Island Paradise

Trip Start May 15, 2004

Trip End Aug 20, 2004

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Flag of Malaysia Pulau Tioman, Malaysia
Friday, June 11, 2004

It was grey as I arrived in Pulau Tioman (Coral Island), located between the east coast of Malaysia and the northeast coast of Borneo, and the beach near the jetty was mostly rocky. After settling in, basically dumping all my possessions out of my pack and onto my bed, and taking a freezing cold shower, the sun came out and I found a nice sandy beach waiting a few minutes walk to the south. I was in serious need of a big beach towel, but, amazingly, there wasn't one to be found in my village. So, I decided to rent a mountain bike, for two reasons...one, I haven't ridden one in about two years and I used to love riding in Austin with Jason; and two, the nearest place to get a towel is the next village, which is a 45 minute hike away and, well, I'm lazy. I bike off for exercise and a towel and, actually, its great...a super view, a nice breeze, a decent workout and, I got a towel...mission accomplished! Anyway, I bike back to my village and find a beautiful spot on an old volleyball court underneath four massive drooping palm trees and proceed to lay out my towel, swim in the ocean, and then lie on the beach, followed by swimming in the ocean...rinse and repeat

1Tioman Island

. I doze off to the sound of the waves tumbling on the light brown sand...three naps in all actually. Then, in order to round off my highly productive day, I find a nice hammock strung between two palms in another picturesque setting with six cascading palm leaves draping and shading me. I read a bit, nap, read some more, have another nap...this must be what life as a dog or cat is like...run around the yard, sleep, go sniff something, take a nap, etc. I stay in the hammock and enjoy watching the local children run around and play in the water and I decide to stay and watch the sunset, the picture being this...relaxing in the palm leaf-shaded hammock, the sound of waves softly crashing, a slight clicking noise as the gentle breeze rustles the palm leaves about, and my view is of a pumpkin colored sun slowly drifting into the various tropical blues of the South China Sea. To the east and west its pure ocean and pastel colored skies; the scene is bordered on the top by the fan-shaped spread of the huge palm trees while the tanned, sugar-soft sand borders the bottom. As the sun dips deeper and deeper into the sea, solar iridescence colors the sky with brilliant pinks and oranges and purples as the sun pushes its last bit of life through the flowing clouds until the sun completely disappears...such is life on Pulau Tioman.