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It has been about 9 years since I first travelled to the island of Perhentian Kecil, Peninsula Malaysia. It was a 10-day holiday from Japan with my friend Ashley and I can truly say we were enchanted. We had an overwhelming feeling that we were really priviledged to be in such a gorgeous and untouched place, where the beach was pristine, the snorkelling great, and the lifestyle rediculously horizontal. We didn't even have electricity, meaning that once our little gas lamp had been blown out for the night, there was no more light until daybreak. Evenings were spent sitting around the bonfire drinking home-made Baileys poured from a tin kettle. It was a true paradise.
Three years ago I returned with Scott for a 6-week stint of snorkelling and sunbathing. Of course there were a lot of changes: suddenly we had electricity in the rooms (not a bad upgrade I have to admit!), alcohol came in the form of overly-expensive beer in cans, and several dive shops and a nice resort had sprung up where there used to be jungle. However, it was still a paradise.
We just returned to our beloved island for the third time, spending two
weeks there. It was a pleasant surprise at first. Only one big ugly hotel was being constructed and much of the beach was still backed by natural vegetation. The worst change was the addition of a concrete pier. My parents had been on the island the summer before when it was being constructed, so I had been forewarned about it. It actually wasn't as bad as I had at first imagined as it was tucked away at one edge of the beach, I suppose to service the only fancy resort on the whole beach. However, the first time we went snorkelling was when I realized the pier's true devastating impact. Where there had only a year ago been a lovely colorful thriving reef full of fish, there was now virtually no coral and few fish. As we snorkelled around the area we had known so well, I found it quite heartbreaking to see piles of dead coral rubble with the odd parrot fish poking around looking forlorn (or at least that's how I imagined them to feel!). I had the feeling of being at the site of a nuclear bomb blast with barely any life left. We didn't snorkel that
site again for the rest of our stay as it was just too depressing. Talking to locals later, we found out that there had been a huge petition which everyone on the island had signed. The dive shops had even tried to sabotage the building of the pier by sending divers at night to remove the anchors from the offending ships. We even saw old hand-drawn posters still up with slogans such as, "Where's your morals, mind the corals." It was all to no avail. Construction began last summer, and the corals were soon dead. It was such a disaster in my mind but it is too late now so I tried not to worry about it.
Apart from that disappointment, we still loved the island. It is getting a bit over-run at weekends, but in general it is still a paradise island with a long stretch of perfect white sand backed by lush palm trees and jungle, and fronted by the most beautiful warm ocean.
We went over on the boat with a group of English backpackers that soon became quite close friends. Tasha and Jessie were travelling together, heading to Australia to work. We had actually
been with them the whole way on the 30-hour (yes, 30-hour!) bus ride from Bangkok to KL and then randomnly met up with them on the boat ride out to the island. Nick was on his own after his buddy had to go home unexpectedly, and we met him on the boat ride out. Kayleigh was taking two weeks away from her boyfriend while he did a volunteer project with baby turtles, and we met her on a mini bus. Through them, we met two more English girls, Rosie and Katie, and then there were eight of us. Towards the end, Nick carved faces in two giant seeds and they started to come everywhere with us. He named them Joe and Tilly!
It was a fairly predictable routine each day: meet on the beach all day near the log, shower and have a cold beer at sunset (just Scott and I) and then meet up with the others again at some point in the evening in Panorama restaurant for the best food on the island.
There were a few little interuptions to this neat schedule. One day we did a snorkel trip which was really nice. We saw
several turtles and then about 10 to 15 black tip reef sharks, followed by a school of about 20 huge bumphead parrot fish which was very cool. We also did a few dives but were not really too impressed, I think we are just spoiled rotten after Sipadan!
Another day whilst on the beach, we were all talking when suddenly we spotted a fighter jet approaching us at close range. The thing was so low that I swear I ducked! It passed right over our heads and a second later there was a roaring noise louder than anything I have ever heard. About 30 seconds after that we felt the wind from it. Towels and beach unbrellas went flying and sand was whipped up everywhere. It was exciting but frightening at the same time.
Something else I finally got around to doing was a batik. I have been wanting to do one for three years now, ever since our last trip here, but I never got around to it as I didn't really have a reason. This time I did. I Decided to make a welcome banner for my classroom. It was a fun project, even though I
think Scott was glad when I was finished with it as all I could talk about for a couple of days was what color the seahorse should be, or how pink the coral should be etc etc!
About five days before we left the island, most of our friends moved on. A few days later at the happy hour bar, we met another interesting character called Tony. He was again from England but hadn't been there for ages as he had been living what seems like the dream life: he bought a yaght in San Diego and has been sailing around the world for the last 4 years or so! He had so many outrageous stories of surviving storms and running aground that I swore he must be a cat with nine lives!
Well, now we are back in Kuala Lumpur ready to pick up my new British passport tomorrow at the embassy. I had to apply for a new one as I was running out of pages again thanks mainly to the stamp-happy immigration officers in African countries (this is my third new passport of the trip!). The stamps all look cool at the time, but it
is not so cool when you have to shell out almost $300 for a new passport every few months! This time I got smart and ordered an extra-expensive but extra-fat passport, so now I am all set for more months of travel! 😊
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Andi
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Spelling Mistake
God, don't know how to tell you this but I've spotted a spelling mistake on your batik! Ok, mean joke, but it would so have happened to me. It looks fab!