Currently I am on the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia (on the north east coast) staying in a crappy little chalet that looks over that blue green ocean I was bragging about... (specifically I am in Long Beach on Perhentian Kecil). What I love about these islands is that they are not populated solely with Western travelers. There is a good mix of local people vacationing here as well. Our neighbors in our first hotel were from Kuala Lumpur, and just came for the weekend to get away from the stress of the city. Jeez! Could you imagine being able to go to a place like that for your weekend getaway! Although there were striking differences between the western and local people (like the fact that the Muslim women were fully covered head to ankle even when swimming, and the western women were walking around everywhere in bikinis), everyone smiled at each other and seemed to respect that although we have different beliefs, we are all here for the same reasons.
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| Long Beach, Perhentian Kecil |
It's beautiful here... No... Stunning. The scenery is unbelievable, and in the evening there are these amazing thunder storms.... It comes on quickly, one minute you are tanning on the beach, and then you see the clouds rolling in... (My balcony is the perfect place to watch it and stay dry.) The rain pounds down like nothing I have ever seen, the whole world turns grey and all that is visible is whatever lays directly in front of you (in my case other chalets and palm trees ripping in the wind). Then a startling flash of lighting cracks through the sky and hits the water... Brighter and closer than I have ever seen lightning... And then the earth shattering crack and rumble of the following thunder... It is so intense... It makes me feel like an insignificant ant... Then, as quickly as it rolled in, the rain dissipates and the time between the thunder and lightning becomes further and further apart as the clouds move on. The stunning backdrop of ocean and hills of deep green jungle slowly come back into view as the sun starts to set behind the hills.
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| view from my chalet |
Although the scenery is amazing here, the accommodation and food lack imagination. It's more expensive here than in Indonesia (but maybe that's because it's high season here and it was low season when I was in Indonesia). The chalets are all very basic: bed, bathroom, small fan, holes in the floors, crooked sinks, flimsy construction, and copious amounts of creepy crawly bugs. If I were to stay in something more comfortable (structurally sound and with a/c) I would be paying around 300 MR ($100 CAD). As it stands I'm already paying 100 MR, which is the top of our budget. And the food... cardboard. I don't think I have had even one meal where I thought, "Wow, this is really good." It all tastes bland, and looks bland.
It's HOT here... Like... I can't even describe it. I thought it was uncomfortable before... It's way worse here. Constant sweat, everywhere, all the time. The first day here I got heat stoke... I thought I was going to vomit. Then I went back to my room to take a nap to sleep it off... But they turn the power off during the day so the room was SWELTERING. Not fun. Oh, and sunscreen just sweats right off when you put it on. I don't think I will ever feel clean again... The heat is so bad we actually haven't done anything. We have spent all of our time on this one beach on this one island rather than explore the other island and beaches... It's just too hot to do anything. I almost feel like I might regret not seeing the rest of the island, but I just can't muster up the energy to explore...
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| basically all I saw (views from restaurants on the hill) |
The noise! I haven't slept since we got here. Bars on the beach pump music all night (till like 4 am) and it echos off the water right into our room... all I hear is techno and trance... all. night. long. Maybe I should go out there and join them... but I'm too freaking hot to have any energy to drink at the end of the day!!!
I'll survive... although ants have taken over my bed (seriously, I woke up one morning and there were HUNDREDS of tiny ants all over me, my nighty, and my blanket... then I found them all over my backpack. fun), and geckos keep me up at night (it's unbelievable that such a loud noise comes from such a small thing). The food fills my belly, there is a great chill vibe here, and plenty of space on the beach to laze around. What more could I really ask for?
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