So we landed back onto the MalaysiaPeninsula, we had planned on traveling up the east coast. As we had been speaking to different people it seemed there were only a few stops off on the east coast, the main one being the Perhentian Islands- everyone we had come across kept saying you must go to the Perhentians its amazing!!!

TIOMAN ISLAND

The first stop we would be making was the Tioman island, so after another bus journey and then another boat trip we arrived at the Island. It was a really pretty Island at first glance, we found some accommodation but that wasn't up to much at all (thank goodness for the matt idea Lisa) and it was made worse by having carpet urgh!!!! Anyway we have learnt to cope with staying in s**t holes and we think the best way to cope is to dump your stuff and quickly get out of there, and then get blind drunk so you don't think about the appalling living conditions and you can actually sleep!

As we walked around there was litter and rubbish everywhere, really not what you would expect from a lovely beach island. We found somewhere to eat away from the rubbish and had the usual Malaysian grub of rice rice and more rice. Whilst staying in Malaysia you would be b*****ed if you didn't like rice and you also have to expect to put on weight as everything is fried and sooo greasy and fattening! We were actually now getting a bit fed up with the Malaysian food and craving some spicy, healthy Thai food. Sarah was even getting a bit tired of the Nasi Goreng Kapung - fried rice with a runny egg on top, was lovely at first but not every day. Some places we had visited we even had no choice but to have rice for breakfast, so definitely getting riced out!!

Tioman didn't really do it for us but to be fare we have since talked to other people and they said that we stayed on the wrong beach and also we had the PerhentianIslands imbedded in the back of our mind. So we stayed for one night and got a bus to Kota Terranangu for a stop off on our way to the Perhentians. Another disappointment as this was a busy city with not much to keep tourists occupied but the accomodation we found was nice and clean so we had a few days rest and just kept crossing our fingers that these Perhentian Islands were as good as everyone said!

PERHENTIAN ISLANDS

Yeah finally we were on the boat to the Islands, as usual we were laid back with our planning - we knew there was no ATM on the island but presumed there would be one at the ferry terminal but we presumed wrong. The taxis were asking a fortune to take us to the bank which was in the town, it was too far to walk and the boat was going to be leaving shortly. So I (Sarah) arranged with a local man to take me to the bank for a fraction of the price on his scooter sorry mum wish I had listened to you and I might not have ended up with a 'Thailand tattoo' well mine is actually a Malaysian tattoo- doesn't have quite the same ring to it! These are caused by silly westerners who are not used to hoping on and off scooters getting their calf stuck to the boiling hot exhaust pipe, yes it was ouch!! The local man then insisted on taking me to his friends who proceeded to pour milk over the wound- not what I learnt at university! He then took me to his house and all his kids came running out to see the silly English girls wound and he put some mysterious pink jelly over it, which actually really took away the burning. So little Morrall says the moral of the story- always listen to your mum!! All the time Vik had been having an even more stressful trauma- trying to find cheap alcohol, as it was supposed to be really expensive on the island!!

Eventually we were on the boat, it didn't take long on the boat and we came to the jetty- wow the water was unbelievable! We were still quite far out from lad and the water deep and yet the water was so crystal clear you could see straight to the bottom and all the fish and sea life!

We had been recommended a place to stay (Panorama) but it was very popular and for the first night was fully booked so we met up with another girl Alice and two other Dutch lads and shared a horrible room for the night. First thing in the morning we waited at the Panorama reception begging for a room. The rooms here are not fantastic by any means but a lot better than the previous night, you also got a free evening meal and the food was supposed to be delicious- sold!

We felt right at home here, the beach was fantastic and we quickly met lots of people, two ozy lads Justin and Matt who had constant injuries and aliments but we had a great laugh with and our bosom buddy Scott who we had numerous good night with and lazy days on the beach! For about a week did nothing but sunbathe, relax and party- just what we wanted! We did venture out on a snorkeling boat tour around the island and the near by larger island, the snorkeling was unbelievable! We first stopped off at a bay to see the turtle; they were huge and not shy as they swam unperturbed next to us all. Next we saw the reef sharks- small sharks with black tips on their fin- really lovely to watch swimming around. Obviously the coral and other fish were all fantastic and we just couldn't believe how much we had seen in one day!

The days kept going by and we were having a great time and we just couldn't bring ourselves to leave this paradise island. We had even got into a routine of 'one day on, one day off ' this referred to our drinking pattern as by now the alcohol we had brought with us had long gone and it was a bit pricey on the island- even when we had managed to wangle some deals with the local jack the lad!

Diving had always been something Sarah had wanted to and Vik had not even considered it but perhaps the snorkeling trip and the fit diving instructors had inspired her. So we both signed up for our open water course and now found ourselves studying and preparing ourselves for this four day adventure - at least we would have something to show from being on this island and not just a tan and a beer belly!

The course turned out to be better than any of us could have wished for, what a place to do our open water and for Vik to do her first diving. Once we had passed our skill tests on the first day, which involved taking all your gear on and off under water etc. We were then ready for our first dive, we were treated to seeing a large group of hammerhead parrot fish- large fish a meter or so long, turtles, lots of nemo's (clown fish) - so cute and numerous other sea life! That was it we were hooked.

We then went on a dive everyday for the next three days whilst studying for the final exam and doing other under water skills. It was a brilliant experience, everyday we thought it couldn't get any better and it did!

We finally passed our open water course and as we hadn't been drinking and been going to bed after dinner like good little students we were now let loose again and back to 'one night on, one night off'!!

One night whilst lying in bed at early hours of the morning I felt something scratching my head, I looked down to see my hands- not me, looked across to see vikki's hands - not her aghhhh!!! I jumped up screaming "Vikki get your torch". Vikki thought I was exaggerating - don't know where she's got that from. But I kept saying it was really hard so couldn't be a cockroach, in my mind I knew what it was but thought it best to wait until morning to tell Vik, thats if she would believe me. So the following morning after not a great deal of sleep I sat telling my story to our group of mates and the staff and said I was positive that it had been a rat scratching my head, everyone laughed saying I must have been dreaming. Then later I found the evidence, the rat had chewed a large hole in my new beach bag, now they believed me- Me and Vik never had a proper nights sleep after that!!!

We broke the Gili Air record and ended up staying at this ParadiseIsland for three and a half weeks, who could blame us. We had finally found our own little community with a great bunch of people and we had lovely food every night- got a bit sad when we could recite the menu. Enough was enough though, all good things must come to an end so we dragged ourselves away and headed back to Thailand, the thought of Spicy salads and mango and sticky rice got us all excited again!!!

We were very aware at this point that our trip was coming to an end, with only three weeks left....no!! But we couldnt think of anywhere better to finish it off than Thailand.

At the time of writing this we are on our last day, fully mixed with emotions of wanting to continue our exciting adventure and desperately looking forward to seeing our friends and family. We have been trying so hard to get the blog up to date, having annie as the blog hiltler always on our back has helped but we have just a few weeks left to tell you about so may the blog contine, at least for one more update so dont give up on us just yet. Keep those messages coming in because we will get this printed into a book afterwards and have the messages from you all treasured forever. See you all soon .... really soon aghhh cant wait!!