THE BUMP HAS LANDED

WE were convinced The Bump - due to enter the world in three months - wanted a rest from the pace of London.

He wanted an early experience of jungle walks, sea paddling, relaxing outdoor massages and hours of general de-stressing.

And just for good measure we thought we should give him an early introduction to the joys of long-haul travel!

So Nicole and I found ourselves taking The Bump to stay at The Andaman resort, a luxurious hideaway hidden beneath one of the world's oldest rainforests on the Malaysian island of Langkawi.

Langkawi is, in fact, a cluster of 99 islands, a natural paradise which rose from the seabed an estimated 500 million years ago.

Once Langkawi, with its white sand beaches, lush jungle foliage and rocky mountain peaks, was - in the words of the tourist brochures - Malaysia's best-kept secret.

Then in 1987, in a crude attempt to boost tourism, it was declared a duty-free island. The airport was upgraded and ferry links improved. Thankfully, the project failed.

Today Langkawi has gone green... and is all the better for it. Now it is promoting and taking pride in its wildlife, its flora, fauna and geological history.

Last June it was formally declared a World Geopark. And there is little sign of the brash tourist developments that its governors dreamt of 20 years ago.

With the Thai island of Phuket 200 miles north and Banda Aceh to the west, it appears incredible that Langkawi survived almost untouched when the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 struck.

By rights, it should have been devastated. But the natural barrier of uninhabited satellite isles, and the protection of coastal mangrove swamps, broke the back of the giant waves. In the lowland flooding that ensued, just one elderly person among the 45,000 locals lost her life.

After 14 hours of flying, The Andaman brought instant peace and relaxation.

Hidden in the rainforest, it was as if the jungle had wrapped itself around the perfect home.

The first thing that greeted us was the magnificent lobby in the style of an ancient Malay temple, with beautifully-carved, ornate pillars towering above your head.

Our suite, again in the Malay style, had a large balcony, placing us (at four floors high) just below the canopy of the forest.

From there we could look down on to the snake-shaped pool which separated the hotel from the beach.

From the tranquillity of the room, the first we knew of dawn breaking was when the cicadas started their high-pitched singing. Next up came the squawk of the hornbills.

And then an armada of tropical butterflies would lift off the branches.

We found ourselves at The Andaman in November during the last days of the rainy season. For hours on end it would stair-rod down and then bright, steamy sunshine would break out and we'd dash from the balcony to the stunning private beach on Datai Bay.

Staff brought fresh chilled towels to mop brows and a selection of Asian-inspired cocktails or seafood lunches.

The more active sunbed users could choose from a whole manner of watersports. None, thankfully, with engines - they are banned in the bay.

We opted for a double kayak to ferry us out to the nearest island. From there we could see a majestic sea eagle gently swooping down for a fish tea.

For the first three days we just relaxed in the resort, taking advantage of the tours and activities.

One early morning began with a nature walk taken by one of the official hotel guides, explaining the history of the rainforest and the amazing links between the soil and the tiniest bugs through to the monkeys and the trees. We learned how to deal with a lethal cobra bite (answer: slash your arm twice and pray) and why the hornbill has that ridiculous-shaped beak (picking fruit in tall trees).

That was followed by an outdoor massage at the villa overlooking Datai Bay, quite the most serene surrounds. And lunch... well, we tried to cook it ourselves in the culinary class at the Gulai House Malay restaurant. Despite chef's best endeavours, it would be fair to say that the wine was a far greater success than our prawn.

At The Andaman, you have a choice of three restaurants - the main European-inspired restaurant, a Japanese or the Gulai House, which was brilliant when the cooking was left to others! We could have happily stayed within the resort, but Langkawi is not that sort of holiday.

For the rest of our stay, having adopted a wonder ful Australian woman Narelle as our guide, we ventured all over the island.

Narelle, who runs the Bon Ton restaurant and resort, has compiled a brilliant guide to things you have to do in Langkawi.

It numbers 21. And we got to 17 by the time we had to say farewell.

There was the thriving night market of Pasar Nalam, the cable car ride high over the forest, the boat tour of the mangrove swamps, shopping in Kuah, the brilliant art of Ghulam...

And how could we ever forget the last night? Described as a sunset cruise around the islands, somehow we found ourselves perched in the water, holding on to a giant fishing net, beer in hand being tugged through the sea at what seemed like Lewis Hamilton speeds.