Friday 25th February: Coral Bay, Pulau Perhentian Kecil, Malaysia

This morning we begin our journey from the north of Malaysia using boat, taxi, bus, plane and train to reach our goal; Singapore. We have spent 3 lazy days on the small Perentian island, sunbathing, eating and diving. We did two dives; the Temple of the Sea which is a huge pinnacle with amazing underwater life - including a HUGE 3 legged turtle who winked at us (?!) and Pauh Reef which lies in between the two islands but had poor visibility and a mostly sand bed. The islands are described as paradise and they didn’t disappoint, although there was a lot of construction happening while we were there as the local businesses geared up for the peak season soon to start.

We arrived a day late to the islands after the train from Taman Negara (on the ‘Jungle Railway line’) was later than we thought it was but got to spend the night in Kota Bharu and enjoyed having a stroll around the busy evening streets.

Our stay in Taman Negara was good. We chose to take the road less travelled (pause… Emily??) which meant we were at one with nature… or at least with one lizard, a couple of birds and a handful of monkeys. We were quite under whelmed by the lack of wildlife but the walks were interesting and we spent the night in a hide. It was surprisingly modern although we had to wade across a river to reach it and the ‘jungle noises’ we expected to hear through the night boiled down to a few crickets and the snores of a German couple sharing the hide with us! We used the opportunity to practice some photography (see pictures!) and walk along the longest canopy walkway in the world at 500m in length and 50m high. With deep breaths and nerves of steel we went for it and the views were well worth it.