Crystal Lodge Kota Bharu

... out Jack has been up and away for a fried brekkie and back in that time too!! What a great sleep!!

I ope the door and guess what I see...perve patrol camped outside in their usual spot...why am I even shocked?! Carolyn has had enough and demands that we be moved!! While all this is going on I head down tho the toilet where I see the remainder of the crew painting over the grafitti of last night accusing them of being thieves and ...

... and hop on the 'ferry' or should that be...local speed boat!! As we sped along it was clear that this was merely a novelty race for the drivers of the various boats heading to the Perhentians!! As we leave the harbour the water is muddy and the sky is cloudy...not what Paul Seymour promised me when he advised a trip to these magical islands!!

However as we approach the two islands half an hour later things are looking a little different!! I can see the sand beneath ...

Edgardo and I caught a 6AM train from Hat Yai to a town in Thailand near the Malaysian border. The train seats were ridiculously uncomfortable. There was a metal bar right where the headrest should have been. Also there were guards dressed in military garb that patrolled the train cars while carrying heavy assault rifles. It was pretty nerve wrecking at first but we got used to it.

After arriving at the border town, we walked across the border and got our passports ...

Perhentian Islands We arrived in the border town of Khota Baru near the Northeast tip of Malaysia, it has a strong Muslim presence. I must say, generally that I didn't like the feel of Malaysia. The people are just plain, vanilla, boring, etc. We took the "jungle train" through Northern Malaysia to get here. It was quite beautiful at times, but was without a doubt the most uncomfortable ride of my life. It was about 95 degrees out, the windows were broken so that they ...

... and we were joined by several other tourists.. be careful with your little ones though.. you'll never know who might be playing with them behind your back --> There was still plenty of time after breakfast so we headed off to a playground behind the Bubu Office just along the coast.. Good, quiet place to hang out away from the bustle of the pier area where we can laze on the benches by ...

... Not one question was asked by them. We then went off to see batik printing (which was closed) and kite-making which was disappointing just bits and pieces of a pre-made kite. The house-cum-shop was filled with children and was totally homely and unprofessional. We felt as if we were intruding into someone's house. Pantai Cahaya Bulan was filled with locals playing kites, lounging about, playing by the beach. They had shops selling souvenirs ...

... It made it in 18minutes despite having 18 people on board. You do the maths but it was bloody fast!! Anyway we got there OK only to find that most of the accommodation on the beach we landed at was taken. We ended up paying far too much for a room that included a mouse (which ate our food whilst we were out) and was filthy. So the next day we got up thinking that if we didn't find anything better than we would be on the next boat back. And ...

... we find a guide who does a shorter trip for less people and same money. We see 3 sharks at shark point, and a huge school of fish feeding on coral at coral point, but at Coral beach we see turtles. It was the last stop and was quite exhausting to be chasing around the turtles as they are swimming quite deep eating seaweeds on the see floor. We cruise on the boats till we see a "rock shape" and we all dive in, searching for the ...