Our first proper Malaysian adventure: Pulau Tioman

I thought it was about time that I got involved in this blogging game, so here is my (this is Dan by the way) first post about our trip to Tioman Island (or Pulau Tioman as the locals call it).

The island of Tioman is just off the east coast of Peninsula Malaysia, in the South China Sea, so no plane needed for our first Malaysian adventure – just a car and a boat! We set off bright and early on Thursday 27^th August with our two backpacks, camera, drinking water and snacks, all bundled into our trusty Malaysian-made 1.3 powerhouse of a Proton Saga….and what a machine it is.
We realised the night before that we only had one functioning headlight (this was the driver’s side, so I could sort of see where I was going). However, as the journey went on it didn’t really seem to be an issue that we had one headlight, in fact, we fitted in quite nicely with the other road users! The journey north to the port of Tanjung Gemok turned out to be quite an adventure in itself. We drove through quite a lot of the rainforest roads, the scenery was incredible, and at that time of the morning it was so quiet. It felt for the first time that we were starting to get a sense of the real Malaysia. It was especially exciting seeing the signs for Elephants crossing – unfortunately we didn’t see any this time, hopefully next time. What we did see was a giant monitor lizard jump out of the jungle and peel some roadkill off the road and eat it right there in the middle of the road…all very exciting! We finally made it to Tanjung Gemak in plenty of time for the ferry across to Tioman. We grabbed a waffle (chocolate for Beth and peanut for Dan!) and an extremely sugary coffee and waited for our ferry to arrive. 

On the boat:

 Once on the ferry, it was very busy but generally the ride over was pretty uneventful, especially compared to some of the ferry crossings on our trip in Indonesia! (see earlier posts….). It took about two hours from Tanjung Gemak to our stop of Tekek on Tioman Island. Once back on land we grabbed a quick Nasi and Mee Goreng (we had to swap though as Beth’s was a bit spicy!) and headed for the jungle trek. We were staying on the east side of the island and had landed on the west side of the island – we didn’t want to get a taxi like everyone else does, “no!”, we headed for the jungle trek across! This turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip – it was a 7km hike across the island through the jungle with just the creepy crawlies and critters for company: 

 As you can see from the photos, it really was a proper jungle, thick with a canopy above making it very loud (can’t tell this bit from the photos)! We saw lots of wildlife going through – long-tailed macaques (monkeys), monitor lizards, giant black squirrels, Beth got attacked by giant ants and she even saw a baby elephant! Well, it turned out to be a rock, but still, for a moment there was a baby elephant in the jungle with us! Anyway, the hike took us about 3 hours in total and it was quite hot and sweaty. It really was a fantastic way to start our Tioman trip though and if you ever go to Tioman, I can’t recommend it enough.

What awaited us on the other side of the island was a real treat – it made all that uphill (and downhill) worthwhile: 

This area of the island is called Juara and is the only traditional Kampung (meaning ‘village’) that remains on the island. It really is an incredibly beautiful part of the world. Juara is the only part of the east coast with a beach, and due to it being relatively hard to get to for tourists, it is nice and quiet. Only a handful of small restaurants and shacks are on this side – perfect for a few days away. We made our way up the beach to find our accommodation for the next four nights: River View. We were greeted by Julie and Simon who showed us the lay-of-the-land and our beach shack for the next few days. It was pretty basic (no hot water or AC) but it is in just a brilliant position right on the north end of Juara beach. Our shack was on the sand and overlooked the sea and the rest of the beach. By the time we arrived and got ourselves sorted out it was time for some dinner. We asked Julie for where she recommended for some nice local cuisine and headed off down the beach to fill our bellies…

 Our shack, with the pink towel, which we lost :( 

The restaurant we went to was called “Kak Long”. A tiny little place looking out over the beach, with only a handful of tables, run by two sisters and one of their husbands. The food was amazing! So good in fact, that for the first time, we kept returning to the same restaurant over the course of our trip. We ended up eating here a lot….there was so much to try and all so good. After our first dinner, we headed back to our little shack on the beach for a well-deserved sleep.

The next morning I woke Beth up with a nice cup of English tea (English owners you see…) and I had a coffee while we watched the waves crashing onto the beach - such a lovely way to wake up. Once we finished our beverages, we headed down to Kak Long for some breakfast. Now this breakfast I think could be in our top five breakfasts ever. Remember the name of this breakfast: Roti Canai with scrambled egg and curry sauce. If you ever get the chance to have it, go for it, you won’t be disappointed. This stuff is delicious. So good in fact that we had it every morning that we were on the island! After breakfast we headed down the village, passing the local school, mosque, giant monitor lizards and resident macaques along the way. We made it as far as the turtle sanctuary, but wanted to save that for another day when we had our camera. After a morning of strolling around we made our way back to our accommodation for a lazy day of swimming and sunbathing. I took this opportunity to grab my snorkel and see what the local coral reef had to offer. Not quite as clear as the waters of the Gilis but lots of fish nevertheless. I even was lucky enough to spot some reef shark out there. After an hour and a half (my burnt back didn’t like snorkelling) I headed back in. After a lazy afternoon we decided to head out to Kak Long again (it really was that good) for some dinner. After dinner we got chatting to two German guys who were out in Tioman as part of a 4 week trip of South East Asia. We got some tips on where to go, and where not to, around SEA – that was a nice thing about River View, it was set up to allow people to chat with one another over drinks in the social area. After a couple of hours of chatting we hit the hay.

The next morning we dragged ourselves out of bed and up the beach for some Roti Canai (mmmm) and then onwards to the Turtle sanctuary to see Jo. Jo was a turtle that the sanctuary had saved nine years ago as she was blind. We did learn an awful lot about turtles and the efforts that go into saving them – they are still on the decline and a lot of work still needs to be done to stop poachers and rubbish killing them. After the sanctuary we wandered back up the beach for another busy afternoon of sunbathing and swimming. I had a nice doze in our hammock outside our shack – I think I might get one for home! In the evening we were walking along the beach and came across Anne, a Dutch woman that we had got chatting to on the first day. We decided to go with her for dinner; not Kak Long this time, but somewhere with really good food nonetheless. She was good company (she used to be a human rights lawyer and now works for an anti-corruption agency) and we spent a good few hours chatting away. Sadly the restaurant had run out of banana cake, so it was Mars bars for pudding from the shop! Nice night cap…

One of my favourite places of the holiday:

Morning arrived and it was back to Kak Long for some Roti Canai. While having breakfast we got chatting to Sam, a Malaysian guy staying at River View. He was having a break away from the hectic life of where he lives in Singapore. He says although Singapore is nice and provides a good quality of life, he still loves to return to Malaysia for some time away to relax and enjoy the food of his childhood. He was an interesting guy who ended up very kindly paying for our breakfast, and even left some beer in the fridge for us at River View. After breakfast we thought we’d enjoy our last day on the beach. We did have an explore up the river by ‘River’ view on some kayaks that we rented. We didn’t see any reticulated pythons hanging on the trees (as there apparently are) but it was really cool seeing the jungle from the river – very quiet and peaceful paddling along. This trip also gave me my first jellyfish sting whilst swimming in the surf of the sea. It felt like a hot iron rod on my arm; apparently vinegar is one of the best treatments. After about 2 hours the pain had died right down – I still have a scar though! For our final night, yes you guessed it, we went back to Kak Long. Their Piseng Goreng (fried banana) is just lovely, as is their banana pancake :)

 

One of the many times in Kak Long:

The next morning was departure day, but not until 2pm so we decided to make the most of the day and head over to the west coast so I could do some diving. While Beth relaxed and soaked up some last minute sun I went out with Tioman Dive to a little island called Pulau Soyak. The diving, as always in this part of the world, was great. Again, not quite as clear as the Gilis, but just as much wildlife: stingrays, lionfish, moray eel, batfish and lots more. Only time for the one dive sadly, but it was nice to get a glimpse of Tioman underwater. It was back to shore for our ferry back home.

Before departure we thought we’d make the most of the duty-free nature of the island and take back a few beers and some wine. Unknowingly we went over our personal limit…whoops! We must have looked shifty at customs, as our bag got searched but hardly anyone else’s did. Anyway, the punishment wasn’t too bad, only RM21 (about £3.40) tax for everything.

The ferry back was a bit more hairy than the way there…the sick bags got handed out this time. Fortunately neither of us had to use them though. Overall, the trip was fantastic, the perfect combination of adventure and relaxation. We really can’t wait to get back to Pulau Tioman….if only for the Roti Canai at Kak Long!

Until our next adventure…..