Square Point Hotel Kota Bharu

Well .. i stayed on the Perhentians last night after all .. and spent the day under the umbrella and in the sea .. lovely.<br><br>This morning i got up super early in order to catch the 8am boat back to the mainland! I then met up with 3 other people who also wanted to go to Kota Bharu and we took a taxi rather than wait for the bus .. i got to the train station in Wakaf Baharu at about 11ish and the only train that i could get was at 8pm so ...

Well it's not every night you party on the beach...and lose your shoes!!<br><br>Got up this morning and went for a shower in our...ummm...toilets if you could call them that and there is a frog on my towel...this reminds me that there was frog on the toilet seat last night when I was drunk too...euuuugh how am I going to use my towel with this slimy thing on it?!<br><br>I pass on the shower and head straight to the sea and then onto the ...

... but not easy to back pack with so we didn't pick one up. One our first afternoon there we headed to the cultural center for a drumming demonstration (which Luc also took part in). The were pretty good!! All older gentlemen... keeping the culture alive. They also did a top spinning demonstration, the tops spin[in for up to two hours! A complicated process but not super thrilling to watch. Malaysia is also well known for it's batik... and a batik artist was giving a presentation as well ...

... where we had stored the bikes and bought our ferry tickets, about routes and maps. Turns out there is a very efficient Tourist Office in Kuala Bersut, so we popped along there and picked up a few brochures with maps. Nothing that shows us the whole journey but with what we already have we should be OK. This morning we met a couple of Brits on the Island who had been there for 5 days partying. They had ...

... beach.It is a Muslim country , so you cannot find alcohol everywhere. <br>After the first beer in the bar, they ran out because the boats haven't come yet to deliver! We went to the next one and were joined by Ulrich and Anna, a German couple who was also snorkelling with us. We stayed all night talking and piling up the cans like knackers and when we decided to go for food everything was closed! <br>Today was also the start of the week ...

... Turns out it was a monitor lizard. They are all over the Perhentian Islands and it was the first of many that we saw while we were there. The can be anywhere from half a foot to seven foot long and the ones on the Perhentians are generally 3 to 4 feet long, quite big! It was getting dark by the time we had checked in and showered so we just had dinner, watched a DVD and played couple of games of darts in the guesthouse before going to bed ...

... arrival. Covered in jungle and surrounded by stunningly clear turquoise water. There are two islands - Big Island (Besar) and Small Islands (Kecil). We've decided to stay on Kecil for two weeks as it is meant to have a more backpacker vibe to it compared to Besar which has a more resort feel. Ferry takes 45 min so in no time we are transferring from the "ferry" to a smaller boat which takes us into shore. Paradise is finally within reach...

... Paradis! Vi fant oss et hotell, Matahari Chalett, som lå nesten på stranden, og som var helt nytt...de hadde ikke fått gangen på AC`en enda, så vi fikk avslag på prisen og var fornøyde med det :-) Stranden her er digg! Kritthvit sand og turkis hav...helt perfekt! Vi var på Perhentian i 10 dager, bare slappa av og kosa oss :-) Og det var faktisk det eneste vi gjorde utenom en snorkle tur og noe volleyballspilling ...

Our last stop in SE Asia before heading back to Singapore the Perhentian Islands off the NE coast of Malaysia provided a fitting end to our fun filled adventures. Consisting of two islands - one of which you can walk across in 10 minutes, no roads and no electricity except by generators it really is "getting away from it all" territory. Neither of us have seen water so clear ...

... seemed fairly peaceful but I was reluctant to take out my camera to take a snap. I said goodbye to Thailand for a second time and headed into Malaysia. Immediately bumped into a guy I had met in Koh Tao also heading to Perhentian. There are two types of people that you met travelling. The ones that you would consider sticking with and those that you would ditch at the earliest opportunity. Fortunately Paul was the former and it was great to see ...