The night bus is always the worst. Noise, distractions, heaving over bad roads - everything conspires to keep you awake late into the night. When you’re finally so exhausted that you just can’t stay awake any longer, the bus arrives after only an hour of sleep. But sometimes, even after waiting in the rain for hours for the weather to calm, enduring a terrifying ride on a 20-foot powerboat in 5-foot seas - you step onto soft, clean sand on a southeast Asian island:
Pulau Perhentian Kecil
No shoes in this beachfront cafe. Most of them however are just tents over the sand.
Young Malay girls in the cafe
“Awas” is Malay for danger
This corner of Malaysia is strongly Muslim, thus the flag. A few days ago, the whole island was glued to the few televisions here watching the election results where the center coalition started to fall apart. The Islamist party is quite strong here, but have had little luck pushing mainstream opinion towards strict Sharia law and conservative standards - most Malay are just a little too relaxed to tolerate that for long.
Barbeque on the beach - freshly caught barracuda steaks, mackerel, kingfish…
Stars!
Just after dawn. Had the whole island to myself.
Monitor lizards abound here. This fellow was about 5-6 feet long. Not dangerous to anyone except the chickens - unless you surprise them in the forest, in which case you might get a lacerating whip from the tail. Usually one just sees a flash of movement and great crashing fleeing noise.
Just after sunset, waiting for customers. The monsoon stayed late this year, meaning the sea route has just opened up and many guesthouses are still repairing damage from the storms and preparing for the floods of people in the summer high season.
This one’s for Mike. Threatened but not endangered (yet) green sea turtle, this one about 5 feet long.
Clownfish, or - as they’re universally known among the dive and snorkel operations here - Nemofish.
Return trip was on a badly overloaded powerboat (18 on a boat rated for 10), barely one foot of freeboard in three foot seas. The driver was extremely skilled, steering around swells, stopping dead on top of waves, shooting sideways from trough to trough. Still everyone got drenched and I was glad to be on dry land. Spent a few hours in the town of Kota Bharu (pics here), then on another night bus to Singapore where I am now. Thanks for reading, and I look forward to your comments.
