"Paradise" in the Perentians

So we went to "paradise" the Perhentian Islands just a short boat trip from the mainland. We took a very bouncy night mini bus to the ferry dock, to our surprise arriving about 3am, with the boat not leaving until 8am, anyhow we set up camp for the morning sleeping with a few stray cats which I loved. Speed boat over to the islands getting off at backpacker central beach 'Long Beach'. After not being able to find any details about accommodation online we, like everyone else desperately wondered the beach looking for a room. It was too early for anything to be open and we quickly discovered how difficult it was going to be with stories from people who had slept on the beach or in hammocks that night braving the mosquitos (there is malaria and dengue fever on this island). 

Luckily Damien and I were able to stay with Nik and Dave who had already been there for a week and have 2 double beds, also booking a room on the bigger, less backpacker/party island, which ended up being great for us as it was quieter and cleaner, only downfall was having to shell out MR10 each for a taxi anytime we wanted to go anywhere ($3-ish which is a major rip off but is the only way to get around, they are making a killing). First impressions weren't great with a lot of rubbish and falling down buildings along the beaches, it seams most of the locals don't care about the environment and preservation of the beach they just want to make money, even charging to use the umbrellas on the beach (which we found out was illegal).

Personal porta

 We all went fishing the first day buying lines, hooks etc from a local store fro about $3, the boys got pretty excited setting it all up, however as soon as they dropped the lines in over the jetty the fishing inspector arrived by boat and told them it was illegal. We went for a walk to another sneaky spot off some rocks though and got to use the new gear.

Looking for a good spot at fisherman's village

Taxi after a hard days fishin'

Power goes off for several hours during the day to save fuel as everything is run on generators, therefor all the fridges etc are off and on everyday making the food not so fresh, hence the reason i'd say Nik, Dave and I got food poisoning on the 2nd day there. We had eaten from a buffet dinner the first night, I only sneaky ate a pancake off Nik's plate as Damien and I didn't really want food, BIG MISTAKE!! After a first great day and a nice dinner with Damien on our quiet island I started to feel ill and spent the rest of the night running to the bathroom which was thankfully a few steps from the bed, the boys however were not so lucky with no water and the bathroom being down a corridor. Spent the next day recovering lazing on deck chairs by the beach. Pretty glad to have Dr Maruskanic there to look after me. Little did we know I was going to return the favour the next night...

Up early feeling fantastic and detoxed! We set off for a full day of snorkelling fun in the SUN! Got to see a lot more of the Perhentian stopping off at 6 beaches to snorkel, I think the highlight was swimming with turtles, diving down right up close. Tried to go out again for another nice dinner before this time Damien started to feel sick so we headed home just in time for another night of doom. Both of us having severe sunburn, and Damien having a fever all night, it took another full day to recover sitting on the same deck chairs this time Dr Dibben was at the rescue.

 

Pretty severe sunburn not fun

The next few days were spent feeling sorry for ourselves, upset tummies and pain! Not bad for paradise. 

Tried to get up early to go on a fishing trip, the boat didn't wait for us even though we'd booked so just dies on the beach instead.

We started to believe that the islands are cursed and didn't have a good feeling at all by the end and decided to just leave. I am glad we went though, the water is pretty amazingly clear and the snorkelling was great, i'd imagine the diving would be incredible, just a shame the tourism is killing the picturesque beaches and the locals are so rude. NEXT STOP VIETNAM!!!

As we left the island had dark clouds above it just proving that it is cursed