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Back to Asia Logs

This one has to be quick because I only have 12 mins.

First off the Perhentian islands. I stayed on Kecil, the smaller of the two. After landing on Long Beach I quickly escaped through the jungle to the other side, Coral Bay, assuming it would be cheaper and quieter. It didn’t seem to be so I took a further trek through the jungle and over the rocks to Mira Bay, a secluded spot with only one guesthouse. Whilst I was there I felt like I was a thousand miles from anything else and as a result I didn't leave the bay for four days, even spending more money on guesthouse food (no choice you just got what you were given) and water to keep up that feeling. On Perhentian I met an old Kiwi guy called John who cycles all over Asia, we spent ages chatting to each other, some of his stories about cycling in Kashmir were pretty good! I think we fancied ourselves as a Sal Paradise/Dean Moriarty of Asia!

Pulao Perhentian Kecil

He recommended a quite place along the coast for me to stop at on my way down the next day, Rantau Abang, but when I got there it was raining so I stayed on the bus, eventually being thrown off in the rain at Dungun, just a few clicks's further on! This was not too bad because I met a guy in a cafe going to KL and he offered to drop me off down the coast wherever I wanted. He suggested Cherating, because it has cheap accommodation and that’s where I ended up. It's supposed to be one of the most popular places on the East coast but I am not sure why because it is situated on an estuary and smells quite badly of fish! Nevertheless, I got a cheap room and stayed there for two nights. It was so empty, I think SARS and terrorism has really hit Malaysia hard, it reminded me of the hotel in 'Night of the Iguana' by Tennessee Williams.

From Cherating I headed down to Mersing, passing through Kuantan and seeing some amazing buildings there. Once at Mersing I got the boat to Tioman island, my last beach stop. Once on Tioman I headed straight for Juara on the opposite coast as I had been recommended it because its supposed to be the cheapest place and very quiet. It was a long journey, taking over an hour to go 7 km (its not exactly straight or flat!).

Juara was dead quiet, most of the hotels and restaurants were closed down. I found a guesthouse for 15Rm and stayed a few days before heading back across to Air Batang, the main beach. I intended to just spend one night there and catch the boat the next morning but when I got there I found a great guest house for just 10Rm with free hot and cold drinks all day. I got on well with the owner and we sat listening to music for ages. I ended up staying longer!

Jungle, Pulao Tioman

And so from Tioman to Singapore. Unfortunately the jungle treks on Tioman have left me with nine blisters on my feet, ranging in size from 4 inches in diameter down. This has left me in agony and meant my only option has been to wander around Singapore barefoot, guaranteeing me lots of funny looks! (you might get away with this in Bangkok, but not here).

The first day I wandered around Little India, the Colonial district and Arab Street, which are all pretty self-explanatory, again thrilled to get a Dosai for breakfast. It's quite a buzz to see the Raffles Hotel, brings out the Somerset Maugham in a guy! After this I headed off to Chinatown and the Central Business District, again pretty obvious. The one thing about all these places, and I am sure you have heard it before, is that they are so clean, it’s incredible. After this I wandered along Orchard Road, the main shopping area, stopping in HMV along the way of course. I couldn't believe it when I saw the Neil Young section. He has finally released those albums on CD that he said he never would (inc. ‘On The Beach’ and ‘American Stars and Bars’). I was so thrilled I just started talking at the people next to me who, for their part, allowed me to ramble on. To celebrate this momentous occasion I bought a rare Beth Orton EP (got to support the Norwich folk) and a vastly overpriced copy of Q magazine (but it had Bowie on the cover so what are you gonna do?).

Raffles Hotel

Today I took a trip out to Changi to see the Prisoner of War museum. It was really interesting, kind of finishing off what I started way back at the River Kwai. I also had the experience of the Singapore MRT system which was pretty cool, again much cleaner than the London Underground. You have to pay a deposit on your ticket to ensure you dont throw it away!

 I am off to Little India for a delicious Biryani, see you all later.