Malaysia's island paradise
Trip Start
Mar 15, 2008
1
36
86
Trip End
Jul 15, 2009
Perhentians,
Malaysia
Saturday, August 16, 2008
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 couldn't open and the fans didn't work. We had to peel ourselves of the filthy train seats and go stand between where the two trains connected in order to get some fresh air. We were forced to alternate between standing and not dying from the heat with sitting in relevant comfort while trying to not die from heat exhaustion
Manny the monitor
. Our plans were to stay in the shit border town for a couple of days so we could secure a 60 day Thailand visa rather than a 30 day one. Unfortunately, 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 notice, the shocking clarity and hues of blue and turquoise(not the Gilis, but starting to find out that nothing compares to that trio of paradise). There are two islands that make up the Perhentians; one big for higher end and one small for backpackers, we ended up at the latter. It consists of two sides; Long beach and Coral beach. Coral beach is smaller with less accommodation and restaurants, but with better snorkeling and more privacy. Long beach is a perfect beach in every manner; some of the softest, squeakiest sand, crystal clear water, sweeping vistas surrounded by coconut trees. However, there is not much value on these islands in my spoiled opinion
enjoying the deck on our bungalow
. It costs 20 dollars for a cheap bungalow with a shared bathroom, 5 dollars plus per meal for crap food. However, we found one good restaurant that had free wireless, 8 dollar fajitas and a fantastic view of Long beach. We mostly ate there and enjoyed the view.The next few days we got by on our goodies from Kuala Lumpur. We had 2 bottles of Beam, some new books from Borders, a great view from our bungalow and a stunning beach to frolic in. Frolic is my new favorite word to describe beaches. It is the most apt word to describe what people do on these pristine beaches with no waves. You sun as much as you can then just float in the calm waters of tranquility, not a bad way to spend ones time. It takes a few days to get into the rhythm of an island and appreciate the speed of life and relaxation that it can bring. We spent one night sipping Beam on the beach, enjoying the view and listening to the appalling sound systems of one of the island bars.
I read this book on the US and Middle East, titled Power, Faith and Fantasy(highly biased horse shit, easy and unrewarding read since it is a NY best seller
snorkelling in crystal clear water
. The author actually signed his name and added Hartford and Jerusalem at the end.) and 1434(The follow up to 1421 illustrating that in fact the Chinese did everything before and gave all information to the barbarian Europeans in order to start the Renaissance). It turns out that Leanardo de Vinci was not really an inventor, but an excellent artist. The Chinese gave Italy a pocket sized encyclopedia on all things relevant so the dumb Europeans could sail to China to pay tribute. This book was a small summary of the great encyclopedia that took like 85 years to make and was held in the Forbidden City. It turns out that China had been coming to the Americas for around 2000 years before Columbus. It seems before 1434 and this book there were no ideas coming out of Italy and then after everyone who got his hands on it became a "Renaissance Man." College dropouts became experts in farming, irrigation, printing, military techniques, machinery, art, etc. and all overnight. It seems very plausible I'm sure.Basically, the next week or so we spent snorkeling, sunning, reading, and most of all frolicking around the beach letting the relaxation delve deep into our souls and discover feelings that I have never had before. The snorkeling is first rate, great variety, visibility and colors. The diving is also only about 20 dollars a pop and most sites are less than a 15 minute boat ride away. All in all the Perhentians are amazing, but lack culture and vibes of Thailand or Indonesia, thank god we got that Beam in Duty Free so not all was lost.
