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First things first. Pulau is the Bahasa Melayu word for "island." That's important, because none of this will make any sense if you're reading this and thinking I'm landlocked or something. :-)
And how cool is that anyway? I have a week for spring break (which is a little silly, I must admit, since I did just spend four days in Singapore, but hey, I'm not arguing the matter...) and I - along with my coteachers, one of my students, and her mom and older sister - get to visit an island in the South China Sea. Sweet! Yep, there are definitely benefits to teaching in a tropical country.
This morning we arrived in Tanah Merah via sleeper train (which wasn't a terrible experience, actually - no bugs on this one). Tanah Merah is one of the destination cities for the train from Kuala Lumpur and also happens to be fairly close to the shore.
When we got off the train, a taxi was waiting for us, which we had arranged with the owner of Mama's Place, the chalets where we're staying. As I walked toward the taxi with my rolling suitcase dragging through the gravel behind me, I suddenly wished I'd packed less. My fellow travelers had all managed to fit everything into backpacks (although their near-professional hiker backpacks were a just a bit larger than my old highschool backpack). But the fact remains: It's significantly easier to travel in these areas with a backpack. No doubt about it.
The drive was about 45 minutes from the train station to the ferry dock, and I enjoyed every minute of it! Let me tell you, living in Kuala Lumpur, I sometimes forget I'm in a third-world country. But here...here, there's no question about it! The vegetation is lush and thick, and the little houses are sometimes just shacks with non-working vehicles sitting in the yard and laundry hanging out to dry and cows grazing in the yard... It's fantastic.
I also have never spent more time wondering how the economy works in these villages. How do homeowners afford to upgrade anything? I mean, there are a few concrete and brick merchants here, but to whom do they sell their product? And how do these people afford an SUV? Because I saw a couple of those as well. It simply boggles the mind. So many of the residents here are roadside restaurant owners or roadside vegetable vendors or roadside shoe sellers. And sometimes these vendors just set up shop along the highway! How do they make a living?? Cross your fingers and hope for good weather...
Our taxi drove us into Kuala Besut, the town where we caught our ferry to the island. Since we arrived a few minutes early, we did some browsing in the tourist shops, and the gals of the group bought sarongs to wear at the beach. My coteacher says you can never have too many sarongs. That's like my dad saying you can't have too many guitars. I suppose if you run out of space though... It probably helps to have a sensible spouse to tell you when to stop. (Stay strong, Mom!) ;-D
When the time came to catch the ferry, we all put on water-safe shoes, since there was the possibility we'd have to wade to shore when we reached the island - oh boy!! (My dear, sensible backpack, why did I leave you in KL...) The dock workers helped us get our luggage on board, and we were off! The ride was plenty wild, with lots of waves rocking our fastboat up and down. We all had slightly bruised rears by the time the ride was over!
We did have to wade to shore, but the chalet workers were kind enough to help us get our luggage to dry ground. We got checked in and received our chalet keys. From then on, there was nothing to do but relax and enjoy some time away from the noise of the city!
Instead, we got to enjoy the noise of the woods behind the chalets! I don't know if you've ever heard the sound of a gazillion cicadas all singing at once...it's truly astounding. It's not unlike the high-pitched hum of electrical noise, only louder. And it doesn't really stop. It does change sometimes, though, which is nice. But eventually you get used to it. Mostly. ;-)
We spent the late morning snorkeling and seeing all kinds of interesting underwater creatures, including giant clams of a variety of colors, Christmas tree worms of a variety of colors, parrotfish, sea cucumbers, and even the famous clownfish! And yes, they really do live in finger anemones. But they're not all that friendly-looking, in case you were misled by the movie. Truthfully, they look a little grouchy, and they're quite protective of their turf (as if any other fish could live there...). But it was still cool to see them in the wild. :-)
After a couple hours of snorkeling, I was sufficiently woozy and decided to end my snorkeling adventure. We enjoyed a quick lunch at Mama's restaurant (well, actually, very few things are quick at this restaurant) and spent the rest of the afternoon making drip castles, getting sunburned (which I didn't discover until later), and snorkeling some more. It was a lovely first afternoon!
For dinner, we had grilled chicken and fresh fish. I tried barracuda for the first time, and it was pretty good, despite a couple bitter spots. They also provided a lovely coconut curry sauce to spice things up, and it reminded me of my sister's delicious coconut curry chicken that she makes so well. Mmmm.... During our meal, we watched some very large bats (flying foxes, I think) circling the restaurant area and ridding us of pesky mosquitoes and other bugs. What a show!
By the time dinner was over, it was way past dark, so I joined my student and her family inside their chalet for a few rounds of Dutch Blitz, a high-speed card game that I hadn't played since 1996! It was great fun and a lovely end to an even lovelier day!
Author's note: The underwater photos I'm including in my Pulau Perhentian entries are not my own...though I wish I could take credit for them!
previous travel blog entry
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