Perhentian Islands, Malaysia

After checking out of our hostel in Singapore, Erik and I took a bus to cross the border into Malaysia. Before crossing the border, we had to get out of the bus and go through customs. We came out of customs and noticed the bus is not there anymore. We searched for it for a while but I guess the bus decided to leave without us. Luckily the Malaysian border wasn’t very far so we decided to walk to Johore, the town at the border. Once there, we took a taxi to the local bus station. We had decided to go to the Perhentian Islands but getting there was going to be a problem. The Perhentian islands are two islands off the coast of northern Malaysia and we were in the south. All busses heading there were sold out and there seemed to be no organization in the bus system. So 3 busses, one taxi, a boat taxi and 20 hours later, we finally arrived on the beautiful islands. We didn’t reserve ahead of time so we were a little lucky that there was a spot at the Moshin Chalets. The room that we got was very basic with two beds, toilet, shower and an air fan. After all that traveling we spent the rest of the day on the beach relaxing. The sand was like white powder and the water was crystal clear and very warm. The beach was great although the temperature must have reached 45 degrees Celsius.



The next day we went snorkeling around the islands. Our guide took us to a very cool spot around one of the islands where we got to see sea turtles, clown fish and even small sharks. Although they were small sharks, the guide did say that the day before his friend did get injured from a shark bite so I was a little freaked out haha. During the lunch break, we ate at a little beach side restaurant where local goats would come up to our table to get some food. After a full day of snorkeling my back was completely burnt but I really enjoyed the experience. That night at diner, one of the owners of the chalets asked if Erik and I had any experience catching snakes. Erik and I said “no” and we were a bit confused as to why he would ask us such a question. He informed us that there was a 12 foot python in his room. I thought he was joking but he actually showed us a picture of the snake. Not being a big fan of snakes I was again freaked out. We checked out the next morning to head to our next destination. While getting ready to leave, I was brushing my teeth and spotted a huge cockroach that must have been 4 inches long behind the sink. I was so tired that I really didn’t mind it being there and I think it would have taken a baseball bat to kill the thing.

The Perhentian Islands was one of the highlights of my South East Asia trip and I hope I get a chance to visit similar areas of the world in the future.

Take care,

Jason