Pulau Penang, Pulau Perhentians & Pulau Tioman

Sorry it has been so long since we last posted, we've been awfully busy....

Well, life in Malaysia has been much different than Thailand. Firstly, we miss the Thai food! It was so good, but we are now continuously comparing Malaysian food to it! Secondly, the people are much different. Malaysians are mainly Muslim and we have not felt as welcomed in Malaysia as we did in Thailand. Lastly, the strays are different. In Thailand stray dogs littered the streets, here in Malaysia, there are cats everywhere. Unfortunately, cats can climb....on tables, kitchen counters, etc. I would rather have the strays stay on surfaces where my food does not go! Although, Malaysia has definitely been better in many aspects. There are not nearly as many foreigners as in Thailand. There are many Malaysian tourists though, which has really allowed us to get to know their culture more and have an opportunity to chat to them when they are not working.

Since, we last posted, we have been traveling lots by bus; overnight buses, day buses, luxury buses, ghetto buses, buses that leave you a foot out of your seat after every bump in the road, buses with crazy drivers, buses with crazy passengers, you name it, we've been on it!

Pulau Penang

Penang is an island located off the west coast of Malaysia and the city, Georgetown, is the second largest in the country. Georgetown is the main attraction of the island, but we decided to stay out of town on a beach called Batu Ferringhi. From the beach we then traveled into town to see its colonial architecture and speak with many locals.

Pulau Perhentians

I think Perhentian must mean "Paradise" in another language! This is what we have been searching for! Mike and I spent 4 nights on the smaller island of the two, Perhentian Kecil. We are talking about crystal clear water and the whitest sand you have every seen. You really feel as if you have escaped reality here, as there is no power from the mainland and you only have electricity for a few hours a day, supplied by a generator. We spent our days lounging on the beach, snorkeling and scuba diving and in the evening we enjoyed drinks in the sand at laid-back beach bars with live reggae music. On our favourite day on the island, we hired a boat to drop us off at Romantic Beach, where we had the entire beach to ourselves for much of the day. It was literally "Heaven on Earth!" The only problem about the Perhentians, for me at least, was that the geckos and lizards like it just as much as I did!

I found this large creature hanging out above my bed!

Escaping the sun for a cold Tiger beer for Mike and a fresh mango smoothie for me!

Coral Bay on Perhentian Kecil

Beach party on Long Beach

 Lounging in the sand enjoying the live reggae band and some "Orang-Utang" spiced rum.

Warning: this is not a pool

Romantic Beach

Mike coming in from a snorkel at Romantic Beach

Looking out our guesthouse restaurant, past the dive shop towards Long Beach

Think...Happy Place!

Yes....definitely a Happy Place!

Pulau Tioman

After another crazy bus ride, where we were constantly awoken a foot off our seat when the bus hit a bump, we arrived in Mersing, the ferry terminal to Tioman, at 5:00am, exhausted! These bus rides are really getting to us, as sleeping pills are virtually ineffective on these trips. We slept a couple of hours on the floor of the terminal until the tide had come up enough for the ferry to leave, but once we arrived on Tioman, it was all worth it. We stayed at "Ella's Place" in a small bungalow looking over Salang Beach. Here the owner and her family operate this great little place, where they rescue baby sea turtles until they are big enough to venture off on their own without getting eaten. Her two cute children run around freely and kittens take up residency on our porch. We spend our days swinging in hammocks under palm trees, getting up only for food, a snorkel and a trip to the duty-free liquor stand at night. After meeting some fellow backpackers, Allan and Chris from England and Fabian from Germany, making campfires on  the beach while looking up at the stars became our new favourite pastime to end the days. Here we really relaxed!

Ella, the owner's daughter, playing with the baby turtles

Turtle, Turtle!

I could do this more often!

Our pet kittens for four days.

Mike playing with the kittens

The only thing that ruins my day. This thing could eat Bocha!

Life in a hammock.

Mike with our bungalow in the background.

We ran out of space for photos....catch the next blog!