Pulau Perhentian Islands - Malaysia

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We took the train from a city in southern Thailand (Hat Yi) all the way to the Malaysian border, the train journey took about 6 or 7 hours of which we had to stand the entire time and I have never seen so many people in such a small place, I will never complain about trains in the UK over booking again and having to sit on the floor. We were in 3rd class meaning we paid about 90 pence for the trip, can’t argue with that really. It was on the train that we were told as western people, we were brave to come to Hat Yi, giving it’s had its fair share of terrorist attacks in the past. Its better to be told this sort of information when your leaving somewhere, as apposed to arriving anyway.
This was the easiest border to cross by far, we simply rocked up and 10 minutes later we had a free 90 day visa. This was where the simplicities ended. On crossing and heading to the bus station we found that no buses went where we needed to go, instead it was a taxi the 100km to the town of Kuala Besut where we catch a boat across to the Pulau Perhentian Islands. But we did find a lonely Spaniard called Jorrdi who was more than happy to split the fare with us.
We arrived at the island of Pulau Perhentian Kecil very early the next morning and found a stunningly beautiful, if not tiny island. The only electricity on the island comes from several generators which they only turn on at night. It is a fairly expensive place to go but after much walking up and down the beach we stumbled across a dorm room that was so cheap we said yes before even looking at it. On the island they have lots on Monitor Lizards, the first one we saw must have been about 6ft from snout to tail but I had no camera then so the one in the picture is a smaller version, about 4ft, very scary the first time you see one when walking through the jungles.
The waters around the island were so clear it almost didn’t seem real, we would swim out to depths of about 10 - 12 feet and you could still clearly see the sea bed below. So most of the day were spent on the beach and the evenings at the BBQ’s on the beach followed by the nights at the beach bars drinking copious amounts of Stanley Morgan rum or this sweet whiskey called “Monkey Juice”. We celebrated Sam’s Birthday in this fashion, which happened to fall on the last day of Ramadan so there was lots of other people out celebrating, it all made for a good night, not that Sam could tell you much about it.
After about 5 days on the island we decided to leave and head for the metropolis of Kuala Lumpur, which meant another long bus journey.

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Photos

Monitor Lizard
There were bigger ones about but only managed to catch this baby on camera.

Crystal Clear Water
Great for swimming

Party Time
With Stanley Morgan

Speed Boat
The only way to and from the island are speed boats, this is the view from one.