After the pleasures of Juara beach, we were almost at Salang. (see previous post!)

We came round the headland and made our way into Salang Bay and, wow, what a difference from Juara!

Set into the side of a great climb of raw forest, this sleepy, scuba village enchanted us immediately. Wooden chalets snake either side of a single path that was just wide enough for the motorbike and sidecar that took our bags to Ella’s Place. There are no cars in Salang.

We unpacked our bags and made our way to the DiveAsia dive school. The lovely, twenty-year-old Niki, a young woman from the Netherlands who has been a committed scuba diver for half her life, was our instructor, but not before we had watched the required six hours of instructional PADI video required to pass the first day. Fortunately, Chloe and I worked together to get it done quickly and managed to get our first ‘confined’ swim in before the sun disappeared. I say ‘confined’…these first dives are usually in a swimming pool, but there being a decided lack of swimming pools on Tioman, and a beautiful big ocean on our doorstep, all of our dives were directly in the sea! It was bizarre to be sitting on the sand, under the waves, breathing.

The following day we did more confined dives; we completed exercises in breathing underwater, practised the emergency procedures again and again. Just after lunch we were able to go out into the reef just inside the bay. It was amazing to be so close to land, and yet see so many beautiful tropical fish and coral. On the second, deeper dive my sinuses started to hurt in a rather ominous way; I started to worry about the following day’s even deeper, full Open-Water dives off islands further out to sea in the marine park.

On Monday, the day of the Big Dives, we awoke excited and eager to get going, but my sinuses were throbbing and I feared I would not be able to go descend to the required 18 metres with the group. Sure enough, as I was all wet-suited and flipper-booted, I descended with Niki for the second of three final tests before I was allowed to dive proper, and at just three meters down, my head felt like it would explode. This meant I it wasn’t safe for me to complete the required practice dives and I had to return to the boat. I was very disappointed and Chloe went off with Niki alone. However, as I sat despondent on the boat, I’m glad to say that Chloe had a wonderful time.

She had a few extra skills to practice of her own, all easily done. Apart from, when at 16 meters under the sea, she had to remove her mask and put it back on. This was something we had practised close to the surface half a dozen times, but the depths and the disorientation meant she inhaled through her nose (silly Chloe!) Water flooded into her throat and her body panicked. Coughing and spluttering at the depth of a double decker bus is a terrifying experience. However, indomitable Chloe recovered herself quickly (I’m not sure I could have!) and went off exploring.

Down in the reef she saw lots of little Nemos swimming in and out of their anemonemonies, explored the beautiful reef and was lucky enough to see a turtle, before returning to the boat to tell me all of her underwater escapades.

We went for lunch and a break to avoid decompression sickness at Tekek. I must admit, I was still under my self-pitying, despondent cloud whilst we ate and couldn’t have been very pleasant company. We got back in the boat and headed out to the island that one can see from Salang Bay. As everyone got kitted up (there were a dozen other divers on the boat, including instructors) I made my peace with going snorkelling. I said goodbye to Chloe and watched her sink into the depths, then struck out for the island.

I had a lovely time swimming on the North side of the little island and struck out for the headland. Unfortunately, there was a very strong current and I was struggling to make any headway. I lay on my back, getting my breath back, and decided to go back after one last look. I submerged my head underwater and what should I see, swimming five meters, directly below me? A beautiful turtle! We swam together for a good few minutes. I was so enchanted by this graceful animal, and so focused on keeping up with it, that I didn’t notice that it had helped me break the back of the current and the going got much easier. It came up to my level, only two or three meters away from me. It surfaced briefly, took a big gulp of air, and dived out of sight. I followed her with my eyes and into view came a reef shark! It swam along with its posse of attendant fish and disappeared the way I had come. As you can probably tell by the way I am describing it, this was a magical experience and I felt blessed to have interacted with these beautiful creatures up close. I swam around, singing to myself nonsense songs about fish, until I grew tired and lay waiting for the boat to pick me up.

Unfortunately, Chloe had taken the GoPro with her to the bottom of the sea, so there aren’t any images or videos of my experience. Chloe’s dive was not as eventful as her previous dive, but she did get attacked by a very dangerous, extremely territorial Trigger Fish, and narrowly avoided a very painful jab to the foot. (Chloe interrupts to say that her dive (although it didn’t include a turtle this time, or a reef shark, was absolutely amazing….and she can’t wait to go driving again).

Back in Salang, Chloe got her certification and after lunch we decided to explore and try to get to the abandoned hotel that is placed up on the curve of the bay. However, we took the wrong path and ended up climbing up the steep, wild path up towards the next beach, following a large power line.

After about 20 minutes of hard slog, we thought we could see the top of the steep jungle path!

Unfortunately, this was not the case and we continued on for another 20 minutes before the heat, the humidity and our own exhaustion got to us and we turned back. We did, however, see a bird of paradise and a mummy and baby monkey!

That night, on our way to dinner as we walked along the wave kissed beach, I wondered at how lucky we are to be witnessing all this beauty. As the warning lights of boats in the bay twinkled in the darkness- Christmas tree lights of blues and reds and greens- umber flashes of lightening brooded in the hot dry thunderstorm that lashed out in the dark expanse of the water beyond. We stood entranced by the violent, strange lightening- the colour of which we had never before seen and which brought to mind the magical storms of mythology.

That we could bare witness to the grace of the sea in all it’s dark, graceful, mysterious beauty, and that we have only spent two weeks of many exploring South-East Asia together, reminded us how extraordinarily lucky we are to be living as we are. Even in the mundane moments of this trip; sitting in the bus station at three in the morning, when either of us are feeling unwell, or itchy with bites, or awake in the night listening to the frogs, desperate for sleep, we promise that we shall endeavour never to take this glorious adventure for granted.

When Tuesday morning rolled around we went for one last dip in the bay. As Chinese families started their oh-so-safe, life-jacketed fun, we visited the tropical fish on the reef. After a quick rinse in the shower, we packed our bags and made our way to the jetty for the start of yet another odyssey- this time from Tioman to the mainland, to Kuala Lumpur on an overnight bus, to the airport in a taxi with a wonderful Dutchman from Utrecht, for an early morning flight to Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand.
As always, we will keep you posted.
Love, the Backpack Duo x

After an epic journey from Penang Island in the North-West of Malaysia to Tioman Island in the South-East involving two ferries, a train, two taxis and a bus (complete with a fellow passenger who threw up on and off for 5 hours), we finally made it to Tioman Island. We had arranged to stay at Bushman Chalets for the first half of our time there and were met by a suitably bearded wild-man, who, when we asked his real name, insisted we call him Bushman. We clambered into his 4×4 and made the crazy journey over the central mountain in the middle of this beautiful, mostly unspoilt island. After a 30 minute drive up and down slopes that at points reached 4545-degreengles, we were at Juara Beach.

Worth it, wouldn’t you say?

We were staying in a delightful little chalet within spitting distance of the a beautiful, white sandy beach that actually squeaked when we walked on it, and was littered with beautiful washed up white coral.

There isn’t really much to say about our activities, or lack thereof, at Juara Beach. We could have gone on a snorkelling trip. We could have gone trekking in the mountainous surroundings. We could have gone rock climbing…

We didn’t.

We did next to nothing.

We swam, ate, drank, read, slept, and played a lot of cards….

And it was wonderful.

The full extent of our movements whilst staying at Juara was walking up the beach to another cafe to drink iced Milo (like iced chocolate milk) and eat more noodles….our feet didn’t touch a road in three days = bliss!

So for the rest of this blog post, here are some jealousy inducing photographs.

Enjoy.

 

Now that we were truly relaxed, we thought it was time to decamp and take advantage of the marine conservation park on the North-West side of the island. Cue another wild journey over the centre of the island and we were back at the central port village of Tekek.

As I mentioned before, the island is mostly undeveloped. This means that the only way to get from one beach/village to another on the west side of the island is either by trekking through the jungle or by water taxi. Considering the weight of our backpacks and that we were expected at 9am at the dive centre, we opted for the £12, 20 minute water taxi. This may not sound like much to your decadent Western pockets, but that accounts for 20% of our total daily budget- an expense not undertaken lightly. However, we were very glad we shelled out for taxi- it was a wonderful way to start the day.

 

More on how we got on at Salang learning to dive in our next post. Watch this space!

-The Backpack Duo x

 By James

Known as the foodie capital of Malaysia, it was only a matter of time until we ended up in Georgetown, Penang, and as there was a direct ferry from Langkawi to Penang, our fate was sealed! Almost three hours later and we arrived at Georgetown’s Jetty and after a quick walk with our heavy rucksacks, checked ourselves into our lovely hostel – The Frame

A hipster’s delight- unpainted plaster, large filament lightbulbs and wooden floorboards- The Frame Guesthouse was an ideal place right on the edge of George Town (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) in which to base ourselves for our Penang stopover.

(Although there was a CD of panpipe covers playing incecently for three days. If I ever hear ‘Your Heart will Go On’ on panpipes again, I may scream…)

After we arrived we headed out to explore Little India. The smells of curry mixed with the sounds of classic Bollywood tunes as we wandered around this vibrant area whilst the sun set. We made our way through the main streets to the Esplanade by the shore, where we witnessed the beginning of the 8^th annual Japanese Cultural Parade. Whilst the parade itself wasn’t anything to write home about, the speeches beforehand were touching in their sincere wishes for cultural understanding and gratitude for the aid given by the people of Penang to the survivors of the Japanese Tsunami of 2011.

After that, we headed back into Little India for a delicious Indian meal at Woodlands Vegetarian Restaurant. On the way back to the hostel we stocked up on sugary Indian sweets -delicious, although now we may well have diabetes…

On Sunday we headed down to the Clan Jetties on the shore, the traditional bases for the secretive clan societies that ran Penang throughout most of the 18^th and 19^th centuries (in a rather brutal fashion, see the Penang Riots of 1867). Now it would appear the march of 21^st Century commercialism has taken its toll and the main walkway has been colonised by tourist tat and t-shirt shops. However, just off from the main drag, it was possible to glimpse the traditional houses in which families were still living.

 

 

‘Urgh, I’m, like, so over you tourists and your cameras…’

After lunch (two delicious bowls of Char Kuay Teow noodles and amazingly crunchy fried chicken…all for a grand total of £4.44), we wound our way back through the streets via all the major Street Art spots of George Town.

 

 

The Owl Shop, for all your owl-based needs

After a break at the hostel to cool down (with the temperature staying above the 30-degree mark whilst the sun is up) we went to dinner at Teksen Chinese restaurant. James was tempted by the street stalls on the way, but the snaking line down the street attested to the fantastic food we ended up having when we went inside. The best salt and pepper squid we have tasted, amazing pork, succulent aubergine and strange drinks- the best meal at a Chinese restaurant that we have ever had, by a long way. (Yep, as predicted, most of the passion in this blog is about food!)

Yesterday (Monday the 13th), we headed West to the Kek Lok Si temple at the base of Penang Hill. When we arrived we wound our way through half-constructed alleyways, past shops selling gaudy souvenirs in dollars to the main temple. I would love to say that our first Buddhist temple on this trip filled us with awe and serenity, but this just wasn’t the case.

This temple is an utterly bizarre place. Although it was constructed in 1905, it feels like the architects took a trip to Disney Land and thought ‘hey, that’s a tasteful place; let’s do this with our temple!’. From the shop built inside a pagoda, to the sprawling boutique at the bottom of an entirely superfluous lift selling strange gifts (a Rasta skeleton shredding on a guitar!), this place was totally devoid of spirituality. There was even a carp pond with fake ducks! That’s not to say we didn’t get some enjoyment out of visiting such an odd place though.

This lady’s face says it all

This guy is pretty unimpressed too

The fact that I uttered the words ‘no not that one, the Buddha on top of the gift shop’ let’s you know the kind of place it was. By the time we saw this absurd paddock of plaster reindeer/lizards waiting patiently in their crate paddock for next Christmas, our bemusement was complete.

 

So we headed back into town and visited some genuine places of worship, which were lovely.

 

One of the things I (James) admire about Malaysian society, is the way the three major ethnicities- Muslim Malay, Taoist Chinese and Hindu Indian – are integrated into the whole. The Taoist Goddess of Mercy temple is in view of a wonderfully brightly painted Hindu temple, which is in view of a very peaceful Mosque, which in turn is in view of a Church. They celebrate one another’s festivals, eat one another’s cuisine and live beside one another peacefully. Although I’m sure there are issues in their society, this multiculturalism could teach the West a thing or two – especially at this time of division and misunderstanding.

Anyway.

Yesterday evening we went out for some delicious Night Market food and by the time this is posted will be 10 hours into our epic 14 hour journey to the South Eastern coast to stay on the tropical paradise that is Tioman Island. We will update you all the next time we find decent internet.

All our love,

-The Backpack Duo x

By Chloe 

After a few days dealing with our jetlag (hello card games at 2am) in Kuala Lumpur, and exploring some amazing markets and street food….we are the Cull-Parker’s after all, and food is going to be a huge part of our trip…we were off to Langkawi for some well-deserved downtime.

Now Langkawi tends to have a bit of a bad rep as being a tourist trap, and it’s mostly true, there are parts of Langkawi that we can only describe as the ‘Costa del Sol’ of Malaysia. BUT, there are lots of relatively undiscovered, beautiful scenic areas, which were almost empty except for the locals. We gravitated towards those!

Whilst in Langkawi, we stayed at one of the most remote guest houses we could find – Butterfly Guest house – it was beautiful! And the owners Fousi and Shoun, and their small children Aslan and Miriam, were an absolute joy to stay with! The house is nestled into the edge of the jungle, and the sounds of birds, monkeys and all kinds of other animals was an amazing lullaby.

 

Oh, and I really should mention….there were kittens to play with!

 

As we had chosen to stay somewhere off the beaten path, our own transport was a must, and for a mere 35Ringgits (around £6.50) a day, we hired a scooter from Fousi and Shoun. This allowed us free reign of the Island.

 

In the most part, our time on Langkawi was spent chilling out, relaxing, and getting our body clocks in tune with our new time zone. Lots of reading on verandas and hammocks, however, we did also manage to seek out some beautiful (and quiet) beaches.

 

Pasir Tengkorak beach was our first stop, and after a 30-minute scoot (and a few wrong turns) we discovered a stunning jungle beach! The water was a balmy 26 degrees, and the sand was squeaky white! After a few hours on the beach, we checked out a dry waterfall – beautiful, but lacking in water.

 

The second beach we visited was just as beautiful if a bit bigger with a few more people – Tanjung Rhu Beach. Here we strung up our double hammock, and whiled away almost an entire day…bliss!

 

The other stand-out location we visited whilst on Langkawi was Telaga Tujuh, known as Seven Wells, a waterfall, but also a group of pools above the waterfall perfect for swimming. The climb up to the pools was touch, especially in the heat and humidity, but we were rewarded by the most amazing views and a beautiful place to take a dip and cool off.

 

 

Langkawi was beautiful, and an amazing way to kick start our mega-moon!