Blogs from Terengganu, Malaysia, Asia - page 34

We've just left the Perhentian Islands to go back to KL. We had a really great time there. None of the hectic dives as we had on Pulau Mabul - just one dive a day and snorkelling in the sea. We saw reef sharks and turtles while snorkelling. We had two really great dives and the second one at Tokong Laut (Temple of the Sea) was truly spectacular. You'll just have to wait for Russell to describe it. As far as I'm concerned it was simply, "big fish, small fish, balls of yellow-coloured fish, clown fish living around ananome with purple coloured covering". Confused? You won't be when you see our pics! Almost end of hols :-( Love swimming in the sea every day.... read more

... but my mind was there. caught the game elsewhere but I saw it at least. Off we went the following day to the Perhentian islands and boy are they like heaven we had bad weather for a day but then as if by divine intervention the next day it cleared. We went diving and saw beautiful things like turtles and sting rays. I also read the Da Vinci code in 3 days. Speed reader I am. Here are some photos of the beach and Joel looking very scared on the speed boat out to the island... read more

The last time you had heard from us we were in Jerantut. From here we decided to go to Kuala Terengganu (a strict Muslim city) for a couple of days as we had time to kill and we read that it might have been an interesting stop over, off the tourist track, on our way to Pulau Perhentian. Rather than do the jungle train that gets you into the jumping off point for the Perhentians at silly o'clock at night. On the bus ride we headed up the east coast and passed through lots of little Kampungs (villages) some with just wooden shacks, women sitting around on their doorsteps in groups and of course little shacks for places to eat (asia seems obsessed with eating). The bus rides were quite pleasant and were a good opportunity ... read more

Our last goodbye in Thailand was with Wine. It was, like all others, another tough one. Her and all the guys had been more than helpful and great company over the past three weeks but when you’ve gotta go, you’ve gotta go! We jumped on a bus to Betong on the border of Malaysia. The border crossing was a bit of a hassle, infact more so than any we had done before. We paid over the odds for taxi fares and on either side of the border any signs of life were miles away. We had every intention of getting a bus to the Perhentian Islands as soon as possible but when we arrived at Baling bus station we were told that because the Buddhists were on an annual holiday in honour of Buddha’s birthday, that ... read more

I wake, sprawled out, tired, where was I last night? - out partying again? I extract myself from the tangle of sarong, pillow and mosquito net that my bed has become during the night. My wooden beach hut, now my home, an upgrade from the shed in the jungle where the mosquitoes won the nightly battle for territory. I open the door look out across the kilometer long beach, through the coconut palms, and over my hammock... another hard day as a divemaster trainee begins. It's 7:30am the beach is still, the boatman and local cleaning lady from the fisherman's village are making their way from the sunlight speedboat through the water to the restaurant, "Selemat Baggi!" - good morning! I've been a scuba diver since 2002 when in Honduras I found that I was near ... read more