We are so soft!!! Today we checked into the island's only 5 star resort! Couldn't even last a week. No really... we found an amazing deal on the net for the resort which we just couldn't pass up. After packing up our little hut we caught a speed boat to south to the resort. WOW! Manicured gardens, beautiful beaches on the backdrop of lush green rainforest. But what we were most excited about was our chalet. HOT WATER! AIR CONDITIONING! A WORKING TOILE...

Moved out of the expensive accommodation and found much cheaper place towards the northern end of Salang Bay. For 30RM per night ($10) we got a little beachside chalet which is a 1 room hut with an attached bathroom. Although it did not have air con or hot water, it was a groovy little place which became like home for the next week. It also had a uninterrupted view of the beach from the door! The nights are pretty cool so not having air con was not really a prob...

Well, good things can't last forever, they say... Our perfect chalet over the water became not so perfect with the arrival of a Singaporean family of 7 moving into the room next to us which shares our balcony... Bringing along what looks like the entire contents of their house (including the kitchen sink.. literally) in boxes along with their 3 screaming children, our bliss became short lived!!! At first we dramatically declared that this was impossible to pu...

Got up early and hiked into town. We were a little late but the ferry was late anyway so it didn't matter. After about an hour and a half on the ferry the silhouette of Tioman emerged from the tropical haze. The island was SO much bigger than we imagined. The peaks at the south of the island stretched into the clouds. The ferry had four drop offs at different villages on the west coast before we arrived at Salang. Wow... White sandy beaches and the clear blue...

Got up early, straped on the packs and walked to the Pudyara Station, the bustling main KL bus terminal. Found the right platform for our bus to Mersing and got aboard. The bus was amazingly comfortable, much better than any Australian bus with only 3 seats across in each row and heaps of leg room and layback seats. Traveled mainly through plantation country across the peninsula and down to Mersing, the launching point to Tioman Island. Getting off the bus we wer...