Town Guest House Kota Bharu

... out Jack has been up and away for a fried brekkie and back in that time too!! What a great sleep!!<br><br>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!!<br> <br> 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. <br><br>After arriving at the border town, we walked across the border and got our passports ...

... where they could clearly see me. Great. They weren't shy at all about staring....and completely ignored Luc's reciprocal glares. I can't really blame them.... I would probably stare too if the only women I ever saw were covered in cloth from head to toe all the time.... I may as well have been naked! Feeling slightly uncomfortable I eventually got in the pool.... so at least it was harder for them to see my body! Eventually they started to talk to Luc and I..... mostly admiring Luc's ...

11th May 2009 Symphony Village, Perhentian Kecil, Malaysia Very, very hot, but with a bit of a breeze Yesterday I burnt my bum. I spent several hours in the sea snorkeling, with my bum up in the air and despite copious amounts of sun cream (large surface area don't you know) the backs of my legs and bottom are very sore. Thank goodness we've decided to stay another day and I won't actually be cycling for another 2 days. Limbi was our guide yesterday and we visited ...

... Another thing, due to it being a muslim country, alcohol is not only hard to come by, but ridiculously expensive, at the time of writing this we've now been in Malaysia 12 days and had one drink each! Ah well, it'll do us good! On the second day on the islands we decided to walk to a place called Coral Bay to see what it was like and we struck gold. We found a brand new really plush looking resort and decided to go in for a look. We said we'd ...

... the less curiosity for the better of us and we biught several things... some bright green cuboid, a dark green slab of something, some pastry things, and a somosa. All of which were actually really nice :-) Later we went to the night market, renound for fabulous local food. Rows of stalls, many selling various types of curry, chicken, fish and beef; yellow, blue, purple and white rice, were in the middle with plastic tables and chairs around the ...

... Khadijah market. Jeff liked the market and took lots of photos. I had a whiff of the fishy smell at one part and nearly puked. Now, everyone said I should go back. We did buy some keropok, dodol etc. I wanted to buy the salted fish but it was covered with those green bottle flies and decided against it. We were hot and tired and returned to the hotel. Afternoon was a faraway drive to Tok Bali Beach. We spent only 15mins on the beach having ...

... but I breathed a sigh of relief when they confirmed that there was no change fee. It all seemed so easy. Then they came back on the line and told me that all of their flights are sold out until October. Seeing as I'm supposed to be starting work in Key Largo in the middle of September, this is posing a (more than) slight problem. So....I ...

... about the Perhentians other than that they are stunning, I would highly recommend them as an alternative to the Thai islands for an equally cheap, slightly more relaxed and less touristy experience. Oh, and the diving is awesome. I have decided that if i die and have to come back as an animal I would choose to be a turtle. They are incredible. However I might change my choice back to a penguin again if I ever get the chance to see them in the wild.