Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Hey guys, still trying to catch up with this thing after all of these internet problems!!!!
So After Penang we headed to the next southern island of Pualu Pangkor.
We arrived via a small ferry into the some of the worst weather we had seen yet (other than in Koh phangnan)! It was raining so hard and yet again we hadnt booked anywhere to stay. We did however meet a nice German guy called Marco on the boat who accompanied us whilst we walked round looking for shelter as he too had no where to stay. As it was evening the rain was the only impression we recieved of the island so at the time it wasnt the best! After much sodden trekking round we managed to find a place which was a little expensive but had three beds, so problem solved. We ended up spending the evening talking with Marco till about three in morning about politics and religion (yes no booze, we actually spent the evening having mature, adult conversations)! Marco was a really really nice guy and although he was leaving the next day it was good to meet him. He had also spent the last two years living in Singapore and therefore filled us in on what was to see and do and about however crazily particular they are. Just a few examples: eating in public and chewing gum are strictly illegal, as is walking around your own apartment naked!!!!!
We woke the next morning to more rain! It wasnt as heavy but made the island look dull and the beach look like nothing special, so we figured we wouldnt stay too long. We spent the day getting settled into our new wooden shed like hut and meeting some of the guys in the hostle. The first person we met was a guy called Joss from Paris. He was so funny and quirky! The funniest was when we needed to get to an ATM and the closest was on the other side of the island. Joss therefore borrowed the hostel owners bike and told reece he could give him a lift. As this was a great solution, reece jumped on the back. His face said it all when he got back! He said that the guy was just a crazy french man! When going down the steep inclined hills he refused to use the brakes and simply revved the bike more!!! Reece simply clung on the whole way, appart from the times when Joss wanted him to take pictures or videos (of course he thought it was great fun though, even if a little scary!). Joss even loved it when we told him about Phi Phi and the boxing ring and he made a detor in his trip just so that he could go and fight! He really was a funny but insane guy!!! Along with him we also met a local man called Lesley. Now Lesley is the local rich man come island alcoholic! He was such a nice man and wanted to teach us as much as possible about Malayisia. Every night he brought something new to the hostel for us to try: Dried fish sticks (just like fish food), prawns a friend had caught from the beach that day, Sharks fin and the best....coconut beer! Now this one we were willing to gladly try however before we tried this beer Lesley told us not to smell it. Upon asking why he replied that it was off putting as it smelled like Monkey poo! This was in fact also exactly what it tasted like (not that weve tried monkey poo!) it was bloody horrible, like a mixture of gone off milk and rotten popcorn!!!! Not even we were desperate enough to drink more than a tester of the stuff, Lesley therefore had to polish of the whole two litres as no one esle would join him!
On that first day Lesley taught us a marble game called Congkak. Now it is not the hardest of games but is addictive!!! Due to the rain we spent most of the day playing it with Lesley and joss. Brilliant game that we would buy if we found in a shop! The game soon became on that we had to play at least a couple of times a day whilst we were there.
On the third day we woke to beautiful sunshine! It was a glorious day so we though we would check out the beach to see if it looked any better when the sun was shinning. We got there and it was lovely! Just across from the main beach there was also a small island called Coral bay (the photo), so decide to check it out via kayake for a few hours to explore it and the surrounding coastline of Pangkor. We got to the island and saw just how nice it was. The water was completely different to water we had seen elsewhere, it was lime green, apparently due to the limestone all around the island but still crystal clear. It was so stunning and remote. We hung around for a while and then took a trip around to the other side of the main pangkor beach. Now where we were staying we were right on the edge of the rainforest, even a few huts had swaps for gardens! Around the area therefore there are tons of monkeys. Now this is not actually a good thing as they are not human friendly!!! They are really nasty, especially if they think you have food! So anyway we pulled up to the shore of a little secluded patch of sand so we could enjoy the peace and water. It was not long till we heard a strange noise coming from the trees behind us. The longer we stood there staring into the trees trying to spot what it was the louder the sound grew and closer it got. So as youve probably guessed although we really wanted to explore we jumped straight into the kayake and rowed as fast as we could!!!Chickens!!!! So the next stop was a beach on the otherside of the coast. We pulled up to find a large group of young malay people who were also enjoying the beach. The moment we stepped out of the kayake they began giggling and before our feet even toouched the sand they were asking for a picture (as stated before this happens so much, people love pictures with the funny white people!) After the group had left we noticed a rope swing at the end of the beach so spent the next hour or so playing and trying to jump of it into the water (if you look at some of the pictures you will see how this failed miserably as the swing was too far away from the water!) The day kayaking was really good fun, although makes your arms ache a little the next day!!! (kaylie)
The next day kay woke up feeling terrible with a bad chest, which had been a little croaky for a while. So we decided to just chill out for the day. Whilst lying in one of the many hammocks in the hostel garden a group of swedish guys we had met came back from a quick walk in the forest. We had planned to go for a short walk too but when we saw one of the guys we changed our minds! He had leech bites all over his feet!!!! urrgh! He was wearing socks and trainers as well so seeing as how kay only had flip flops we gave it a miss!!!! The whole rainforest is full of the b*****s and theres no escaping them!
Whilst milling around the beach front that day we discovered there were mmore than a few burger stands. We hadnt really had a burger whilst being away yet (other than one after returning from the beach at 6 in the morning in Phi Phi), we had stayed away from them as the meat is the pink, not so good quality 'meat'. These vans however specialised in chicken (ayam) burgers. So we thought we would give them a go as they were only 50p. We opted for the 'special ayam burger'. They finished making the burger and from the first bite we were hooked!!! Even thought the burger was huge we hung around the van till we had finished it and straight away ordered another!! What it was was a simple chicken burger that has a flattened egg rapped around it with some 'special' seasoning, pepper, chilli sauce and then loads of salad in a bun. Sooo good we are craving one now just talking about it! With that came the Milos! Originally tried to sooth kays sore throat we found the lovely milo. When served cold with ice it is sooooooooo nice! We therefore became addicted to these burgers and milkshakes accompanied but these little doughnut type things called banana balls, which you could easily eat 50 of in one (we sound like were in america!!!) We even have a bag of powdered milo that we are carrying around with us!! Simple pleasures!
On our last day the only plans we had were to lounge on the beach some more as kay was still feeling really bad. These plans however quickly changed when we got to the beach and came up with the stupid idea to try and swim to the island (well it wasnt stupid at the time). So it didnt look far so we decided to give it a go. We started swimming and all was fine until we realised that we were being dragged the completely wrong way! The tide was so strong it was dragging us to the beach on the otherside of the coast. So after around an hour of continuous swimming (and spluttering from kay) we reached the island (knackered)! Although tiring it was really good to have achieved it. Well especially as the locals on the beach told us we wernt allowed as there are too many boats going to and from the island, therefore it is too dangerous! Opps! It was so good with the sun on your face, actually doing some exercise! We were just not really looking forward to the swim back though! As it turned out the tide actually helped us in our swim back and it was fairly easy and we made it back in only around 20 minutes. There was only one hitch....this time it was reeces turn to be stung by a jelly fish! it was actually quite a big sting and gave him burn makes across the back of both knees!!! Luckily he was a brave boy and it didnt spoil the day. It was such a nice day, we both really enjoyed it (and of course we congratulated ourselfs with some local delicasies!)
That evening we met a larger group of people. Paddy and Karen from Ireland, Kirsty from London and two Ozzie girls Hannah and Jess oh and there was of course lesley there too. We all decided that we should have a few socials and drinking games. So the alcohol was bought (this turned into 5 litres of vodka) and the drinking games began! We had such a fun evening and by the time it came to midnight a swim was on the cards!! So we all walked across the road and jumped in! The funniest was paddy. He claimed to be such a big irish drinker but he was the only one that was actually really drunk! It was so funny watching him attempt to mount a rope swing and then fall straight off face first into the sand!!!! Upon returning from the swim we met a pair of french girls who were also staying in our hostel. They were so strange it was funny! Especially when one cornered reece on one of the hammocks and chatted him up!! soooo funny!
Again Pangkor was a place we really enjoyed and we are so glad we gave the place a second chance because if not we would have surely left early and would therefore not have seen the things we did or enjoy the company of the good people we met. Good times!
x x x x x x
- comments