After an hour and a bit on the ferry over from Mersing on the mainland, we arrived on Tioman island. It looked a bit mysterious as we approached as the weather was a bit suspect that day which meant a large cloud was covering the top of the island all the way across.

A few people had recommended Tioman, told us how beautiful an island it was and basically said not to miss it. Incidentally, it's also the island where 'South Pacific' (never seen it, lol) was filmed and supposedly one of the top 10 most beautiful islands in the world too. We had to miss out on visiting the Perhentian islands due to it being monsoon season and we were hoping that we'd have a better time on Tioman to make up for it. Its just a longtail boat ( small boat with a car engine on the back and long propeller) that takes you over to the Perhentians so adverse weather means they often cancel it but they run a fair sized ferry to Tioman so the service is pretty much always running. A couple of friends, Charlie and Rich from London who we'd met in Thailand, had told us of a place they'd stayed on Tioman a few weeks before we'd met them and recommended it highly.

There are 5 or so jettys on the island where the ferry stops and the place we needed to get off at, Saleng, just happened to be the very last one. We hopped off at the jetty and watched the boat speed off. We went in search of Ellas Place, a straight 5 minute walk after turning left at the end of the jetty. We got there and found it all shut up along with all the other restaurants and cabins that we'd seen along the way. Bah. As low season had just started in Malaysia we had got there just too late and the island isnt a very busy one compared to say some of the Thai islands so low season means pretty much complete shutdown on the tourist side of things.

We walked back down the pier and got talking to an American guy who told us that the main village on the island, Tekek, has shops open as the locals still need to use them during low season as well as the main airport (one tiny runway), police station (one police car, a Land Rover! I know, what are the odds..) and generally a little more going on. We wanted to stay on the island having looked forward to it for so long so we decided that Tekek sounded like a better option. Saleng, although it looked really nice, had literally 2 or 3 restaurants open in the food court where a few locals were eating and lots of cats running around, that was about as busy as it got, lol. We spoke to a local who got on the phone and called his friend who organised a small boat to take us round to Tekek for a small sum. We wished in a way that we had just got off at Tekek in the first place instead of Saleng as we would have saved paying again but hey-ho.

We headed down to the beach where we stepped into the little boat. When i say little, i mean little. You had myself and Ciara, the guy driving the boat and his two kids who we picked up from the pier in it as well as our backpacks, that was about it. Ciara was a bit nervous but was ok after we set off, the waters were pretty calm that day. 10 minutes later we stepped off in Tekek and took a walk about. It didnt have much going on but more than Saleng so we were grateful! The first room we looked at had a bathroom that looked like the one out of the first Saw movie (we've had a few of these so far!) and was generally a bit minging so we looked elsewhere. The second place, a room in Barbura guesthouses was marginally better than the last even though we asked for the most bottom end room they had. We took it as our bags were getting heavy by this point. The place is ran by a nice lady called Anna, very helpful. If you ever go there, she'll look after you!

After checking in we took a wander. It wasnt too sunny, a bit cloudy but we were both just thankful it wasnt raining. Pretty much straight away we realised how peaceful a place Tioman is. Dont know if it had a lot to do with being low season and all but the pace of life there is so slow. As on the mainland they have a lot of scooters but not many cars. The island is only partly developed too which I was pleased about. As soon as a 7/11 pops up there they're in trouble! Koh Phi Phi, although small is heavily developed for its size with tourist bars everywhere whereas Tioman still has its character intact with local shops and restaurants and hasnt been ruined by the tourist trade. Another great thing about Tioman is that its a duty free island, alcohol is DIRT cheap. A small can of beer in a shop on the mainland was maybe 6 ringgit. ( about a pound) On Tioman you can buy 5 cans of Tiger beer for 10 ringgit! The wine is also very cheap there too.

The next 5 days were a bit of a blur really as we just chilled out for the time we were there. There wasnt much to actually do other than having a walk in either direction up the one road that runs through Tekek or going down the beach or to the marine park which is protected from fishing and boats coming in or out. I think the first night we were there we took advantage of the cheap booze situation and had our first bottle of wine since we left the UK. Wine is a bit pricier than beer out here so i've been sticking with the cheapest option throughout whereas Ciara hasnt really been drinking much. We both love red wine so picked up a fruity bottle of Hardys for a fiver as well as some paper cups and sat in an iron chair swing next to the beach which was a stones throw from our room and sat watching the waves before hitting the sack.

The next morning we both woke up with about 20 odd new mosquito bites up our arms, some even on my face. I hate the little vampirous things, they serve no purpose, get rid of em! We checked the room as to how they could have got in and found that there were a few gaps between the aircon unit and under the doors. I can cope with the odd bite but when you get that many and they all itch it can be a bit much! Later on, we headed out, had a nice pizza for breakfast from Shadys bakery, a nice local bakery that makes everything fresh and is nice and cheap. We took a walk up the hill past our place and over to the large resort next door complete with massive golf course and acres of manicured gardens. On our way we spotted a few monitor lizards in the river. They're quite camera shy and it took us a while to get some decent shots. I'd spotted one darting under a bridge when we arrived in Saleng but couldnt get my camera out quick enough, just spotted its tail..

We walked up the beach in the resort before stopping for a couple of cold beers in the bar, even a cold draught Carlsberg at resort prices on Tioman is only 6 ringgit, sweet! Later we grabbed another bottle of red wine and chilled in the chair swing which broke as one of the arms was held on by wire. We fixed it, went to bed, watched some South Park and crashed out.

The next day after sustaining more bites we headed down to the harbour with a bag of stale bread from Shadys and fed the tropical fish. I ended up lying on my front so as not to spook them. The water was very clear despite all the boats that were moored there and after a while there were loads of brightly coloured fish in front of us. Wish we'd bought two bags of bread as it just goes too quick!

After moving into the neighbouring room following our second night of being mosquito snacks along with some mosquito coils and spray from Anna we called it a night.The next day we walked in the other direction and up and over some steps to the next little cove, a place called Bantung ABC i think. Not a lot going on there, locals playing volleyball and tons of cats, nothing open. Tioman must have thousands of cats on the island, we didnt see a single dog all the time we were there, not one. We were later told that its because Muslims think dogs are filthy. I dont buy this as my old work mate Waj, who is Muslim, has a dog who he loves to bits. Apparently any dogs that have been brought onto the island have been poisoned with tainted meat. So the cats are king of the castle on Tioman! We got followed by loads every day, some in worse condition than others. We even spotted one that looked like it had half of its face missing, ugh! It unnerved Ciara a bit, i think she was about to pet it and then spotted its freaky skull! ha ha

We headed back from ABC and on our way visited the marine park which has a couple of floating rafts that were full of local kids jumping off them and enjoying themselves in the evening sun. There are plenty of concrete blocks that have been dropped into the water next to the pier to encourage coral growth. From the pier you can clearly see all the fish, hundreds of them, as well as loads of sea urchins that you wouldnt want to step on. I've never seen sea water so clear.

After watching the fish for a while longer we headed back, grabbed some more wine, drank it, broke the chair swing again, fixed it and went to bed.

The next morning we were seriously contemplating leaving the island as the mozzie bites were really acting up for both of us and it was just uncomfortable. We had invested in a kind of fan shaped thing that you fold out which is suppossed to release chemicals and repel the little feckers. We tried it that night and all it did was give me a headache, even got some new bites. Crap. We just lay in that day as it had been raining sideways all night and continued til 2pm. I wasnt going out in that! We watched a bit of South Park instead ( so glad I loaded stuff to watch onto my Ipod before i left!) and chilled out. Later once the weather had cleared we headed out and grabbed some pizza from Shadys and some beers and sat in the chair swing. Broke it again, couldnt fix it this time, the wire was too far gone. Scarpered.

By our last day on the island we realised just how few tourists were there. We'd only spotted about 10- 12 Westerners since we'd arrived. Apart from Don Det in Laos this was the only place we've been so far where I can honestly say I've felt 'away from it all'. Just us and the locals pretty much. After the hustle and bustle of the city in Kuala Lumpur our break on Tioman was just the ticket, even if the sun wasnt shining while we were there. Our last evening was spent feeding the fish at the marine park where we spotted some pretty impressive crocodile needle fish that were skulking amongst the smaller ones. They were fast as anything when they moved too!

Next morning we were up and about at 6am to catch the boat back to Mersing. Because of the low tides and the weather they were only running one boat a day and it leaves nice and early at 7.30am. The weather was perilous, we got caught in the rain on our way down to the ferry port and there was sheet lightning out at sea, great sailing conditions! To make matters worse, two nights beforehand, I had consumed what looked to be deep fried chicken wings that looked like they had been left to go cold and then heated up again somehow. They had their 'revenge' on my insides for the next 3 days, well into Singapore! One thing I've been disappointed with in Malaysia has been the food. It hasnt been all bad but not as good as i had hoped for. I think all the lovely Amok I had in Cambodia has spoiled me!

We set off on the ferry along with a hundred or so others as well as some middle aged Italian couple kitted out head to toe in matching beige (yuk) with huge matching luggage to boot. After about 5-10 mins of sailing the boat made a stop. Everyone was rubbernecking out of the window so I thought I'd have a gawp too. Some windsailer had foolishly decided to go out in the storm with his board and had ran out of wind and couldnt get back to shore. He looked a bit panicked and I wasnt sure if he'd been there all night or not. Probably not but even so, the water looked pretty choppy that morning and the rain was lashing down. We picked him up as well as his board and dropped him back at the pier.

An hour and bit later we arrived back in Mersing where we tucked into a KFC breakfast and dried off a bit before getting the bus to Singapore.

Thats pretty much it for Malaysia, its getting late here in Bali and I've got sore eyes from looking at the screen so its goodnight!