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Published: August 19th 2009
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August 12, 2009 - August 18, 2009
Travel info:
Whakaf Bharu station to Kota Bharu Bus Terminal by taxi (RM15)
Kota Bharu to Kuala Besut by bus (RM6)--2 hours
Kuala Besut to Perhentian Kecil by speedboat (RM70 return)--30mins
Finally arriving back north near the Thai border at Whakaf Bharu (Kota Bharu's only train station about 5kms away) we jumped into a cab to take us to Kota Bharu bus terminal to catch the bus to Kuala Besut on the coast. The taxi driver couldn't comprehend why we didn't want him to take us straight to the coast! It's hard trying to explain to some people why a tourist would want to take the harder, longer, more arduous route instead of being driven straight there....well, the answer is obviously to save money, but also to experience more of local life which is the whole point of our trip.
We got to the bus terminal and went around trying to find a bus that would take us to Kuala Besut. Lonely Planet (and pretty much every other piece of info we've looked at before coming here) told us that there weren't any direct buses to Besut but
Kuala Besut
The speedboat awaiting us... here's some news for you...there is! After waiting around for the best part of an hour for the driver to have his lunch we set off on what turned out to be a 2 hour bus journey. We had started wondering if we were actually on a school bus instead! But when you think about it we were traveling out of Kota Bharu at school kicking out time, so there you go!
We got to Kuala Besut late in the afternoon and went in search of Nan Hotel (pretty much the only place in town). After finding it within a few steps of jumping off the bus we checked in, booked our boat tickets to the Perhentian Islands the next day and settled down exploring the town and grabbing some well needed dinner (after not eating pretty much all day!). Turns out this is the smallest town in the world with a very limited supply of places to grab some food and also with some not so friendly locals (actually let's singularize it into 'local') after riling up the owner of a rival tour company when we asked if we can use the internet at his establishment. "No, it
Kuala Besut to Pulau Perhentian
...and the psychotic driver!... is for our CUSTOMER only"...well, if he didn't want to make any money that day, then we understand. We noticed that he was pretty unhappy and we ended up getting paranoid when he started talking to some other guys outside our hotel. Rest assured Dan was on hand to booby trap the hotel room, putting the backpacks in front of the door to jam it, placing a flip flop on top of the door handle, that would fall into a bin and make some noise if someone opened it. After which he would set the rape alarm off (which he again decided to sleep with), jump out of bed, wrap a sarong round his head (he thought he'd look more intimidating) and grab the mirror that was hanging by the door (presumably to smash over an intruders head!) Dan does read too many crime novels! After a sleepless night, and gladly nothing untoward happened, we got up and waited around for our 9:30 "ferry" to pick us up. Notice how we didn't manage to get any breakfast....answer, there really is nothing in Besut and definitely nowhere to get anything to eat!! Anyway, back to the "ferry"....or let's just say it
Kuala Besut to Pulau Perhentian
...but nonetheless Dan wasn't scared! was a 6 seater speed boat with a slightly psychotic driver who seemed to enjoy speeding up whenever a wave came towards us! Gladly the ferry / speed boat / death trap only took half an hour to reach the beautiful island of Perhentian Kecil.
We had figured when we arrived that we'd check out Fatimah Chalets on the less busy beach of Coral Bay. Gladly they had one cottage available and we snapped it up and prepared for 5 days of doing what needs to be done on an island...absolutely nothing!! Apart from sunbathing and snorkelling of course! Amy spent her time doing what most women do (sunbathing) and Dan did what most men do (terrorize the sea life..ie snorkelling!) Both are great here, and if you want to see sharks in only less than a meter of water then put on your mask and snorkel and you will definitely find them somewhere! While we were here, Dan also picked up a fascination with Barracuda's and it was hard to get him away from the pier watching them cornering thousands of fish before going in for the attack. He figured that barracuda's must be up there with dolphins
in the league of intelligence! In fact there was a bit of excitement to be had other than the sunbathing and snorkelling...Dan found out that the huge fish he was following around the reef was actually the Titan Triggerfish (a fish avoided by divers for being aggressive) and you don't want to get bitten by one of these, a coconut tree fell on the shop next door when people were trying to cut it down...and speaking of coconuts, being woken up several times a night with one falling on your roof feels like a shotgun blast coming through the bungalow (not that we know what a shotgun feels, or sounds like!)
The Perhentian Islands were a breath of fresh air after enduring the islands in Thailand. These are very different and we need to thank Islam for this, as because the islands are part of the most conservative state in Malaysia, alcohol is near impossible to come by, which has meant that these island have kept their charm and beauty. The beaches are clean, the sea is sparkling and the marine life is pretty amazing. The vibe on the beach is just what you would imagine of a small
island, very serene and relaxing. The other beaches are only connected by a small jungle path and we chose a pretty good beach, as when we decided to walk the 10mins to the main beach at Long Beach, we were disappointed with how many people were there. So our advise is to stay clear of Long Beach if you want a real beachy atmosphere. The chalets we were staying at were great, owned by a family, and part run by a very cheery Lancashire woman and what we were guessing a German girl. The prices were the cheapest on the island, the food was better than anywhere we had tried on the beach...and the internet was a bargain!! So come to Perhentian Islands (Coral Bat in particular) stay at Fatimah Chalets, eat a good barracuda BBQ while watching the sun set and you won't want to leave....we definitely didn't want to...in fact we decided to stay another night and we would have been more than happy to stay longer but cash was running low and there's no ATM's on the islands.
So as we leave this paradise island behind in the hope that we find another one, we look
forward to our next part of the journey traveling down the east cost, in the hope of encountering turtles, enduring the beginning of Ramadan in Malaysia's most conservative region and enjoying what is already a really fabulous country!
PS...the pics are repetitive but what else can you take pictures of in a place like this!
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Sharon
non-member comment
Try kapas
Hi, Came across your blog randomly. I have travelled many times as a backpacker to Malaysia and Thailand. I think you would like Palau Kapas - far better snorkelling than Perhentian (Perhentian used to be fantastic until they built the pier). Also, extremely chilled out with many beaches you can walk to that are completely deserted. I'd recommend KB Bungalows - about 50 RM a night and very cute bungalows right on the beach. Don't write off Thailand just because of a few party islands - Ko Lanta is lovely and so is Ko Kradan. Used to love Ko Lipe but it seems to be getting over-run now. If you end up going to kapas on this recommendation (seriously, I am a beach snob after travelling so much, and it is gorgeous) let me know what you think. Have fun!