Just left Tioman islands after 6 days there- a truely wonderful place with great mix of people. A must visit island for anyone going through Malaysia and wants to get off the tourist track.

Right time to edit and actully talk about Tioman.

We took the gamble and headed over to Tioman- we were told no chance of acommodation due to it being school holidays. High speed ferry was great, we got to island and then got the slightly worrying news off all the places that they were full- ah s***, will be sleeping on the beach as there's no ferries returning to mainland. Then we were offerered a hut for 180 ringitts, 30 quid a night- now this may sound cheap but it's actually amazingly expensive. Decided to leave luggage with Scott and do the whole stretch and ask everywhere. Hit jackpot- beach hut nice and clean for a fiver a night.

What a great island with an interesting mix of wildlife- butterflies, cats and huge lizards. Like 3 foot in length that just wander around very slowly ignoring you. The sea here is amazing- it's really calm crystal clear and warm- like really warm.

What makes the island so great is it's not touristy but the tourists who make it here are great. Sitting at the beach bar chatting with so many nationalities, special mention has to go to the Finnish couple. Ismo the hunter / enviromental law researcher- an amazingly nice guy with a real intense passion for everything he does be it drinking powerlifting or research. The American cast of the Sound of Music are staying here aswell not working for a few weeks due to earthquake in China- what a brilliant bunch of people. You always knew if you wandered down the beach to sunset bar you'd find someone to share a cold one with! Bumped into hungarian who had met in Malaka before- small world, he's like only hungarian in s-e asia and we keep meeting.

Had some great curries at a restaurant recommended to us by the chef. We met him one day drinking at 1 in the afternoon, a really nice guy with a story- was head chef for Hilton Hotels traveling world to instruct on s-e asian cuisine. He likes to get blid drunk before he starts service at 7pm- as he cooks better when drunk! The weird thing is I discovered this is no lie! Weird thing is he does best poppadoms i've ever had- you'd think had one poppadom you've had them all!

This is certainly a place where you could lose the world for a long time- it's just chilled beautiful and cheap. Found it hard to leave, but needs must.