Hurray!!! We are hitting the beach today.
Feeling relaxed this morning, we rose later than usual. It was a welcomed change as all cycling related activities grind to a halt in exchange for play under the sun, sea and beach! There was no need to pack and roll!
Following our plans, we made our way into town for breakfast and supplies. As we crossed the bridge into town, fishing boats were aplenty on Sungai Besut while the ferry terminal was already busy at 8 am.
By mistake, we took the left fork, right after the bridge crossing, arriving at the mock mascot of a top, the symbol of Terengganu. Naturally, this called for a photo stop and from this, we soon found out the mascot was actually spinning, not by design BUT by structural faults!
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| Murals in the town |
Kuala Besut town was nothing more than a few rows of shop houses. Resigning ourselves to another round of roti canai, we found T Cafe’s versions to be surprisingly decent. Also available were the standard nasi lemak and more exotic nasi dagang.
When we were done picking up food rations for the next two days, we returned to Iz Village for our final packings. Then, we headed for the jetty by car, driven by Azuan who had to make 2 trips.
It wasn’t hard to say goodbye to our bikes. In fact, we were all smiles when we left, thanks to the assurance given by Wati that Iz Village will exercise caution for their safekeeping. As it is, Iz Village had a higher stake on keeping them safe as opposed to the ferry operators.
At the ferry terminal, Azuan escorted us as far as the turnstiles. Without him, we were at the mercies of the unscrupulous boat operators who ushered us into the bigger boat despite our speed boat tickets. Issues of overloading never crossed their minds as well!
Being a protected marine park, we had to pay RM5 per person as conservation fees, separate from our ferry tickets. Foreigners pay a higher fee of RM30 per person while concessions are given to children and senior citizens.
Our journey to our resort took slightly more than 1.5 hours taking into account of loading and unloading times plus the numerous stop overs. Ours was the fourth drop off.
Unlike the speedboats, our big boat could not moor at the wooden jetty where the waters were shallow. Instead we were dropped at a floating pontoon in the middle of the sea where we were subsequently picked up by the resort’s private speedboat.
Arriving at the resort around 11.30 am, the reception was packed with migrants waiting to “flee” the island. Claudine had a sudden premonition of the July 22, 2011 attack on Utøya island, where 69 youths were killed by a lone gunman. Trapped on an island and far from the mainland, the same horrors could happen to them as well!
Of course nothing morbid actually happened besides the murder of a few million skin cells! We were after all on CNN’s 2013, Top 13 best islands in the world!!!
On an idyllic island, time slowed down significantly. We had a leisurely lunch at the resort’s restaurant while waiting for our room keys. In the meantime, with WiFi access, texts began flying on the airwaves.
Bernie and Suzie, our scouts for the resort were napping after an early morning arrival and swim! Those crazies had driven from JB to Kuala Besut throughout the night, arriving at the jetty as early as 3.58 am!!!!
Agreeing to meet for tea, we regrouped again under the cool shades of the resort’s grounds. Bernie who had just returned from one of his many holidays, brought out his latest conquests of keropok kulit and other Indonesian snacks.
When we were ready, he led us to another side of the island, a short 5 minutes walk away from our resort where the waters were not cluttered by dead corals. It was an interesting path that took us past several resorts, up a flight of stairs by the edge of a cliff, past a shady lookout cum massage corner before coming down to a pristine beach.
At 4 pm, it was scorching hot but we couldn’t care less as we plunged into the waters. Jenny was strangely not herself, posing with a blue hat that she had just picked up from the beach. She was seen twirling and jumping around with it.
Mr Lim and KC successfully pushed a drift log from the jetty back into the sea. It brought us so much laughter as we tried hanging on to it while the waves carried us back and forth.
In the meantime, York Fuan came to terms with her wounds as the salt water reminded her where it hurts most!
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| No turtle but baby crab... |
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| ...exotic fishes... |
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| ...and aliens! |
Soon, Bernie satiated for more! He struck a bargain with a boat taxi for a return trip to Turtle Island!! Almost deserted except for a lone Caucasian woman, we broke her peace which soon sent her running off with book and towel!!!
Malaysia's Perhentian Islands are to beach bums what Kobe beef is to carnivores; once you've experienced it, nothing else quite matches up.
The two main islands are the backpacker-happy Pulau Perhentian Kecil (Small Perhentian Island), and Pulau Perhentian Besar (Big Perhentian Island), which has slightly more expensive accommodations.
Highlight: The blue waters off Pulau Perhentian Kecil invariably contain turtles and small sharks.
**Return fare for boat taxi from Coral View Resort to Turtle Island = RM20
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The Barat, Pulau Perhentian
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