It was as beautiful as you would see it on a post card. Coming up on the 1/2 hour boat ride, the blue water was so clear you could see thousands of fish swimming around the boat as we docked. We picked Coral bay, the smaller quieter side of the island since partying with the mute would have been very tiring for me, having to explain and talk all the time for both of us. Coral bay, small, peaceful, lined with a few bungalows and restaurants was great. However, we still had 1 hour till sunset, so we trekked to an even smaller bay, Mira bay, where a man and his family build and rent bungalows. Ten bungalows line the private beach. Perfect! We didn't move for two days just enjoying the sounds of the birds and waves. It was like a little taste of the jungle at the beach, with delicious homemade soups. Paradise! As mentioned earlier traveling with the Mongolian was interesting but we are from different worlds and it did not take long that we decided to part. Being from different worlds, it is the man's job to protect the woman… most of you know how this would go over with me. So having to lock myself in the bungalow when he was gone, having people order my food, having people kill all the mosquitoes that came at a 1 meter radius of me in in case they bit me and made me itchy (not to mention I just came out of the retreat where killing anything is not allowed), parting was our only solution to part on good terms. But I still wanted sometime on the island to snorkel. I heard so much about the snorkeling and I couldn't leave just yet. So I moved to Fathimas, my new guesthouse and the beginning of my true Perhentian experience.

I started with that line… I'm just going to stay a few days. I was the perfect beach bum. No exercise, just food, sleep, swim and practice my floating skills. Then came the snorkel trip. WOW is all I have to say. I am a very lucky person. When you go on these trips they always say you might see this and you might see that…well I got to see it all. Three giant sea turtles, I didn't even know turtles got this big. You could have three grown men on its shell and still see the turtle, although you should never touch the turtles, not good for marine life. I saw many Nemo fish, the scary trigger fish which I did my best to stay away from , moray eel, a spotted sting ray, so many beautiful coral and fish and….7 different sharks with a school of baby sharks. They were reef sharks but the biggest one was still 2 m long, which I noticed as it crept into my peripheral just meters away from me. It was great and even a little scary with the sharks, I didn't know how I was going to react, but I kept it together when they were circling us, so I think I did good.

The rest of my days I made some friends at the guesthouse and spent a lot of time just relaxing, exploring hidden beaches along the shores, playing guitar, going to viewpoints, sunsets, watching and learning about the stars at the pier and enjoying the simple life on the island. I did make it to the famous Long Beach for a night, but not really my thing. I already got comfortable on Coral bay. But since they don't have an ATM here, my time on the island had an expiration date and.. I think it was a good thing. I even stayed two nights more with no money. You don't need money in your pocket to live there actually. It's nice. I said my temporary goodbyes and went back in KB for the night and on the jungle train in the morning. Obviously…going to the jungle.