Tioman Trip (11 Apr - 14 Apr 2002)

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Didnt really had a good nite sleep as the sun burnt was bad. Not really a great idea tanning yourself beginning of the trip. Will keep in my mind to do sun bathing on your last day if the trip.

Tassa and Tina will be diving today leaving Gapi,Shane and myself decided to do some jungle trekking, hiking to Monkey Beach that we had no chance of landing yesterday.

The hike started quite tough - perhaps I wasnt in a great shape and trekking wasnt my forte (Eating is :O). It was all the way up and it took around 1/2 hour to reach our first destination : Panuba. There we decided to clarify with the receptionist how long would it take to reach Monkey Beach from there.

Earlier we were informed by some locals and sites that it is an easy trek and it would take around 1/2 to reach Monkey Beach from ABC. Well it could be a relative thing to the expert trekkers ...

The kind receptionist told us it's another 20 minutes from Panuba. Well we decided since we are 1/2 way, why not finish it. We were then advised that the trail sometimes a little unclear and have to follow the electric cables there.

OMFG! It was a tough hike and some treks were very dangerous as it's slippery and steep. We met with a caucasian couple and they told us it's impossible as there were a trunk blocking the trail. We persuaded them to join us (the more the merrier) to try again but were not successful. Hmm... Since we already spent like 20 minutes from Panuba we guessed we were quite close to Monkey Beach. So onwards we marched.

Like what the couple reported, the trunk does block entirely the path. So gingerly Gapi n Shane sneaked beneath the trunk while i clambered clumsily over it (the space between the trunk and ground was too small for me :O).

Five minutes later, Gapi's shoe's sole detached and it was almost impossible to walk without shoes on. Luckily for our inventive ways, we tore of some plastic covers and then tied the sole and shoe. Voila! problem solved. It's amazing that the shoe lasted the whole journey.

Then 2 men appeared behind us. One rather old caucasion and the other a young local boy. Hmm ... our imagination starts spinning. They were also heading towards the same beach. However, they just shot past us and left 3 damsels in distress to their misery... well this event intensify our suspicions. hmm...

AAaaaA ... At last we saw some beach and sea! We ran towards it like there's no tomorrow. Amid giggling and shouting of joy, we noticed the 2 fella we met earlier. Hmm..
Then it hit us ... this is not Monkey Beach! It's the next bay... which according to our estimation, will take another 20-30 minutes hike. NOoo. So we decided to share the beach with the 2 fella drawing an invisible teratorial lines.

After more than an hour there ... we started to worry. It's almost 1500 and it takes like 2 hours for the journey. it would be dark by then. Getting lost in the jungle was not in our itineraries.
Shane & Gapi were even more worried when I said "No way I', hiking back. It was all the way down when we came ... and it will be all the way up now." We rationed the water and there were some chips left. So they decided to trek back to Panuba, and get a sampan to pick me up. Hmm... they were still worried.

So at last we decided to wave like mad cows at all the passing boats. One laden with tourist just waved back thinking we some mermaid greeting them. Fortunately there were a empty motor boat passing quite slowly and heard our pleas. He is such a kind soul, only charging us RM30 for the whole ride. Not satisfied that we had not actually landed on Monkey beach, we requested whether he could take us and spent some time there. He agreed - yipee!

The beach was deserted. Sand quality was great. White and fine. But seabed was full of stones and dead corals. So must be careful walking to the beach.

Back @ chalet, Tina and Tassa were worried about us not around for so long. They too had some little "mishaps" during the dives. It had been almost a year since they got their diving license. But everything turns out well and safe 😊

Had sandwiches for dinner. It was expensive by Malaysian standard! Costing around RM7 for a set.

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