Langkawi Sky Bridge

The Langkawi Sky Bridge is a gently curving steel walkway slung between two summits of Gunung Mat Cincang, some 660 metres above sea level on the western side of Langkawi. It is 125 metres long and not quite two metres wide, and it hangs from a single pylon 81.5 metres tall that leans away from the vertical, anchored by two great back-stay cables sunk into opposite hillsides. The curve was deliberate: its designer, Peter Wyss, shaped it so that the view shifts at every step, swinging from the rainforest canopy far below to the sea, the offshore islands and the peaks of the Machinchang range.

The mountain is the real treasure. The Machinchang ridge is built of sandstone and shale laid down in the Cambrian period, roughly 550 to 505 million years ago, the oldest sedimentary rocks in Malaysia and among the oldest in South-East Asia. They form the heart of the Machinchang Cambrian Geoforest Park, part of the Langkawi UNESCO Global Geopark. From the bridge you look down on the result of all that time: steep, jagged ridges furred with dense forest, cliffs of grey-brown stone, and on clear days the long curve of the coast and the islands of the archipelago. In the morning, cloud often sits in the valleys below and the bridge seems to hang above a sea of white; the wider central section has glass panels set in the deck for looking straight down.

Its construction was an exercise in working without roads. The bridge was prefabricated in segments and flown to the summit by Russian Kamov helicopters in 2003 and 2004, which also placed the pylon, the end platforms and the first deck section; the rest of the deck was assembled by winch and cable. It opened in February 2005. Later strengthening added the glass sections and an inclined lift, the SkyGlide, from the cable car's top station down to the bridge, opened in December 2015; there is also a steep footpath for those who prefer to walk. The cable car itself, built by Doppelmayr and opened in 2003, climbs from the Oriental Village at Teluk Burau at gradients of up to 42 degrees, with gondolas passing about 70 metres above the forest.

Getting there

The bridge is on Pulau Langkawi in Kedah, about 14 kilometres from the nearest town; Kuah, the island's main town, is roughly 30 minutes' drive from the cable car base. Langkawi International Airport (LGK) is about 10 kilometres away, some 15 minutes by road from the base station at the Oriental Village, Teluk Burau. From there the Langkawi Cable Car climbs to the top station, and the SkyGlide or a 10 to 20 minute walk leads down to the bridge.