as they can get in a car with people they know. Anyway, this morning I sent an email of complain. Let's see what their response will be.
After that bad experience, memang no mood nak jalan sangat. Since Aliyah loves animal, we stopped to feed rabbits and deers and watched people take elephant rides. After that we went back, singgah kejap kat Padang Matsirat beli gamat stuff for my parents and back to the hotel. The rest of the day was spent at the pool. Lagi enjoyable.
Such little thing actually spoiled our holiday. After this if anybody who wants to go to Langkawi and ask us how's the cable car trip, would we give a positive feedback? Of course not. And don't underestimate the power of word of mouth. What I wrote to the authority of GeoPark were 1) why favour foreign tourists especially Arabs? (they are very rude anyway) 2) why OKU was not given privilege (give way to 2 healthy Arab honeymooners rather than 2 blind men?) 3) cable car there is not for people to go from one place to another, it's for people to enjoy the view so why deny requests for families to be in a car on their own (we've had enough of LRT in KL lah).
Our Day 2 trip was not so nice. But the dinner compensated for the sour feelings. We had spaghetti and pizza again and hubby ordered this dish with fresh prawns, beef and squids. Awesome.
Update (26 Aug):
Here's the reply I got from GeoPark authorities:
From Kamarulzaman, Pengurus Besar, LADA
Puan Aniza,
Terima kasih atas teguran yang membina. Saya akan bawa berbincang perkara ini dengan Pengurus Cable Car. Penjelasan ringkas yang dapat saya berikan:..memang pengunjung asing bayar lebih dpd warga kita. Arab lazimnya membayar penuh untuk kapasiti 6 penumpang wpun cuma naik berdua, tetapi sepatutnya tiada diskriminasi dari segi giliran dan OKU pula patut diberi keutamaan, ikut budaya penyayang kita.
Puan Aniza,
Terima kasih atas teguran yang membina. Saya akan bawa berbincang perkara ini dengan Pengurus Cable Car. Penjelasan ringkas yang dapat saya berikan:..memang pengunjung asing bayar lebih dpd warga kita. Arab lazimnya membayar penuh untuk kapasiti 6 penumpang wpun cuma naik berdua, tetapi sepatutnya tiada diskriminasi dari segi giliran dan OKU pula patut diberi keutamaan, ikut budaya penyayang kita.
Teruslah berkunjung ke Langkawi yang menawarkan pelbagai produk baru untuk dilawati di bawah sepanduk Langkawi Geopark.
From Megat, Pengurus Pelancongan, LADA
Puan Aniza,
Point taken. Saya akan berjumpa dengan pihak cable car berkenaan perkara ini. Saya percaya, perkara seperti ini tidak akan berlaku lagi. Terima kasih atas kritikan membina tersebut.
Salam.
That was fast!. OKla, as long as I've put my points across.
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