Paradise on Perhentians

This part of the trip was the initial break up of the original group. Bubbles the extractor and the tossing insomniac drew me from the original three, which was a temporary four and whisked me to paradise on a train lasting 12hrs in seats which are as comfy as those found in an old skool mini with bugger all suspension going over a motocross track! We arrived in Taman Mehrah, an out of the way place and were hooked by a "taxi" which seemed as though we were being gassed by carbon monoxide more and more as we travelled along the road F1 fashion, ensuring we hit all the racing lines regardless of whether it was a blind corner or not! The boat to the Perhentians was interesting with a slide down a wall with bags to hop into a mini speed boat for an hour or so, nevertheless once we reached our final destination and were taxiied in by a 6 year old boy chugging on a fag, we realised we were in absolute paradise. The sands were golden and hot and the sun beat down harder than a ever before. It was reminicent of Fiji. The only negative side was these bags on our back increasing the heat 5 fold and we were in need to get some accommodation and jump into the crystal clear waters.

We had been advised to stay at Panorama's and so we did, with the two girls occupying the double bed and i hada  mattress on the floor. We dumped stuff, and headed straight out to the cool waters which with the sun as hot as it was, the water felt hotter than a pool. After a few hours of basking in the sun and a little swim over to the rocks and back we chilled and looked over our over endulgence in the sun with gleaming red patches of skin everywhere to be seen. Wes stopped in at a cafe to grab a drink and then relaxed under a palm hut on the beach to read in the shade. The evening was quite relaxed as after the previous night's sleep was non existent on a train in uncomfortable seats. We ate at our accommodations cafe and then headed for an early night.

The following day we had booked ourselves onto a snorkelling trip around the Islands and some of the hotspots to see sharks, turtles, and other creatures of the deep blue sea...or not so deep as we were snorkelling not diving. The day was packed with expeditions on and off the boat and we had lunch at the Fisherman's Village where the local goats decided to eat with us. Then back into the sea and more sunbathing and snorkelling, this time with plenty of sun cream on the old back after learning a great deal from occurrences in Fiji. After being stung umpteen times by jellyfish and being laughed at by the boat driver we retired back to the beach we started from and back to the room for some shade and reading time, nursing the new burns with the old ones. A few games of pool and a meal later we were on our way to bed with a long day of travelling ahead of us, this time not only back to KL, but then onwards to Borneo, Sarawak, KUCHING!