Perhentian Islands

Well, I'm on my own again. My Czech friends (Ramana, George, Marie and, Milan) just left by taxi in a rush to get to the next town over to get a bus south. I'm going to head back to Kuala Perlis on the night bus and head to Thailand tomorrow. It was very sad to see them go but plans are already made for a reunion in a few months in Czech. I can't wait to see them in their natural habitat.

The Perhentian Islands were amazing. Very good tip from Matt, although I probably still wouldn't have gone if it wasn't for the Czech connection. After 4 days of no boats to the island, we were the first visitors for a while and had the small island basically to ourselves for the first day. The weather was superb. The monsoon seems to be over early, thanks climate change! Accomodation was cheap and the food was good and reasonably priced. I had 7 milkshakes.

We went on a snorkelling trip on the second day, which costs rm30 per person and went all day. Because of the previous few days weather the visibility wasn't great and some if the Coral had been knocked around a bit. Even so, there were a lot of fish, mostly parrot and clown fish. We didn't get to see a shark and only saw one massive turtle from the boat. A sucker fish tried to latch onto me, repeatedly. It followed me all the way back to the boat and wouldn't leave me alone, no matter how many times I hit it.

Yesterday we went for a walk through the jungle. The Island doesn't have any roads and only a few paths. All the development is focused around several beaches, and transferring between them is generally done by water taxi. There is a "board walk"  however, that goes from Coral Bay (where we were staying) 3km to the fisherman's village (in reality the closest thing to a town on the small island). The boardwalk was actually pavers laid directly onto the jungle floor. So naturally large portions had been washed away. Still, it was a nice walk, even if it had some nasty, disgusting hills.

Now I'm sitting here at the bus station, stinking and surrounded by flies. I'm hoping I can get to Thailand with the little cash I have left. I don't want to withdraw any more ringgit. I'm still travelling on the money from my last pay - haven't started on savings yet - and I haven't exactly been thrifty.

Photos are:
Ben turtle rides again.

Our accomodation at Coral Bay from the jetty.

A mosque on prime real estate at the fisherman's "village".

Romantic Beach (that's the name, not an opinion).

Marie doing some weird yoga/tea drinking combo on the beach.

Snorkelling trip selfie.

"We're gonna need a bigger boat" white whale.

Dinner selfie.

Photo of a photo with Ramana because she still hasn't sent me the original... I know you're reading this Ramana.

Jungle path.