Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Steph's Asia Trip
arrived in the perhentians a few days ago (must be about 3 days now) Journey was interesting. Got shared taxi - met a nice photographer. Then got ferry to the islands. I'm staying on the small one (Kecil). Had to change boats in the middle of the sea with my huge backpack!! Was a shock and as we approached the shore it suddenly occurred to me that there was no jetty!! Fortunately I had the initiative to take my shoes and socks off and roll my trousers up just in time so when I arrived i managed to look like I had totally expected it all!! Had to get out into the water - straight onto the beach!
Life here is very basic - we only have electricity for 12 hours a day - I've had many showers in pitch black (no window in the bathroom) - have perfected the art of shaving my legs by touch! The first place I stayed at was on Coral bay - it was really basic (horrible) and on the edge of the jungle - hadn't realised how loud the jungle things are at night - loads of wierd noises that even my earplugs couldn't drain out. The toilet was on the other side of the site so I had to wlak through jungle area to get to it - was not great.
Have moved to the other side of the island (only takes 10 mins to walk from one side to the other at the thinnest point!) Am living with an Irish girl I met on the ferry - she's lovely - makes me laugh a lot. She's been travelling for 6 months - she's been everywhere - all over the world!
The beaches here are much nicer than in Thailand - it's really picturesque, but the accommodation etc is much more shabby. There are no roads on the island and not a sinlge vehicle. To get to different parts of the shore you take taxi boats. You can't access the centre of the island unless you're an experienced trekker with something to cut the dense jungle! Lot's of natural beauty.
I did a 3 hour hike round the coast to the fishing village which was interesting - lots of goats and kittens! I also did a trek up the big hill to the banana plantation. I was given a stick to defend myslef against giant monkeys!! Luckily I didn't encounter any, but I did find a huge spider - at which point I turned around a came back - wasn't going to trek through anywhere with things like that around!!
Trying to arange a fishing trip - not having much luck at the moment.
Will stay here til the 7th (no banks or ATM's here - my cash runs out on 7th). Then I'm heading for Naman Negara. Internet here is dodgy due to power cuts and phone line availability. Not sure when I'll next update the journal. But rest assured I'm probably still alive!
Hope you're all enjoying the heatwave still!
- comments