Bali-Hai Here I Come!

5th July – Before the ferry, I managed to take a picture with my first friend met along the journey, Samuel from Germany. Had dinner with him the night before and found out that he is just 20 years old and is already traveling alone in Malaysia and Indonesia. He will be going back soon for his University study though but I feel to do smt like this at the age of 20 is indeed very courageous. Sadly he is not going to Tioman so I had to bid farewell to him.

Coincidentally I sat beside the Holland guy in the ferry, Vincent whom I shared the dorm with. Didn't manage to talk to him before this as he was in the Internet cafe the whole night. Fortunately for me I found out that he could not sleep well last night too so it means the crazy things I faced was not a usual thing for backpackers. He turned out to be very friendly as well. As he is on his 5th month of his 6 months trip across SEA as well, we had a lot in common to talk about and he recommended a few must visit places in SEA. We were heading to the same kampung in Tioman as well, Kampung Air Batang (ABC) and we ended up staying in the same resort.

After checking in, Vincent and I went sightseeing in Tioman. To my surprise, Tioman is very charming. Even though I grew up in Johor, I hv never set foot on this island before. I've been to most of the island in the country and even to a few in Thailand but it never cross my mind to visit Tioman.

Tioman is a small island, slightly more than half the size of Singapore off the coast of Pahang. However to get there, one must get a ferry from Mersing in Johor. It is home to some local Malays and the main town is called Kampung Tekek. It was also selected by Time Magazine as one of the world's most beautiful island. Impressive huh? Today Tioman is a duty free island which means beer is cheaper than water here. Its accommodations range from 5 star resorts to budget dormitories which I stayed for RM15 per night.

The view from the balcony of my dormitory is great and the locals are extremely friendly. As the place I stayed, Air Batang is on the West coast of Tioman, we're only able to see the sunset. I spent the rest of my first day there sightseeing and jungle trek a little to Panuba Inn which is a little further up North from where I stayed.