Hotel Perdana Kota Bharu

... Ah well we move into our new house and Jack heads back to his hillside retreat!!

Off for brekkie and then I hit the internet and Carolyn heads back to our new home and then the beach!! An hour later I head back to our new hut, bumping into Jack on the way who informs me his room has been robbed and that he is taking a sea taxi to the police station!! What?!?!?! Robbed on this idilyic little island?! Other than Perve Patrol crew who ...

... s not really my style to plan things!! We decide on Coral Bay and are quickly imformed that we have to get off at this beach and walk across to the other side of the island...I know it has no roads but how big is it?!

Off the boat and into a sea taxi we step out the boat into the HOT sea and begin our trek through the woods to the other side of the island...it's so unbelivably hot and I have 3 bags!! We get there and there is even less here than the side of the island ...

... had easily found hostels everywhere else we'd been.



We spent three grueling hours searching for rooms all around the island with our heavy packs. The friendly owner of the Longbeach Challet told us he was booked but we could sleep on his porch if we couldn't find a room. We kept looking until we had exhausted all of our options. I bought a hammock and a beach towel to use as a blanket then we went back to the Longbeach Challet - we had no idea what we were ...

... taken (on somebodies cell phone) with them on..... also, hilarious, I almost forgot.... they thought that Luc looked just like Osama because of his beard (It's his new nick name now). Well once the cell phone camera was out of course they all wanted photos with me..... I was out of the water at this point... the whole thing was pretty funny. Eventually we had to head back to the road to catch the last bus into town. Making friends worked out in our favor though because the guys pulled ...

... it takes a couple of days. We dutifully went to the immigration office on Friday only to learn that they are open from Monday to Thursday. Therefore, we were forced to waste a day in this shithole and since they like Allah beer was too overpriced for my taste. We woke up the next day and shared a taxi with some freak from Germany and a bird from Britain to the pier for our overpriced boat ride to the beautiful Perehentian islands. The water is the first thing you ...

... I had gone out onto the breakwater though.. the view could have been nice.. Time soon came for us to depart for destination paradise and we made our way back to the Bubu Resort Office.. where Mel almost stepped on a squashed frog.. hahaha! Her shriek was hilarious! Anyway, a noisy bunch (including a HUGGGE Chinese family from KL) had already gathered outside the office and we were all ...

Ramadam was in full swing when we arrived in Malaysia. This meant that all Muslim run eateries were closed in the day until after sundown, after which time they could all fill up on the food and water that they had been abstaining from since sunrise. Their fasting lasts for 4 weeks, the culmination of which is the celebration of the Muslim New Year, better known as Hari Raya. We'd decided ...

... for me was the snorkeling that the islands offered. Although the reef wasn't as good as the barrier in Australia the fish more than made up for it. The best part without a doubt was swimming with turtles. Something i had been hoping to do for an age. We first saw them on a guided snorkel trip which was great but there was allot of people and the turtles became a little spooked. So the next day me and a Dutch guy i met chartered our own ...

... Is it a black tip or tiger shark , which is friendly , which is foe ?? No panic as it is a friendly black tip shark. Then we went to see the turtles again and after searching for 20 min we see him and follow the dark shape. I think I need to get closer so I dive and get a great view and experience no ear pain ( good diving lesson last night). The turtle even comes up for air allowing us all to get a good look at him. He is ...