Malaysia - Pulau Kapas and Perhentians

rgh, just been lunched on by a huge mosquito. You know when they're in the middle of sucking your blood and infecting you with tropical diseases and then you splat them in the act and they expolde and blood goes everywhere and you go 'DAMMIT, the little bugger got me'? That's where I was. Right now I'm perched precariously on a bench on the beach trying to type, but I've just realised that I've sat down in the middle of the red ant capital of Pulau Perhentian Kecil. Also there are these staggeringly fluorescent yellow aphids running around (meals on wheels for ants?) so am covered in small tickly bugs and bites. Am a bit worried that they will try and get into the computer and blow it up, as they just sent it a crack aphid team on recon ( though prob not as part of a conspiracy, only because they are stupid) Am just glad we're on the beach and not in the jungle because there was a big storm last night Malaysia is famous for its leeches and I am not a fan of things that feed from my blood.

We're staying at Pentani Chalets on Pulau Kecil ('Little Island') in the Perhentians, which is a nice little beach place run by a South African and her husband (anomaly: all the other foreigners in Malaysia are Dutch). We shook loose several bones on the boat trip over (despite being told by a local we should sit at the back I decided to sit at the front for the excitement. And the spinal readjustment was free. The island is inside the Marine Reserve so full of lovely sea things (turtles – they even lay on this beach sometimes and it's hatching season RIGHT NOW, rays of all kinds, brain coral, millions of fish and reef sharks – but WHY do people keep telling me this like I should be pleased?!? The ferry guy did the same thing!
Him: Can go out on boat and swim with the shark, you can pet the shark, touch it...
Me: Hmmm...what kind of sharks?
Him: Stupid shark, hahahahaha!

Great. Then the woman who owns this place tells us that twenty feet off the beach where their rope is to mark the snorkelling spot, there is a 2m-plus reef shark with seven babies, nd we can go out and have a swim with her. She might get curious, circle us a few times to check us out (is taking a bite involved in the checking out, I wonder?) but she will then allegedly go away, with her seven-shark entourage. Are we the only ones not getting the shark thing???!?! John's more worried about the barracudas, but the sharks scare the bejesus out of me.

Before Kecil, we came from Kuala Terengganu, capital of Terengganu state, where we is now. It was an alright place, but they had the national games on when we were there so every hotel was booked out (except the truly digusting hostels, and I mean sheets that looked like they'd been in the wars. We found a place eventually that was cheap and clean, and went to look for the flating mosque that is the city's famous attraction. Turns out it is not behind the Sultanate, as it appears in their (doctored) photos of the city, itt is about four k out of town. So we went and found ourselves dinner in the form of a very strange 'Western speciality' restaurant, because it was the only thing open.

We came to Terengganu from Marang, the port town which takes you to Pulau Kapas, 6km off the coast. We spent three days there, unfotunately during the last week of the Malaysian school holidays, so the normally deserted little island was overrun with small children in orange lifejackets. However, there are several beaches, separated by rocky climbs, and we found a haven from school holidays in the form of Turtle Chalets (everry beach place here is callec 'Chalets-something'), run by a lovely Dutch couple on a tiny tiny beach with just enough room for a few sun loungers. They had snorkelling equipment for free use and a book exchange, as well as a great menu! They also had mad staff who liked to catch poisonous animals and play with them, after extracting their stingers. Odd, but we saw some colourful bugs. The coral around the beach was lovely, full of giant clams and lots of fish, but we were also told that the place was full of black tipped reef sharks. I very nearly refused to go in the water at all, but quite rightly realised that I would be very dry for the rest of Asia if I woullnt swim in shark-infested waters. So we went for a snorkel, with me doing panicky 360s every few seconds to scout for Jaws (they told us the biggest shark they'd got was maybe 1.8m, but that's still bigger than me, so I was not reassured).
Nothing doing, except a little barracuda which caused us some running away (they don't bother me so much, except the one that chased me in Honduras, but that was huge and this was only arm-sized). So we were heading back in to the beach when my habitual scan suddenly caught a familiar silhouette. Familiar from famously gory 1970s horror films. I froze, John grabbed my arm (hard, I might add, like I was going to try the panicky splashing away thing that sharks like) and as we watched in silent horror it did that sharky flick of movement, you know, when they suddenly change direction without looking and then they are coming right at you. That one. So it veered towards us and I tried not to look edible, and after a second or two it veered off and slid menacingly through the water (obviously preparing to circle us and attack from behind with bigger sharks as backup). No fear Steven, I'm not even thinking about going back in the water.

p.s. And before John does a feature on it I would like to admit that I ate two whole quails, four chicken legs and four lamb chops at the Turtle Chalet barbecue. And a lot of
Thai noodle salad.