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Paradise Island
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Pulau Tioman island off the east coast of Malaysia is hands down, my favorite place so far.
We took the 2 hour speed ferry out to the island from Mersing. All along the way you pass by small, but magnificent islands with only a few huts or maybe just a pier. The water is crystal clear, aqua blue and warm like bath water. The climate is a bit humid, but who cares when all you have to do it swim, eat, sleep and drink duty free beer!
We stayed at Mawar's Beach Chalet right on the water. We had our own little hut with our own bathroom and a front porch for monkey watching (only $10/night!!!). We also had 2 or 3 little toads living in our bathroom. The big one was called Frog-O. Air Batang or ABC is the name of the small town we stayed in. All the chalets and restaurants are connected by a shady, meaning covered by palm trees, sidewalk running the whole distance of the beach connecting to the pier in the middle. The beach had white sand and just a short swim out was fun shaped coral and colorful little fish. I saw Nimo in the enenimi. He's cute.
The island looks like something out of a movie, maybe The Beach. The shore line is covered with palm trees towering over all the brush and then the mountains are covered with bright green tropical trees packed tightly together. The coral is visible from the white sand beach and rows of islands in the distance make you feel so far away from home. However, I believe it's the people here who make this little island a paradise. The locals are so accommodating and friendly. We took two rides in some random dudes scooter with a side car just so we didn't have to walk. Plus, the food they cook is insanely good and always with a smile. I've never had better curry, fried noodles, or fried rice and possibly some of the best pizza we've had in months. Yes, pizza.
We spent most of our time hanging on the beach, snorkeling and drinking at night. The bar of choice was a square hut with a grass roof lined on all four sides with huge trees trunks for bar stools. Shane was the bar tender, a 40 year old Canadian dive master living the life with his newly found, San Franciscan girlfriend Tiffany. Most nights Rory and I were in bed by 10 either because we were so drunk or dog tired from being in the sun all day. I know, sounds rough, huh?
Everyday around noon the grey-bearded monkeys would come around our chalet to play on the telephone wires, humping and jumping as much as they pleased. We fed them crackers for fun but they basically just broke them up and dropped them all over the ground. Not very civil, these little savages. We were also introduced to the monitor lizards which are absolutely huge. A bunch of them were swimming in a creek looking about 6 feet long and 2 feet wide. Massive.
One afternoon Rory attempted wake boarding. You can't really blame him for not getting up (because it's never Rory's fault) but I do agree that the puny little motor boat was way under par for passing as a ski boat. Better luck next time. And who knows, maybe I'll give it a go.
Sadly, today we had to depart, but the journey will only get better. Tonight we take the night bus up the coast 9 hours until we hit the next ferry taking us to the next island. I hear the beach on this island is even more spectacular. Til next time.
Where I stayed:
Mawar's Beach Chalet
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