South-East Asia

From KL we went to Kuantan, one of the bigger cities of Peninsular Malaysia, but actually not having anything worth seeing with the exception of its mosque and the most ugly and scaring bathroom we had so far in a hotel here (this was actually the first place where I think my childhood nightmare of a rat crawling out of the toilet might have come true).

A short trip from Kuantan is Tasik Chini, the Malaysian version of Loch Ness. It's an area of 12 linked lakes where supposedly some monster is to be found, though (surprise, surprise), we didn't get to see it. We met a Belgian couple here, which came in handy as we shared a boat and they later drove us back to the bus station, as our driver didn't show up. The lake area is lush green, with lots of Lotos blossoming, and some native inhabitants, called Orang-Asli, living on the islands of the lake in rather poor conditions. We tried hitting the target with a blow-pipe and I scored mark 10 in my second attempt! But although it is part of the touristic program, it is not pleasant that their poverty is presented as romantic to visitors, and you don't really know how to behave towards them. Is it adequate to take pictures there, and give some sweets to the kids, or does it shame them and spoil their way of living?

From here, we went further to the Perhentian Islands, with a short stop in Cherating where we were hunted by Indians (at some party in honor of the American Independence day) and pretty much eaten alive by the mosquitoes.

The Perhentian Islands, definitely one of the highlights of our trip, are among the worlds most famous diving locations and are highly popular and crowded, so to get a room, we arrived by the first ferry, dropped our luggage at the beach and then I ran to get the first available room. We got an almost seaside view bungalow here, with electricity for approximately half of the day and some huge rats searching for food in some of the neighboring bungalows, as we were told later. But that shouldn't spoil our impression - this was one of the most stunning places we have seen so far, and the azure blue water topped everything we saw before. It is a pity that the diving courses cost around 300 dollars; so we did one more snorkeling trip showing corals, colorful fish, reef sharks and turtles. There are delicious seafood barbecues in most restaurants here as well, and the prices seem to have been agreed between the restaurants, as everything costs almost the same in all places. As there are only two convenience stores, everything is overpriced in there (mosquito protection and sun cream being up to twice as expensive as on the mainland), so better come prepared.