Our trip to Tioman was one of the most seamless travel days we’ve had yet. Taxi from hostel to Melaka Sentral bus station, bus to Mersing, ferry to Tioman without, mercifully, everyone vomiting with every wave. Once there, it took a little while to adjust to paradise.
Some years ago, Tioman was voted one of the most beautiful islands in the world. I doubt that it’s lost much of its natural beauty, even though new developments are springing up around the island. Yet as one of Malaysia’s top tourist attractions, the amenities don’t match the scenery. The island is divided up into a handful (5 or 6) of beautiful stretches of beaches. Most of these beaches run alongside a wide sidewalk that connects to trails which lead to the other beaches. Scooters are the only motorized vehicles on the island, except for a few cars in the “bigger” main town of Tekek, where some travelers arrive vis prop plane or purchase precious alcoholic beverages at the duty free shop. The main backpacker stretch (and our choice) is Air Batang (more popularly known as ABC). This area is full of bungalow accommodations ranging from plywood, fan-only constructions to more solid rooms and family units with A/C and television. Precious few provide on-line booking, so it’s largely a case of showing up and hoping for the best.
Clik here to view.
The view from our first $15/night bungalow.
We spent our first two nights at the South Pacific Chalets in a beach-front bungalow for about $15/night. We would have stayed there longer, but fellow backpackers scooped it up from Saturday night on. Due to the owner’s greedy unwillingness to cooperate with us on a room switch, we moved down the beach to My Friend’s Place for a cheaper bungalow just thirty yards or so off the beach. We were lucky to get this as we had to play hardball with the owner who was leaving for the mainland for the rest of the week. We should have offered to work reception for him as we were the only guests there and turned away dozens of would-be lodgers throughout the week. While the fan-only, one-electric socket, peeling laminate floors, no sink bathroom, and dingy mosquito net/stinky mattress did not quite spell “romantic beach bungalow” at first, we grew to call it home and were sad to leave it.
Clik here to view.
Amy enjoying a cooler morning reading on the porch.
Another necessary adjustment required becoming accustomed to shops and restaurants that have erratic opening hours and staff who could care less if you want to spend money at their establishment. In the most frustrating attempt at eating (or giving them our money as we called it), the waitress actually told us they were open, seated us, and promptly went back to her table, turned on the television, and proceeded to eat her own dinner. Only after a few minutes of discussion did we realize our dinner wouldn’t be served until 7:30 (45 minutes later!). It would have been great if a sign shared this information.
Clik here to view.
Amy reading in the shade at Sunset Bar.
Of course, the week was a million miles away from a total loss. We adjusted our vibes to island time and had a blast. We had several great, cheap meals throughout the week, particularly our Malaysian favorite, mamak, what Amy affectionately calls Asian spaghetti. Breakfasts at Mawar Restaurant of eggs on toast were a consistent start to the day. Nearly every day, we spent the afternoon and early evening at Sunset Bar, a beach-front cafe at the southern end of ABC that had a great happy hour and served up good pizzas, fruit juices, and other snack foods. The water in front was crystal clear with a sandy floor, and the soft, gentle waves made for decent snorkeling. Amy commented on how it was like having our own pool to cool off in when the sun got to us.
Clik here to view.
Triumphant hikers, Amy and Jenny.
We spent much of the week hanging out with Arran and Jenny, the fellow backpackers who moved in on our South Pacific bungalow on Saturday. Jenny is a fellow American and boyfriend Arran is from New Zealand, where she’s just moving to be closer to him. We hung out a few nights on the beach talking travel and religion, hiked across the island to Juara beach, and took a day-long snorkeling trip to Coral Island and spots around Tioman, both of which were highlights of our week. The 10km Juara hike is a medium intensity jaunt through a mixture of paved trails and thick jungle. We saw several bats and lizards but thankfully no snakes. On the 4×4 ride back from Juara, we met two older European couples who had been traveling on their boat from France for over eight years!
Clik here to view.
On our snorkeling day trip to Coral Island.
Tioman is part of a marine park and so there is some good snorkeling to be had, especially around Coral Island. Science buffs claim that the ecosystems in this part of Malaysia didn’t suffer as much during the Ice Age as other continents, thereby making much of what we saw on and around Tioman a real natural and ancient beauty. We saw countless species of tropical fish, beautiful, colorful coral, sea urchins and cucumbers, and even a couple of giants clams. Sharks and rays were reportedly spotted but we never saw any. A real highlight of our time on the island were the land-based creatures, particularly the monitor lizards (similar to komodo dragons) and monkeys. The former slowly stalk the island for insects and, if the lizards are big enough, unsuspecting kittens. We were awoken a couple of mornings by a group of monkeys running across the tin roof(s) of our group of bungalows. They were rather skittish when approached but fun to watch from a safe distance.
Clik here to view.
Our sometime wake up call on Tioman.
We arrived on Tioman planning to stay for only six nights but extended to ten, clear evidence that we had, in face, acclimated to our surroundings. We debated staying a bit longer but started to feel the travel itch to get back on the road and to save more island time (in southern Thailand) for later in our journey (early August). We’re off to northern Thailand and Chiang Mai tomorrow afternoon. More updates soon. Until then…”Minum!”
MORE PHOTOS FROM TIOMAN, DAYS 1-4
MORE PHOTOS FROM TIOMAN JUARA HIKE AND SNORKELING
MORE PHOTOS FROM THE SECOND HALF OF OUR TIOMAN VISIT
MORE PHOTOS FROM OUR LAST DAY IN TIOMAN
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
