Malaysia Border Crossing and the Pehrentian Islands

As you know, unfortunately, I've lost my travel partner to the States and I have now hit the road solo. Because of our time being cut short in Myanmar, I had to cross a border to avoid my Thai visa expiring before returning home. So, I headed south to Malaysia...and the border crossing was an experience. No service actually takes you across the border, so you get taken to the border by an overcrowded minivan and then you hop out and walk across the Thai/Malay border, expected to sort things out on the other side. Fortunately, there were 2 other travelers headed to the Pehrentian Islands as well, so we were able to share a taxi to Kuala Besut. But first, we had to find a bank to get the currency, since there were no ATMs or banks in the town we were headed to or on the islands. Not knowing how expensive things would be, and not knowing the exchange rate of US dollar to Ringit, trying to guestimate how much cash to pull out was more than I wanted to think about after a long 10 hrs sitting cramped in the back of a minivan. But I sorted things out and we eventually made it to Kuala Besut, but not early enough to catch a boat to the Pehrentians, which meant we stuck it out a night in this 1-hotel, 1-restaurant town.

The next morning was interesting as well. Because of the largest Muslim holidays, Hari Raya and Ramadan falling on the 13th and 14th of October, me even trying to travel anywhere on those dates was out of the question. Who knew?! So, I spent the morning frustrated and concerned about how I'd head north back into Thailand to meet my parents by the 18th. The bus I wanted to take to Kuala Lumpur was booked up until the 23rd of October. Seems a little ridiculous, huh? For 10 days, there was no bus I could get on to get me out of here. So being unable to make any sort of travel plans, I just decided to head out to the Islands and cross my fingers that things would work out...somehow.

Once out at sea, can I just say how absolutely incredible the Pehrentian Islands were! It was like I'd entered a tropical paradise.

There was nothing to do but be a beach bum, go snorkeling, and play volleyball and frisbee on the beach. And I totally lucked out and met a fantastic group of people. There were 4 Dutchies, 1 German, 2 Spaniards, 2 English and I actually found a fellow American guy who had been traveling for 8 months. It's been a super fun group and we refer to ourselves as the 'United Nations' - y'know, kinda bringing all countries together or something. And our snorkeling trip was incredible!! It is the clearest water I've ever been in and visibility is top quality. We saw sea turtles, little sharks, colorful coral, and all sorts of fishies. (the snorkeling pic below is with Lonneca from Holland)

After a full day on the beach and a round of volleyball, each evening we would catch up for dinner, which consisted of a delicious fish bbq on the beach - from the catch of the day - and then there was only 1 small bar on the island to mingle and hang out at. (this pic is with 3 English girls, Carly, Nicola and Monica and a Canadian, Jane - who I just met that night. We had a fun time dancing barefoot in the sand).

And then, how can you stay on a tropical island and not watch the sun come up one morning?! So I pulled an all-nighter to watch the sunrise on the ocean - which was beautiful. And then the real highlight came with the fact that 2 of the locals fed us their celebration food they had prepared for Hari Raya. It was incredible! It's food that they prepare special, only once a year, and since I'd expressed my hunger (surprise, surprise), we snuck into a kitchen in one of the chalets and they brought out part of their special holiday feast to share with us. Although I'm not 100% sure what I ate...some sort of meat dish and rice wrapped in a banana leaf, it was tasty!

It all seemed so surreal. Here I sat at a table, looking out on the palm trees and sandy beach, watching the sun peak through the clouds and paint the sky, and eating Malay food, prepared special for the once a year holiday, with 2 Malay men, 2 English girls and a German guy. It's quite fun to think about the types of experiences and memories that can be made when traveling.

Considering I wasn't even planning on coming to Malaysia, I'd say the Pehrentians were quite an enjoyable part of this trip so far.