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Published: September 9th 2009
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We walked down to the jetty before 7.30am to check out boats to Puala Besar. As it's a such a quiet island we were told we'd need to charter a boat meaning finding other people to share the cost or paying a huge amount. But that day our luck was in! A large fery was going over at 8.30am to collect about one hundred guests fron D'Coconut Resort on the island so we were able to hitch a ride. We had the whole ferry to ourselves!
Once on the island we checked out a couple of resort options ranging from the absolute pits to luxurious. The cheap one didn't look too bad from the outside but it was up a rickety flight of steps to a dark room with 4 or 5 mouldy mattresses strewn around the floor and, apart from a mossie coil, nothing else. The communal 'bathroom' was a tiny hut with a scruffy toilet that hadn't been cleaned for years! We drove a hard bargain and got a bungalow in the luxurious resort for 120 Ringetts including american breakfast. Our usual budget is between 50 and 80 Ringetts but what's wrong with a bit of luxury occasionally?
The setting of our resort, Mirage, was gorgeous, a collection of thatched bungalows set in gardens over looking the sea. The sand was like white powder but we did discover a huge downside. Sandflies! Within minutes of being on the beach they were swarming around our feet and ankles. If you try to ignore them and allow them to bite you, they leave a nasty lingering, very itchy rash. After a swim in the sea we retreated to our balcony instead.
We spent the afternoon walking along the sea front for a kilometre in either direction from our resort, after that there was nothing else but jungle. Around 4pm the heavens opened and we had to shelter under the veranda of a private bungalow for over 40 minutes.
That evening we discovered from the bar girl in the neighbouring resort, Aseania, that this island closes down for four months each year (March to June) while the T.V. programme ' Survivor' is being filmed The film crew take over all three main resorts. We also discovered that there were just four couples in our resort, a family of three in Aseania Resort and one couple in D'Coconut
Resort. It seems that the island needs the programme to survive itself!
The following day was very windy making the sea rough, so, after another walk along the sea front, we decided to take a dip in the Aseania's pool and jaccusi. We virtually had it to ourselves. We tried another dip in the sea later but it was murkey so we gave up, I like to be able to see what I'm swimming around. We decided it was time to move on.
Tuesday morning we woke up to relatively calm seas, thank goodness, as the only way off the island was in the resort owner's boat and it wasn't very big! After an excellent breakfast we boarded the boat with an Italian couple and were all given life jackets and bright yellow ponchos. Even the boat driver wore them which was most unusual - sort of gave us a bad feeling about the forthcoming journey, did they know something we didn't?! It was typical of the resort owner though, he and all the staff were so attentive and thought of everything. All eight guests had been given 5 star treatment. Oh well, I guess we'll be back
to normal backpacking standards from now on.
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saiful azley
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memang best
mirrage resort memang tempat yang menarik dan tenang, sesuai dikunjungi bagi yang ingin mencari ketenangan..