After our stint in the Malay jungle we head northeast, to the Perhentian Islands, and what sadly is the last leg of our grand adventure. When we leave, it will be to begin our long route home. It will take roughly 60 hours of travel, which will spread over 5 days. The cherry on top? An 11 hour 4 airport journey from LA to Seattle. Yes, you read that that correctly. LA to San Jose, San Jose to Boise, Boise to Lewiston(?!), and Lewiston to Seattle.
Thank you Alaska Airlines.
We appreciate that we were able to book our tickets using frequent flyer miles, and now realize that regardless of the savings, it probably wasn't worth it.
Anyhow, for the time being, it's onwards to paradise!
We have time as we sit on the bus to Kuala Besut to ponder all these things coming up, however mostly we are excited for our time in the islands. We are spending seven days at the Bubbles Dive Resort, where we are volunteering for a sea turtle conservation project that's based there. Seven days we realize will be the longest we have spent in one place since leaving our cozy home-away-from-home in Byron Bay, over three months earlier.
We have heard that Kuala Besut is a horrible place to spend more than an hour and sadly, we're staying two nights. Much to our delight however we find our hotel a welcome respite from the jungle. Free wifi and air conditioning. 'Nuff said. We also find a perfectly pleasant beach, a riverside trail to run on, and the biggest surprise, a fantastic restaurant! C'Putera seemed shockingly out of place in the run down town known only as the gateway to the Perhentians. Well designed elegant signage, amazing Malaysian food, and cheap-as prices. Done.
On the morning of the 15th, we head to the jetty and hop on a Bubbles boat for the 30 minute ride to the resort. We didn't really know what to expect there, with only limited information and pictures to base our judgements on. Small resort, with a dive shop. We've heard that there is likely no Internet access, and things like power and running water may only be available from 7:00 pm to 8:00 am.
What we found, didn't disappoint. The deep blue water faded to a brilliant turquoise as we neared our destination. A single small beach, perhaps 300 meters long, stretched between two outshoots of giant boulders which climbed quickly into steep dense jungle, forming a private and secluded bay. Barely visible in the thick foliage, a few buildings can just be picked out all belonging to the one small resort which will be our base.
We have arrived. The coming days we are sure will be full of adventures (we learn to scuba dive!), sleepless nights (volunteers patrol the beach 8:00 pm to 8:00 am), sea turtles (that is the point of all this), and many unknowns. Just our type of place.
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