Small Island

I was excited to be heading to the islands again. It would be my last Asian stop before heading to Australia. I arrived in Kuala Besut and picked up my boat ticket to the smaller Perhentian Island, Kecil. I donned my orange life vest and couldn't believe how clear the water was even at the mainland. The ocean was fairly choppy and I held on tightly as the boat launched up into the air and then slammed down into the rough waves. I was last to disembark and though I had been nervous of finding a bed for the night, they had assured me at the mainland that there would be enough room for me.

It was an hour and a half later and near tears that I found a room. I grabbed it, sight unseen, as it was that or sleep in the sand. I may have chosen the latter had I not been alone. What I hadn't known when I booked my trip to the islands was that it was a school holiday, and a long weekend. Plus I was arriving on a Saturday at 3 pm. The most discerning part was that not a single person offered to help as I trudged, huge backpack on, through the sand from hotel to hotel. Had I been in Bali, they would have called their friends to find me a place or offered a room in their own home. Alas, it is not the case in Malaysia. Finally, at the other end of the beach, a man offered to watch my bag so I could walk around and find a place. The irony is that he was Canadian! Of course, the reason the kindness of us Northern folk is legendary in the travelling world. So I left my bag, found my bed and, after thanking Evan from Fort MacMurray profusely, went to unpack. Which basically meant changing. I sat in a small cafe on Coral Bay (on the other side of the island) using wifi and cooling myself under the fan. Since the island is small, it's pretty rugged. My room only had electricity between 7pm and 7 am, which would be fine if I were an early riser. Turns out, I was here. Once my fan turned off it didn't take me long to want out of the stuffy room.

I spent 2 days relaxing on Long beach, soaking up some sun, and floating in the crystal clear waves. White sand clung to everything I owned (in fact I'm still finding it in my bags). While lovely, it was a little lonely. Most people had arrived in groups and not many people were social, preferring to stick to their own. It was the perfect amount of time and as I lay in bed the last night, watching a gecko chase a moth around my wall, (it actually caught the wing in its mouth but it managed to get away) I looked forward to my adventures down under!

A long day in the bus and I was back at KL in a lovely Pod hostel where I got my own room. I ate dinner, went to bed and was up getting ready for the airport 8 hours later! A great stay in Malaysia. Though I found it so different from the rest of Asia as it is prodominately Muslim. I didn't find they had their own culture or food. It seemed to be a blend of Chinese, Indian, and SE Asian. I'm glad to have seen it and experienced it. It's all about the experience after all!