Chasing Horizons #15: Malaysia was tough, but someone had to do it – Malaysia

By: Phil Rado

Malaysia was tough, but someone had to do it

My head was spinning and I was sweating buckets once I had hauled all my bags across the Malaysian border. I needed to rest. Man, that dengue fever takes it out of a guy. Granted it was hot and my bags are heavy, but it was only 500m and I was in a bad way. To top it all I had taxi drivers hassling me to give me a ride.

I must have been as white as a sheet or something because the taxi guys took one look at me and eventually left me alone. In any case it only took about 10-15 minutes to clear my head by which time I realized I was going nowhere unless I changed some money into the local currency, the Malaysian Ringgit.

I took a taxi ride from the Malaysian border to the small town of Kuala Besut, which turned out to be quite further than I expected. The journey took well over an hour, so the 50 Ringgit that I was charged by the taxi driver was quite a bargain.

Once over the border the countryside once again manages to make a distinct transition from Thai to Malay. The roads become narrower and have a more rural feel. The vegetation, although still tropical, is not strewn with litter and rubbish. Thais seem to have this habit of not being able to discard anything that may be remotely useful and horde it in the yards of the Thai houses, not so here in Malaysia.

The agreement I had made with my driver was to take me to the jetty where I would be able to catch a ferry to the Perhentian Islands. After the long drive it was getting late, around 6 pm (the clocks go forward one hour when you cross from Thailand into Malaysia), and the first office we tried was closed. I could have been stuck as I was still in quite a weakened state. Kuala Besut has quite a few travel agencies that deal with travel to and from the islands. My driver, with no hesitation, kindly drove me a little further to another agency that was still open. However, the last boat to the islands had departed already. There was a convenient guest house nearby where I would spend the night in a sparse but clean room. I was still off my food so the lack of food for the evening didn’t bother me. The next morning, the first ferry for the islands departed at 8:30am. I was up bright and early with a taxi to find an ATM as I was warned about the lack of money facilities on the islands.

The Islands are rated as one of the most beautiful places in the world. A paradise for snorkeling and diving. There are in fact two islands.

Perhentian Besar, known as Big Island, is covered with lush exotic tropical forest. It is particularly popular with nature lovers and those who enjoy scuba diving, snorkeling, deep sea fishing and canoeing. This island is a lot less developed and as such accommodation is slightly more expensive.

Perhentian Kecil has one of the best getaway beaches in the world among travelers. Pasir Panjang or Long Beach is a long stretch of fine sand. The crystal clear water slopes gently off the beach to a depth of 20ft. Calm waters make you feel as you’re in a very large swimming pool.

The small wooden ferry boat was filled with travelers which had arrived early by bus. The crossing was calm in perfect weather. In an hour we were chugging around the various beaches whilst smaller taxi boats sped out to ferry passengers to their chosen resort.

I chose the popular Long Beach on Perhentian Kecil. By the time I was dropped off on the beach the heat had soared. I spent an hour hiking up and down the various resorts unsuccessfully looking for a room. By now I was feeling weak again and had to rest in a shady restaurant, drinking cool drinks and trying to regain my strength. I mean, I had to get somewhere to sleep for the night. I eventually found what seemed like the last bungalow available at the far end on the beach. Again it was basic, with no fan but close to the beach and a good looking dive centre nearby.

After resting for the rest of the day that night I ventured out. I decided to watch a movie and try and eat something. The movie was OK, Family Man with Nicholas Cage I think, but my attempts at eating were pathetic. A greasy burger, half finished chips and I could only take one bite out of the chocolate pancake I had ordered before pushing it to one side. Can you see I was still suffering from the effects of the Dengue Fever? By 9pm I was feeling rough and exhausted again so I ignored the various lively looking bars along the beachfront and retired to bed early.

I had arranged to go diving early the next day but again fatigue – or is that laziness I hear you all shout – kicked in and I overslept and missed the early morning briefing. Not to worry, after lounging around in my bungalows porch for most of the morning I was able to join the dive in the afternoon. About 12 of us divers where taken in two small boats. It took 25 minutes to cross the stretch of water which separates the two islands. At Terumba Tiga, or Three Peaks reef just of Perhentian Besar I had a great dive in the crystal clear waters. Mazlin was our local divemaster on the dive, although very quiet, he was very helpful and extremely knowledgeable about the marine life.

That night again, despite a couple of beach parties being organized that I had heard about I had to retire early. Something was clearly not 100% right with me.

I decided to leave the island the next day. The accommodation, although very basic and uncomfortably hot, was also quite expensive. The diving was good and I had heard about some good wreck dives in the area. But I suppose with all the problems I was having with my health my heart just wasn’t quite in it.

This time I was up bright and early (only just) and managed to get a last dive at Tokong Laut, supposedly the best diving reef off these islands, hence the English name of Temple of the Sea. The dive was wonderful; we just swam around for what seemed like an age. The reef rose from 24m to the sea surface. It had an abundance of tropical fish and was very relaxing.

By midday I was again packed up and heading out to the same wooden ferry which had brought me to the islands. This time there was only four other travelers heading back to the mainland. So having the whole of the foredeck to myself, I made good use of the time by snoozing in the sun.

By lunchtime I was back in the small Malaysian town of Kuala Besut. I knew that there would be no problem or rush to get to the main bus station to get an overnight bus to the capital, Kuala Lumpur. So I wandered about the village a bit. Whilst I was doing this a taxi drove by with two people who seemed to be staring at me. When they got out of the car they waved, but still I was at a loss as to who these people were – my excuse is I was delirious from fever still.

“Phil,” called the girl in an Irish brogue. Ah! It dawned on me, it’s Phil and Alex. I had met this couple in Southern Nepal way back in mid-March. We had gotten together for a good night out in Kathmandu, which included some late night strenuous exercising on a cycle rickshaw. We had also hooked up for quite a few drinks in Bangkok in April, but I hadn’t seen them for such a long time. Phil I believe had been to Japan, probably watching the soccer World Cup.

It was a surprise to bump into them and they were making their way to the Perhentian islands. Normally, hooking up with old friends, I would have just turned around and headed back out to the islands with them. But again, my heart was not in it and to tell the truth I didn’t even think about it until I had hastily said my goodbyes and was heading out of town in my own taxi.

Again I was surprised as to how far the taxi driver had to ride to get me to the main bus station on the town of Kota Bharu. I had heard there was likely a bus stop closer that the driver could have dropped me but driving to the larger town was an opportunity for a larger fare and frankly I was in no frame of mind to care and didn’t mind seeing some more of the Malaysian countryside.

At around 3pm I was dropped at the central bus station in Kota Bharu where I purchased my bus ticket to Kuala Lumpur. The bus was not due to leave until 8pm that evening so I had nearly five hours to kill. It was hot and I was again suffering with carrying my heavy backpack. I eventually found relief from the heat and busy streets in a traveler’s hostel in the centre of town which offered internet access.

That evening the bus departed Kota Bharu with only about a third of its seats occupied, something unheard of in South-East Asia. The bus made short trips between towns picking up more passengers and soon the vehicle was packed. This went on until well past midnight so sleep would have been difficult, fortunately I had a good book to read and for once my personal overhead light was working when the main cabin lights were extinguished.