Malaysia
Facts:-
Part 2 - Perhentian Islands and Taman Negara
Day 398 - Friday 11th August 2006 - back in Malaysia and onto Pulau Perhentian
Once through the immigration formalities, we were immediately greeted by a swarm of taxi touts, offering us a ride straight to Kuala Besut, where we could catch a ferry to the islands. First however, we wanted to get some more Malaysian Ringitt, as there were probably no opportunities for that once we headed further south. The only shop just accross the border was busy offering foreign exchange services, but the queue was too long and the rate seemed pretty poor, so we looked around for a bus stop, from which we might be able to get to Kota Bharu, the major town in the area.
Not only didn't there seem to be any buses, but no bus stop either, so, reluctantly Ian went back to try and change a lot of US dollar travellers cheques. Whilst queuing again, a bus passed, heading to where Nikki was waiting with our bags and we decided to get on.
Kota Bharu was pretty deserted and almost all businesses were closed (we later found out that this was a public holiday in this province). However, as soon as we got off the bus, a taxi driver was very keen to take us to the ferry, even when we explained that we needed to change some money. He even showed us to the foreign exchange bureau shown in the LP and waited for us. The bureau was actually closed (despite the 'open 7 days' sign) when we arrived. The concensus of passing locals was that it would be re-opening later, so we waited. We chatted to a German tourist, who also need some currency exchanged and ordered an ice cream from across the road.
Of course, as soon as we ordered the ice creams, the bureau opened. The rate we actually got was only marginally better than that offered to us at the border, but at least we had our cash and (still) a taxi driver to take us to Kuala Besut. Maybe, because of the long wait, our driver wasn't paying too much attention to road safety as we hurtled south and we didn't feel particularly safe. Nevertheless, Ian managed to nod-off!
We were actually dropped at a travel agent's office, who was able to reserve us a room for one night and book us some ferry tickets. The same driver then took us on to Kuala Besut itself, whewre we sat in another travel agent's office for over an hour, waiting for our ferry. Eventually our 5pm boat left (a little after 6pm!) and we bounced along toward Perhentian Kecil (the small island), which was the more touristy of the 2 main islands. Some people got off, but we headed on to Perhentian Besar, getting off at Tuna Bay (not that we knew the name of the beach at the time - we only hoped to find our booked room at Abdul's Chalets!
Sure enough, we were expected and we checked into our nice wooden chalet, just one row back from the beach. We had much needed showers, even appreciating the cold water. We didn't go any further than the Seaside Café, itself part of our chalet "complex". There, Ian particularly enjoyed his kingfish with chilli and lemongrass sauce.
Day 399 - Saturday 12th August 2006 - looking for somewhere to stay, Pulau Perhentian
After terrible breakfast pancakes back at the Seaside Café, we had to find somewhere else to stay before our 11:30am check-out time. Although Adbul's seemed to be a really decent place to stay, we had received so many recommendations for Mama's Place on the next beach, that we wanted to check it out.
It took us a while to find the jungle path over the headland between the two beaches. But, after asking a couple of people for directions, we found it and soon emerged near Mama's place. However, the place was manic! Not only did we find out that the chalets were all occupied, but, compared to the lovely beach outside Adbul's, we weren't impressed by this beach and lots of the chalets looked decidedly shabby from the outside. Eventually, we were relieved to get a room next door, at the Paradise Island Resort, although they also could only offer us one night. So, somewhat dejectedly, we returned to Abdul's, annoyed with ourselves for turning down the earlier offer of a room there for a couple of nights!
We de-stressed with a swim in the crystal clear aquamarine water just in front of the chalets. Nikki decided that she would much rather stay on this beach than the one near Mama's, so we enquired about a room for the following day - but nothing was available. We packed up and were handing back our key, when we enquired one final time about availability for the following day. Much to our amazement, apparently a room was now free for us :-).
Again, we took the jungle trail (rather than the water taxi) and soon checked into Paradise - by name only! Our chalet was pretty shabby and actually more expensive than our place at Abdul's.
We walked further north to check out the beach there. Just past a rocky headland there were a couple of more upmarket resorts and the beach here stretched out all around Big Bay, but there was some sizeable surf too. We continued to the bay itself, passing a large monkey very close-to on one of the boardwalks and had a splash about in the waves.
We returned to Paradise for lunch, ordering a couple of baguettes (but receiving half a one each with the obligatory chips). Then, as the tide was out and the beach had now emerged from the sea, we decided to sunbathe, which was nice enough, but swimming was virtually impossible, as the sea was so shallow.
Later, we decided to try Mama's Place for dinner and, after a bit of confusion about the size of fish that was to be cooked for us (we got a small one in the end), it was a very tasty and enjoyable meal, sat at a candle-lit table on the sand, tucking into our barramundi with coconut curry sauce, rice and vegetables. Yumm!
Day 400 - Sunday 13th August 2006 - back to Abdul's Chalets, Pulau Perhentian
After another disappointing breakfast (this time french toast), we decided to go for a snorkel in Big Bay. This was reputedly one of the best snorkelling sites on the island. Again there was quite a swell, but we made our way out between some semi-submerged boulders and almost immediately saw a Titan Triggerfish. Worried that it may attack us, we soon headed back. Nikki went and sat on the beach, but Ian snorkelled in the shallows, seeing a few crocodile needlefish, a blue-spotted stingray and even a small black-tipped reef shark.
We couldn't stay too long as we still had to check out and were soon on the jungle trail back to Tuna Bay and Abdul's, loaded with all our luggage. We had a short wait, but were soon settling into another pleasant chalet which was also just one row set back from the beach.
We were a little disappointed to see that the waves today were bigger than before and the sea not quite so clear, but that didn't stop us lying around (on the beach or in our hammocks) for the rest of the day and popping into the sea for the occasional swim. We interrupted this busy schedule for a roti canai lunch at Nia Café just along the beach. Then Ian had a bit of a snorkel and was very impressed by the varety of colourful fish visible in the shallows just offshore. He even saw some clownfish, a rarity on our trip so far.
So, it was not until about 6pm, after some refreshing cold showers, that we settled down to celebrate our 400 days on the road. We settled in on our balcony and bought some coke and ice from the restaurant, which with our rum purchase in Thailand and limes we had picked up earlier in the day, we made into some tasty Cuba Libras. We followed a couple of these cocktails with dinner at the Seaside Café. Ian chose shark for a change, but it wasn't a great sucess, the very fishy flavour overpowering everything else. Nikki enjoyed her butter garlic prawns much more! After dinner, there was time for some more Cuba Libras and a few games of cards.
Day 401 - Monday 14th August 2006 - relaxing and snorkelling at Tuna Bay, Pulau Perhentian
We woke late and enjoyed a good breakfast at Nia Café It made a pleasant change not to have to check-out today! We both went for a snorkel directly in front of out chalets, where Ian pointed out some of the anemone fish he had found yesterday, but she found bigger ones (black anemone fish this time) a little later.
We sunbathed and read for the rest of the day. Ian had some roti canai (back at Nia Cafeé for lunch and bought back a couple of ice creams, but even though he had searched for a while to find a freezer that was still powered, these were very soft - clearly power wasn't a 24-hour a day commodity here. Later, we snorkelled again, this time a little further down the beach. Nikki spotted a small yellow boxfish and we both spent a while watching the many colourful fish and corals just below us. Then, Nikki headed back, seeing a turtle on her way.
After a busy day, we relocated from the beach to our hammocks for more lying down, but a thunderstorm soon forced us inside. Due to the rain, we didn't venture far for dinner, eating again in the Seaside Café. We stayed in the restauramy for for a while after dinner too, playing cards.
Day 402 - Tuesday 15th August 2006 - relaxing and snorkelling at Tuna Bay again, Pulau Perhentian
After another poor breakfast pancake (this time at Nia Café - think we'll give up on pancakes in Malaysia), we went to book ourselves on a dive trip at the Seahorse Dive Centre. Then, despite the clouds around today, Nikki headed for the beach again, ever hopeful! and Ian stayed lying in his hammock. A little later, he went snorkelling again, seeing a blue-spotted stingray, a turtle and an octopus - although how he spotted the octopus, he didn't know as it was fantastically camouflaged.
After another roti canai lunch, we played some Scrabble on our balcony (Ian won) and settled into a few games of cards before showering and heading out to dinner at the New Cocohut chalet's restaurant, which looked a a bit posher than Abdul's. We both ordered kingfish fillets, with chilli and cashew for Ian and with coconut, cream and lemongrass for Nikki. They were both excellent and huge (!). Once again, back on our balcony we played some cards before bed.
Day 403 - Wednesday 16th August 2006 - diving, Pulau Perhentian
It had been so hot and muggy overnight, that we didn't sleep very well, but we had to get up early for our diving. We ordered a simple breakfast of toast from the Seaside Café, but it still took ages to arrive, so we were a little late for our dive preparation. There we met Denis, our divemaster (from Slovakia) and had a short dive briefing.
We were soon on the small boat for our 25-minute journey to Tokong Laut. This pinnacle broke the sea surface by only a couple of metres and we were soon in the water. The visibility was good, such that we could see a Titan Triggerfish on the sea bed straight below us at about 22m. Our dive circled the pinnacle, bobbing in and out of the thermocline, where visibility deteriorated rapidy and the temperature dropped sharply. Denis pointed out several bamboo sharks, hiding under rocks and a sizeable black-tipped reef shark swam by us. There were lots of puffer fish and porcupine fish to see too, all of them much larger than we had seen before and a few boxfish, more Titan Triggerfish (one close to Ian, which gave him a fright). We also saw lionfish, blue-spotted stingrays and, as we ended our dive, a turtle (despite having been told we wouldn't see turtles at this site!).
Back on shore, we were really tired and lazed in our hammocks for the rest of the morning until lunch. Then it was back to the dive shop for the 2pm dive. This time there were only the two of us with Denis and we headed to Tanjung Basi only a 5-minute boat ride away, at the north of the island. The visibility was not as good here as we swam along the sandy bottom and along the edge of the reef. We saw lots of colourful fish, including a yellow boxfish, and then along came a school of enormous bumphead parrot fish. They had huge teeth, which scared Nikki at first, but the 20-or-so of them ignored us completely.
A few minutes later another smaller school of bumpheads passed by. Then we got up close with a couple of cleaner wrasse... We were both feeling something biting us, but at first couldn't place see what it was. Of course, it turned out to be a couple of cleaner wrasse, nibbling at our dead skin layers.
As we continued, Denis pointed out a couple of crabs and as we swam into shallower water, we swam by lots of more colourful fish, including parrotfish and blue-ringed angelfish. We also saw a large Titan triggerfish, but it was much too busy eating the coral to notice us. As we surfaced, the sun was out, so we rushed back to the beach and spent the rest of the afternoon sunbathing, chatting to Emma and Stuart (from England, but now living in Singapore), while cooling off in the sea.
Emma & Stuart had mentioned that the restaurant at Tuna Bay Resort wasn't as expensive as it looked so we decided to try it out. Nikki had a tasty sweet'n'sour kingfish while Ian had barbecued tandoori kingfish. We then returned to our balcony to play a bit of cards before bed.
Day 404 - Thursday 17th August 2006 - diving, Pulau Perhentian
We woke up to a lovely sunny day - which hasn't happened that often lately! Ian wasn't feeling tip-top but got up for some toast and iced Milo at Nia Café. He also had a banana for some extra energy. We were a little late arriving at the dive shop (again!) but it wasn't too bad. We had a full dive boat today - 7 divers plus 2 divemasters. It was only about 15 minutes to the 'T3' site which consisted of a few rocks sticking up out of the water.
As we went down we foud that the visibility was actually pretty poor and Nikki also had an air leak, albeit a slow one. We went through a short swim-through, through the rock, where Ian saw at least 3 nudibranches and a puffer fish but Nikki went through too quickly! We then continued down to about 20 metres where the visibility was very poor. Despite this, we did manage to see a bumphead parrotfish, some triggerfish, yellow boxfish, a blue-lined flute fish, lots of blue-ringed angelfish and Nikki saw another type (as yet unidentified, but very pretty) of angelfish, but this had hidden under a rock by the time Ian got there with the camera. Nikki's air continued leaking, more so at depth, and so she was the first to get low on air but we had still managed a 45 minute dive so it wasn't too bad.
We returned to the dive shop - Ian wasn't feeling well and Nikki wasn't happy with here equipment so we decided neither of us would go on the next dive. Ian warmed himself up in the sun and then went to lie down on the bed to get some rest. Meanwhile, Nikki continued to make the most of the sun, interrupted by frequent swims in the sea to cool off as it was really hot today. Ian didn't feel well enough to get up for lunch but Nikki managed o order some noodles and an isotonic drink to take back to our room. Ian struggled but managed to eat most of the food on our balcony. Nikki then left Ian in bed and returned to the beach, where she stayed for most of the afternoon, with the occasional swim and look at the fish - she didn't even need a mask or snorkel as the water was so clear she could see the fish through the surface!
We had a couple of drinks on the balcony at sunset (Nikki's with vodka, Ian's obviously without) and then went down to the Seaside Café for dinner. Ian struggled a bit with his meal but managed to eat a decent amount while Nikki tucked into some tasty prawns in coconut sauce.
Day 405 - Friday 18th August 2006 - relaxing, Pulau Perhentian
Unfortunately, Nikki had been sick a few times in the night so we were quite late getting up. However the good news was that Ian was feeling much better today. We had breakfast at the Seaside Café and then Nikki lay in the hammock on our balcony while Ian went for a snorkel - it looked very clear from the beach but the visibility wasn't actually so good when he went in.
Nikki spent most of the rest of the day in bed while Ian was on the beach and today it was Ian's turn to bring back lunch to our balcony - this time some baguettes. In the afternoon, Ian lazed in the hammock for a bit but was interrupted to try and get an ant out of Nikki's ear - it had crawled in while she was lying on the bed and got stuck! She knew it was there as it tickled and made a loud scratching noise. After trying a number of methods, including head-tipping, cotton bud insertion, he finally tempted it out with a bit of cotton which it managed to grab hold of. The ant seemed to be unharmed (maybe in shock though after its ordeal) and so was Nikki so she soon went back to sleep!
Later on, we played a bit of cards on our balcony before heading to Nia's Café for dinner. We ordered quite a lot of food as it was so cheap but, apart from a nice curry sauce, the rest was was pretty average and a little disappointing after our nice breakfasts there.
Day 406 - Saturday 19th August 2006 - relaxing, Pulau Perhentian
Breakfast at the Seaside Café was entertaining this morning as we got to watch some members of the Malaysian police (we think they were police, they certainly weren't fit enough to have been the army!) doing some drills on the beach in full wetsuits - it was especially amusing when they were doing forward rolls down the beach and getting covered in sand!
After all this excitement, Nikki read and snoozed in the hammock (she was mostly better but had developed earache so decided to have another lazy day). Meanwhile Ian went for a long snorkel, taking lots of photos of boxfish, among other things. He also saw an enormous crocodile needlefish swimming very close to the surface as they like to do. The rest of the day was spent swimming, lazing on the beach, snoozing etc.
We played a bit of Scrabble before dinner at the Seaside Café. Ian decided to try their barbecue offer but it was a bit plain and disappointing. We finished Scrabble back on our balcony which Ian won easily. We then played cards which Ian also won but, when we changed to a different card game, Nikki managed to win :-) and so it was time for bed!
Day 407 - Sunday 20th August 2006 - jungle trek, Pulau Perhentian
We got up, had breakfast, shopped for some toiletry essentials and then packed some stuff for a day walk around/across the island. We headed south, past the police/army camp, and stopped at the next rocky headland. Ian wanted to snorkel here so off he went. Nikki stayed on the beach as she thought she probably had an ear infection and so wanted to keep her ear out of the water. (In case you're wondering, it was nothing to do with the ant as it was the other ear!) Ian saw some angelfish, more big crocodile needlefish, lots of anemonefish and he managed to successfully avoid the big Titan triggerfish on his way back to the beach.
We then took the 'Jungle Trek' path, part 1, over the headland to Flora Bay on the south coast of the island. We saw some huge ants along the way, they must have been about an inch long! Luckily they weren't in the mood for biting us. There were also quite a lot of mosquitoes but, unusually, they were more interested in Ian than Nikki - either Nikki was too sweaty or this type had strange taste! The trail was quite steep, both up the hill and down the other side, but before too long we arrived at the very long beach that was Flora Bay.
The water here was very shallow and not really any good for snorkelling and also the beach wasn't nearly as nice as ours at Tuna Bay. We walked most of its length before settling under a shady tree (it was very hot). We lazed here for about an hour before wandering to the 'B First Bar' to order some lunch. About an hour later lunch arrived - good thing we weren't in a hurry! Nikki had some tasty fried rice with pineapple and Ian enjoyed a spicy curry.
After lunch, we decided to do some more jungle trekking across the island and so set off on the 1 hour trail to Paradise Island Resort. We followed the sign from the beach but then struggled to follow the trail around the water processing plant (it seemed to just disappear). Eventually we found a trail that looked sufficiently well-maintained and so we decided to give it a go. After a while we came to a big blue arrow so we knew we were now on the right track. On the way we saw a couple of monitor lizards quite close to the path - they were obviously used to people walking past as they didn't even run away. Ian also saw a small snake. It was actually a very pleasant walk along this path as it was reasonably wide and not too steep up or down. Towards the end, we heard some loud rustling in the trees and sure enough, after a bit, we saw wome monkeys. We probably saw about 8-10 monkeys in total and some were reasonably close but the forest was too dark for any good photos.
We then continued down to the Paradise Island Resort where Ian went for another snorkel, seeing more triggerfish, an octopus and hundreds of anemonefish. We then relocated to where we had snorkelled last week but it was much shallower today as the tide was out. Ian snorkelled some more while Nikki had an ice-cream on the beach (to help her ear, obviously!). Ian saw a large grouper and a small black-tipped reef shark but not much else.
We then walked back home and, because it was low tide, we were able to walk around the headland with a little paddling rather than walking over via the jungle path. We had a pre-dinner drink on our balcony and then went for another nice meal at the New Cocohut restaurant. As usual, we played a bit of cards and then went to bed.
Day 408 - Monday 21st August 2006 - lazy day, Pulau Perhentian
After breakfast at Nia's we went to the beach but there wasn't really much beach there as the tide was so high. Most of the sand was also shaded by the palm trees at this time but before too long the sun came out and we could work on our tans. We stayed on the beach until lunchtime when we went back to Nia's for our usual roti lunch. Nikki spent the afternoon on the beach while Ian had a snooze, joining her later but, shockingly, didn't snorkel today - Nikki was bit worried but at the same time relieved - perhaps he wasn't as obsessed with fish as she thought! Later still we played a bit of frisbee in the sea - Nikki wasn't quite so useless this time.
In the evening we had a few vodka & pineapples over a game of Scrabble - Ian managed to win with his 'feminine' charm, although he did have to use two blanks to get it! We then had a late dinner at the Seaside Café and went to bed.
Day 409 - Tuesday 22nd August 2006 - kayaking, Pulau Perhentian
Ian got up early today and went for a run along the beach. He also popped into the dive shop to check out which dive sites they were planning to visit over the next few days and to ask if they knew anyone who was running trips to Redang (another island further south which was supposed to have some very good dive sites and had been recommended to us by Caroline & Barny).
We had decided to do some kayaking today and so filled up on a big breakfast before heading back to the dive shop to hire some kayaks and to sign up for a couple of dives for tomorrow. We set off in our double kayak, stopping at a couple of dive shops in the next bay to enquire about Redang trips but apparently no-one was going at the moment as it was the school holidays and Redang would be horribly busy. One place said they might run a trip on Saturday but we probably wouldn't be here that long.
We paddled round a couple more headlands, past the Paradise Island resort, and found a small but pristine beach with clear aquamarine water in the next bay - it was simply beautiful! It was only accessible by boat so, apart from a few other kayakers, we had the place to ourselves. We 'parked' the kayak on the beach and both went for a snorkel, enjoying the crystal clear water and excellent visibility. Nikki also tested her ear by going down a few metres and it seemed to be ok so hopefully she would be alright to dive tomorrow.
We then kayaked over to the next bay round. This was much bigger but shallower. Ian went straight back out for another snorkel while Nikki lazed on the beach, watching a few monitor lizards stealing the remains of some turtle eggs. Ian was out snorkelling for ages, spotting some sturgeonfish, pretty angelfish and butterfly fish. At one point he was so busy photographing a big pink jellyfish that the Titan triggerfish he had seen earlier swam right past him! Nikki also went for a short snorkel, but having seen the big triggerfish, decided to head back to the beach.
We both lazed on the beach for a bit before starting to kayak back. We called in at the Paradise Island resort and checked out their menu for lunch but it was far too pricey for us. So we continued round to the Coral View Resort (Nikki on foot, Ian in the kayak) where we had a very nice (and reasonably priced) lunch on some enormous plates. After lunch we decided to try a new paddling configuration with Ian in front, but we still kept heading off to the right! We got back to the dive shop to return the kayak, both looking a bit pink. Ian lay in the hammock for the rest of the afternoon while Nikki hid in the shade - we both thought we'd had enough sun for today.
Later we started another game of Scrabble but interrupted it to go and have dinner at Tuna Bay - nice food again. We returned to finish our gane of Scrabble - Ian won, yet again...
Day 410 - Wednesday 23rd August 2006 - diving, Pulau Perhentian
After breakfast, Nikki wanted to use the internet to check out train times down to southern Malaysia but the internet café only had power at certain times of day so she would have to go back later.
Before too long it was time for our dive - today we were going out to Sugar Wreck, 30 minutes away by boat. The visibility looked very good as we could make out the wreck from the surface. Having said that though, the top of the wreck was only 6m underwater. We were also apparently lucky as there wasn't much current today. As we went down we saw lots of batfish but they soon dispersed. There were also lots of schools of yellow-tailed barracuda. As we went down the side of the wreck to the bottom at 18m, it all became very murky and we could hardly see each other a metre or two away! Still, we managed to find a couple of crabs, some big pufferfish, some lionfish and 2 big barracuda. We then swam into the hold - it was pretty dark in here but our eyes soon became accustomed to the conditions and we could see the walls were completely encrusted with clam-type creatures. We then swam up and over the propeller back to the excellent visibility at the top. We did our safety stop here, mesmerised by the thousands of brightly coloured fish.
We were late getting back to the dive shop but still managed to scoff down a quick fried rice lunch at Nia's (we had wanted our usual roti but they had run out of curry sauce :-( ) before returning to the dive shop for our next dive. This dive was to Seabell Rock, only 5 minutes away. There was a very strong current here and the boat even broke away from the buoy. We struggled going down the buoyline and fought against the current. Also the camera fogged up straight away so we didn't get any photos. It was quite murky and difficult to keep control of our movements but we did manage to find a couple of blue-spotted stingrays, some large pufferfish, boxfish, a masked pufferfish and Denis found us a huge Jenkins ray, partly under a rock. Gemma (one of the other divers) managed to lose one of her earrings to a fish - it just pulled it out of her ear! Nikki spotted the fish with the earring in its mouth and even saw it drop the earring, but the fish scooped it up again and swam off just before Nikki could grab hold of it. We didn't see the fish or earring again. However, we did see some more titan triggerfish, some angelfish and a few butterflyfish.
Back home, we rushed to the beach to make the most of the sun but it was already nearly 5pm. We decided to go back to Mama's Place on the next beach for dinner and, since the tide was still fairly low, we waded around the headland instead of taking the jungle path. However, we did have to clamber over some rocks at the end and it suddenly got dark very quickly. Mama's didn't have any snapper today (which had been recommended to us) so we had barramundi again with coconut curry sauce but it was very tasty again. We also have a couple of banana milkshakes which we spiced up with the last of our vodka.
The tide was up so we had to take the jungle trail back to our beach using our head torches to find the way. The path looked quite different at night but, apart from disturbing a couple of big crabs, we saw nothing except cobwebs. We didn't get lost either, which was a bonus!
Day 411 - Thursday 24th August 2006 - our last dive of the trip, Pulau Perhentian
We were up early today for an 8.30am meet at the dive shop. We went back to Tokong Laut, although we very nearly went nowhere as the boat driver couldn't start the engine for a while! The site was quite busy when we got there, 3 other dive boats were there already. However, the sun was out and the visibility was pretty good, much better than last time we dived here. We saw lots of pufferfish, porcupinefish, blue-spotted stingray, a large school of yellow-backed fusilier, a few bamboo sharks and a white-eyed moray eel. This was also Krtek's first dive - we thought he could do with a wash! Denis, our divemaster recognised him as he was from Slovakia and had grown up watching the cartoons (most other people on the trip had never seen him and often thought he was a penguin).
Near the end of the dive, Ian was furiously trying to catch Nikki's attention as there was a Titan Triggerfish less than 2m from her head but Nikki was quite oblivious to it and the triggerfish had no interest in her. Ian turned his attentions to getting a photo of it instead. Back on the surface, it turned out that almost everyone had seen Nikki's triggerfish encounter except her!
Back at the beach we had lunch at Nia's but yet again there was no roti :-( . We then spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach. We played a bit of frisbee again before enjoying some rum & cokes on the balcony over another game of Scrabble - Nikki was determined to win before we left the island. We paused our game to have dinner (at New Cocohut) and when we resumed it. Ian managed to use two blanks to make a 7-letter word for the 3rd game in a row but, despite this, Nikki won - hooray!
Day 412 - Friday 25th August 2006 - last day on Pulau Perhentian
As this was our last beach day, we were keen to make the most of sunbathing opportunities but, as luck would have it, we woke up to a cloudy day. Nikki went to pay the dive shop and tried the internet cafe again but the guy had gone to the mainland. He was back soon though and she was able to log on (at extortionate cost!) to find out the train times. Ian meanwhile went for a snorkel - he saw pufferfish, porcupinefish and managed to get bitten by some other fish which he didn't recognise. Back on the beach, the sun eventually came out. We were hoping for a final roti lunch but it was not to be. We had some disappointing chicken dishes instead but we will always remember the roti-man!
We spent our last afternoon on the beach - it was very hot but also windy so swimming in the sea was a bit more difficult than usual. Later we had the last of our rum followed by our last dinner at the Seaside Café - we both had the same dishes we had had on our first night there as we had decided they were the nicest! Just time for a last quick game of cards before packing and heading to bed.
Day 413 - Saturday 26th August 2006 - leaving Pulau Perhentian
Ian managed not to switch on the alarm but luckily Nikki woke up at 7.35am - our boat was scheduled to leave at 8am! We quickly dressed and packed the last few things before gobbling down a quick breakfast. We were actually ready by 8.05 but, of course, the boat didn't arrive until 8.20. It was a bigger boat than the one we had arrived on and wasn't very fast, especially with all the pick-ups it had to make before we left the islands. Consequently, we didn't get back to the mainland until 10am (it was meant to be a 30 minute journey!). Also, once again we found ourselves back at the Symphony Tours jetty, rather than the town of Kuala Besut where the buses were. After some persuasion, we managed to get a free taxi, together with a German couple, to Kuala Besut bus station.
We had originally planned to take the "jungle railway" south, but given the infrequency of trains and the fact that most of them ran through the night, when we wouldn't have been able to enjoy the scenery anyway, we had decided to move on by bus. So, instead of heading all the way back to Khota Bharu and getting a direct bus from there, we decided to try and make our way on a cross-country route.
We took buses from Kuala Besut to Jerteh, where our only option was to then go to Pasir Puteh (fortunately we were able to board a bus that was just leaving almost immeditely). Bus 3 of the day took us to Machang and bus 4 to Kuala Krai. So far, each onward bus we had needed, was waiting for us as we arrived at these small bus stations.
Even at Kuala Krai, there was a bus leaving within 5 minutes, but by now, we needed some lunch. We managed to order a couple of nasi gorengs (fried rice) - an easy choice considering we didn't know what any of the other dishes were - in the bus station cafe and boarded our next bus an hour later.
It was a 2-hour journey on to Gua Masang, about halfway, passing the turning to Kuala Koh, which was the northern entry point to Taman Negara. As soon as we arrived in Kuala Koh bus station, we enquired about public transport options back to Kuala Koh. Our request was mostly met with silence and / or disbelief that we wanted to go there. Eventually, we had it confirmed that the only way for us to get there was by taxi which, at over 100RM each way, wasn't really within our budget (particularly as we hadn't been able to confirm whether there would be anywhere for us to stay when we arrived). It was difficult to decide what to do next. We wandered across town to the railway station, where we discovered that both of the night trains to Jerentut (the southern access point to Taman Negara) tonight were apparently fully booked.
In the end, despite the lack of availability of trains, we decided to go for the easy option and visit Taman Negara from the south - although that meant catching the 6am train the following day. We rejected one cheap and tatty hotel and instead ended up in the Evergreen Hotel, with a pretty decent room for only 32RM (about $10). We showered and found an internet cafe to download some of our photos, so as to make space for more on our memory cards for our final jungle visit. Ian also picked up emails from his parents, wondering where we were - they hadn't heard from us for weeks!
It was now dark and we were loking for a dinner venue. Ian's eye was caught by the Liverpool vs West Ham match live on one TV. So our restaurant choice was made! Despite a menu written entirely in Baharsa Malay, we recognised sufficient words to order some food and were pleasantly surprised with how cheap and tasty it was - Ian even ordered seconds of his noodle dish. It was certainly the best value meal since our open-air market stall meals in Kuching.
Day 414 - Sunday 27th August 2006 - on to Taman Negara
Fortunately, our alarm woke us at 5:30am. It was still dark outside and we were soon heading down to the station. The local train that arrived just before 6am was much smarter than we had been expecting - complete with air conditioning. In fact, we were a bit worried that we would get too cold. We unpacked a few more clothes and wrapped up as best we could against the refrigerated atmosphere! - just how would we cope with English autumn in 10 days time?
The train stopped everywhere - often a station would be little more than a break in the forest, with a delapidated bus-like shelter. At one point, we stopped for over half an hour - this turned out to be so that a train heading north could pass us (most of the route was single track). We both snoozed a bit before arriving in Jeruntut a little late. But it was pleasant to step out into the tropical heat again!
We were pretty hungry by now and soon managed to find a roti maker and tucked in to some roti canai and iced Milos. Then, we managed to find the Hotel Sri Emas, which had moved locations from where it was shown on the LP map. There, we were able to book our transport to and back from Taman Negara. The next transfer wasn't leaving for a few hours, so we used the internet for a while and then ate some really rubbish noodles in the NKS Café where we waited for our bus to Tembeling Jetty.
Once at the jetty, we were soon onboard a small open wooden boat, powered by an outboard motor. We were sitting at water level and had an enjoyable ride, even though there was no wildlife spotted on the forested banks. After 2½ hours we arrived in Kuala Tahan, directly opposite the entrance to Taman Negara itslef. We spent about half an hour checking out various accommodation options, some of which were the most basic rooms we had been offered since Bolivia. Eventually we checked into the pleasant Tahan Guesthouse - where we experienced our first en-suite bathroom with an Asian (squat) toilet. But there was also a little balcony and we had a brightly painted room decorated with some of the local wildlife, cartoon style.
A little later, we headed down to the river again and the floating restaurants there. We decided to choose Lia restaurant because it had pretty fairy lights decorating it. It proved a decent choice and we even treated ourselves to pancakes for dessert.
Day 415 - Monday 28th August 2006 - Canopy Walkway, Taman Negara
We didn't get up as early as we had planned, but eventually were back by the river for a roti canai breakfast at Lia Restaurant. From there we caught one of the many river taxis to Naman Negara itself.
We picked up a very basic trail map and headed off towards the canopy walkway. The signposts told us it was only a 1.2km walk from the resort, but it seemed much further, taking us almost an hour. We didn't see or hear much wildlife, but did see a medium-sized monitor lizard rushing away from us. Apparently, at about 500m long, we were about to walk the longest suspended canopy walkway in the world. It certainly looked pretty rickety! It was a while before we realised that the walkway had simply been built out of a lot of aluminium ladders, tied to the trees with lots of rope and steel ties. On every section of the walkway, there were warning signs, indicating that we couldn't walk too close together - we usually had to stay at least 5-10m apart so as not to put too much strain on it! But at least we were definitely in the canopy (not like our canopy walk in the Valley of the Giants in Australia). Nevertheless, we didn't see or hear much at all - it was almost the middle of the day after all. Some of the views were pretty good, looking down across the Tembeling river.
From the end of the walkway, we decided to follow another trail up to a viewpoint at the top of small hill, Bukit Teresek. Although it was only 344m high at the top, it was a pretty steep climb in places and once again, we had to walk much further than the 800m shown on the signpost! There were actually 2 viewpoints at the top, the second giving impressive views over the canopy stretching out into the distance. From here, we could also see rain sweeping in towards us, so we knew we were going to get wet!
Rather than simply re-tracing our steps, we decided to follow another trail down from the viewpoint. The rain soon reached us and made the steep underfooting slippy. But at least the canopy was sheltering us from the worst of the rain (as usual, we tried wearing our waterproof jackets, but the very high humitidy meant that we actually felt drier without our jackets on!)
After quite a hike, we eventually reached a junction with a more well defined trail. Here we first heard, and then saw the first monkeys of our visit. They were high above us, so much so that we couldn't be sure what type they were (they were probably long-tailed macaques). We spotted another troop a little further on, again high in the canopy, and continued on back towards the resort. It was about another hour's walk through the jungle and just before the end, we were surprised by a group of about a dozen wild pigs foraging just near the trail. There were at least nine babay pig amongst them. But they took very little notice of us, just exchangeed a few grunts with each other and continued looking for food.
Back in our room, we relaxed on our mini-balcony and tucked into a few crackers and tried out G&S (gin and Sprite), to make inroads into the cheap gin that Emma and Stuart had given us when they left Pulau Perhentian. It turned out to be quite a good combination - especially with some fresh lime squeezed in too.
Ian chatted to an English guy in the hostel, who recommended the Family Restaurant down on the river. As it happened, we were thinking of heading there anyway and certainly had a good meal, washed down with decent shakes.
Day 416 - Tuesday 29th August 2006 - Jungle Trekking, Taman Negara
We filled ourselves up on a big roti breakfast and ordered various rice and noodle dishes to take with us on our jungle trek. We then hopped across on the ferry and began our 11km (apparently, we weren't confident in their numbers!) trek to the Bunbun Kambung hide. There were two trails leading to this hide, a cross-jungle route and a riverside route. We had chosen the cross-jungle route as (surprisingly) it was supposed to be less hilly and Nikki was hoping for fewer leeches. This meant we started the trek by re-tracing our route back along the path we ahd walked at the end of yesterday. No pigs today but we did find some monkeys at the same trail junction later. We continued past this junction, walking alongside the river for a bit and then turning back into the jungle, over a few ridges and across a few bridged streams.
After about 2 ½ hours, we came to a signposted junction and found out we were about half way (5km in). We decided to have lunch here and de-leech properly - we had been pulling them off our boots and socks at regular intervals for a while now. We tucked into some rather bland, but ok, noodles out of plastic bags and then continued along the trail. We were expecting another junction in about 1km but we never found it. After some time, we passed another tourist (only the 3rd we'd seen since leaving the resort) heading the other way. He said he was a bit lost as he had no map and hadn't seen a signpost for a long time but we were able to reassure him that he was on the right trail back to the resort.
The jungle was pretty dense now and the trail varied from sometimes narrow, sometimes wide, sometimes steep, sometimes not. Two hours later, there was still no sign of that junction and, in fact, no signs at all - we hoped we were actually on the right trail! Nikki's compass suggested that we were heading in roughly the right direction (once we'd allowed for the fact that it actually points south rather than north and so east was actually west etc.). We carried on hopefully. A bit later we heard rumbles of thunder and before too long it had started to rain. It seemed very dark under the dense canopy, especially without any sunlight filtering through, but at least the canopy held up most of the rain and we were only really dripped on, although the rain sounded much harder on the leaves above. However, the rain did succeed in bringing the leeches out in full force and both of us were now pulling them off our legs every 5-10 minutes. We weren't quite at worrying point yet but we were somewhat relieved to see a signpost half an hour later telling us we only had 1km left.
Not far past this signpost, we had to cross the River Trenggan as we had been warned. Luckily we weren't in the full throws of rainy season and so it was only knee-deep and we didn't have to use the rope that was there to pull yourself along when the river is much higher. Still, given how frequently we were removing leeches, neither of us were too enthusiastic about taking our socks and boots off to wade across! Still, we got on with the task ahead and made our way across the river without too much trauma. From the other side, it was only about another half an hour to the hide.
We arrived at the hide at about 4.30pm to find no-one else there. The hide itself was actually more substantial than we had been expecting - it was about 8-10 metres off the ground with wooden bunks to sleep 12 people, although we had had to carry our own bedding. We were surprised to find a 'proper' toilet/bathroom with running water from a rainwater tank but were pleased to wash off all the mud and dried blood from our leech bites. Ian's socks in particular were a complete mess and he had loads of blood around his ankles which just started bleeding again when he tried to wash the dried stuff off - yuk! Anyway, we changed into some dry clothes, had a snack of crackers and cheese slices, and sat by the glassless window looking out into the jungle, hoping to see some wildlife.
Soon, a couple of noisy squirrels came up the tree just next to the hide and so we watched them for a bit. But, apart from these and a few birds, plus a leech crawling out from Ian's sock which he had hung up to dry, shortly followed by a second leech from the same sock, and finally a 3rd leech, still from the same sock (no wonder he was covered in blood - they'd been having a feast in there!), we didn't see any more wildlife. A couple of hours later, while we were playing Scrabble, 4 other tourists (from Glasgow) arrived - they had come by boat and just walked the last 2km - cheats! We chatted to them a little but we were all trying to be quiet so we couldn't have much of a conversation. We finished our game of Scrabble - Nikki won - and then tucked into our cold fried rice dinner.
It began to get dark and we got out our torches but, just as we were settling down to watch and listen for animals, the Scots went to bed - at 8.30pm! - and were too noisy for us to really be able to hear anything. The only animal we did see was a mouse/rat (Nikki preferred to think of it as a mouse but it was more likely to be a rat!) hovering near our food bag. We sealed our remaining food up and put it in our dry-bag and tied up the rubbish outside. We stayed up for another couple of hours but didn't see or hear anything more so we went to bed. Despite hoping to be woken up by the rustling of elephants wandering past the hide or even a cat or two, we heard nothing except the rustling of a plastic bag being dragged round the room, presumably by the rat.
Day 417 - Wednesday 30th August 2006 - waking up in a jungle hide, Taman Negara
Nikki hadn't slept much in the night, having been kept awake by endless rustlings in the hide but had managed to nod off late in the night and only woke up at 6.50am when it was already almost light. We had wanted to be up and ready for dawn to have the best chance of seeing any morning wildlife. We crawled out of our mosquito nets and stared, bleary-eyed, out into the clearing. We heard a few noises and so there was definitely something out there but it stayed well-hidden in the undergrowth. The Scots got up and watched with us for a bit but they left by 8.30am having seen nothing at all and having lost their breakfast to the rat in the night!
We were on our own again, and were not really very hopeful of seeing anything, but then Ian spotted a wild pig, on its own, making its way across the clearing. We had some cold fried rice for breakfast (with added burnt flavour) and then started to pack up quietly. Nikki then spotted a deer which we watched for a while before it disappeared into the jungle at the back of the clearing.
By 9.30am we were ready for our 2km trek to Kuala Trenggan. It was an easy trail, with lots of signposts, unlike the day before. We saw lots of squirrels, heard some gibbons and only encountered a few leeches, so before too long we were at Trenggan Lodge. The Lodge is no longer in use but we sat on a bench overlooking the river and chatted to the ranger (Azul) about what we hadn't seen and what had been spotted lately by other tourists (the elephants hadn't been seen for 2 weeks and so were more than likely in another corner of the park altogether - so it wasn't surprising we hadn't seen them). We had booked ourselves a boat back to the village and our boatman was already there waiting so we soon set off back to Kuala Tahan. We shot down a few rapids, got a bit wet occasionally, and spotted a dead pig floating down the river, but it was mostly a pleasant journey and much easier than trekking for another 5-6 hours!
We checked back into the Tahan Guesthouse, Nikki did some essential laundry and we both had a good shower. We had a nice lunch back at the riverfront before returning to our room for a lazy afternoon of reading and snoozing. In the evening, we had the last of our gin & sprite and then went back to the Family Restaurant for dinner, having waited for a thunderstorm to pass. We weren't as impressed by the restaurant today, especially since a medium sized sweet'n'sour vegetable dish came out very small, despite being twice the price of the paprik chicken! Still, it was better than cold, burnt, fried rice.
Day 418 - Thursday 31st August 2006 - Last morning in Taman Negara
It was raining when we woke, so we decided to lie-in. Eventually, we were packed and checked-out and heading down to the floating restaurants for another roti breakfast.
Once full, we decided to walk a short loop trail, covering some new ground through the forest. The trail turned out to be quite steep up for a while before emerging at another trail junction near the end of the canopy walkway. Here, after 90 minutes walking we saw our first fellow tourist of the day. However, we hadn't yet seen any wildlife, although we did hear a woodpecker, clearly hard at work. We managed to work out which tree it was pecking at, but still couldn't actually see it.
We were heading back to the park entrance and the resort, when we heard the tell-tale rustling sounds of some monkeys in nearby trees. They soon appeared and there was a bit of commotion. We assumed that this was due to our presence, but, when a group of wild pigs also headed towards us, we realised that the monkeys were much more upset by the pigs, than us. The wild pigs seemed to have no fear of us, coming really close to us while foraging for food. There were also about a dozen piglets, who all had markedly striped coats and they were a bit more cautious of us. Nevertheless, we were able to stay here for quite some while, snapping picctures. Eventually we had to move on though as there were too many mosquitoes around.
It turned out that we had encountered the monkeys and wild pigs only 100m or so from the far end of the resort - no wonder they were not afraid of us. Although we hadn't encountered too many leeches today, when we examined our feet more closely, Ian realised that one leech had escaped his attention and had been feasting away on one of his feet for some while. He quickly pulled it off an squashed it with his boot, seeing the black blood staining the pathway! This must have made unusual viewing for the family tucking into their lunch in the resort's posh restaurant, only a few metres away!
Back across the river, we ate lunch in the LBK reataurant, while we waited for our return boat trip. Once pushed off into the fast-flowing stream of the river, there were some very unpromising noises from the engine, as it failed to start several times, but fortunately, it soon kicked into life and we were on our way. It turned out that there were only us 2 tourists on the boat, which meant we could stretch out and get comfortable. We continued with our sucessful wildlife spotting, seeing some more monkeys and a blue kingfisher, but the sun was well hidden behind the clouds and we were starting to feel chilly before we arrived back at Kuala Tembeling after less than 2 hours.
Thanks very much to Linda & Ashley Gander for "sponsoring" this part (Taman Negara) of our trip!
On the way back to Jerantut, we had a large bus all to ourselves and were soon back at the Hotel Sri Emas relaxing (our transfer package allowed us to relax here, use the shower and wait for our onward train). We had a long time to kill, so we actually just dumped our bags and went to use an internet cafe for a few hours. We hadnn't realised, but as we left the internet cafe at about 8pm, the owner had clearly been waiting for us to leave before closing up! We needed some dinner, and decided to try one of the many outdoor restaurants nearby. We couldn't decide which one to try, so when we paused outside one and an English menu was thrust into our hands, that seemed as good a place to try as any other. The food there was Ok, although the most memorable thing about the place (for Nikki at least) was her toilet visit... After being pointed in the right direction, she headed through the door with the word "toilet" (in English) clearly written on it. There, she found a small concrete floored room with a hose, and nothing else - not even a drain or a hole in the ground. She checked that there couldn't be any other room that was supposed to be the toilet and then realised that there was a crack in the concrete, where the back of the restaurant was and the scrubland leading down to the railway started. Given she didn't really have time to find anywhere else, she just had to use what facilities there were (particularly the hose!) and returned to our table. The food itself was decent, although the staff wanted to serve us much more quickly than we wanted to eat - we still had several hours before our train was due to arrive.
Back at the Hotel Sri Emas, we took it in turns to shower, repacked our backpacks and settled down with a couple of books on a couple of sofas to wait (we were pleased that it was already 10:30pm). Unfortunately the lobby area where we were sitting was air conditioned and too cold for us, so after a while, Ian took to standing outside in the humid warmth of the night.
Day 419 - Friday 1st September 2006 - ariving in Singapore
Eventually, we wandered down to the station for our 2:24am express train departure to Singapore. The Sri Emas staff had been very chatty, particularly the large woman (?), with beard and extremely high pitched voice. So, we had heard of plenty of occasions where this train was delayed for hours and hours. However, we must have been lucky, as only just after 2:30am it arrived.
We headed straight to our bunks - first having secured our backpacks. But, we had been too quick for the guard, who wanted to inspect our tickets - so Ian had to unlock everthing again before getting back into bed. The train swayed lots and, for Nikki in the top bunk, this was pretty disrupting, so she didn't manage to sleep very well - she was much too worried about actually falling out of the bunk!
Still, the hours passed and soon we were up and tucking into our remaining cheese and crackers for breakfast. Soon after, we arrived in Singapore...
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