Français Malaysia: Peninsula and Borneo - July 2006
Here I am at Perhentian Kecil, in the south of Peninsular Malaysia. I explore the island, rather touristy, but very friendly ...
Installation on the beach
At the Matahari Chalets, I am unfortunately given the bungalow located right next to the restaurant. Which means thundering TV from morning till night and being constantly under the eyes of the customers coming and going ... The guy who distributes the cottages promises me another for the next day, customers are on the way out. Good.
The garden where are scattered the wooden bungalows is pretty, well maintained, the charming welcome. All the staff can say a few words of French: Hello, good day, good day, goodbye, see you soon, etc. In general, the Malayans who shop on the island speak perfect English.
I signed up for next day dives at Coral Sky Divers and once my bag is put, I decide to enjoy the afternoon to explore the island a little. It's easy, it's very small.
Two beaches and a piece of jungle
There are actually two main beaches, Long Beach and Coral Bay, separated by a piece of jungle that can be crossed in about ten minutes by a small path. The other beaches and coves, isolated, are inaccessible by the ground. You have to take the taxis.
My first impression is a bit mixed: certainly, the two beaches are very pretty, but it's so tiny, this little piece of island, that I'm a little afraid of feeling stuck and going around in circles, in the long run. In fact, I will see later, it will be the opposite: as I go diving every day, meet new people as the dives, I will not see the time pass.
Returning from Coral Bay by the little path junglesque, renamed by me "the path of ferocious mosquitoes", I fall on ... my Norwegians, Uhle and Teresa! They stopped in the sizzling stifling trees, which rustle a thousand strange sounds emitted by insects, to try to take a picture of a monitor, which was hidden under a bush.
It amuses me because I just did exactly the same thing, near the beach. These species of large prehistoric lizards are very familiar here. They roam near the houses, on the beach, in the gardens, rummage through the garbage cans ... But as soon as we try to approach them, they run at full speed. Not easy to take pictures!
We decide to dine together in the evening, and we spend a pleasant evening at one of the restaurants on the beach, to lock TigerIt's the first time I ever had a beer in Malaysia. Only non-Muslims get the license to sell alcohol. And it is not always easy to find the bar or the restaurant that serves it.
On this beach stuffed with young Anglo-Saxon tourists coming to party, there is beer everywhere, obviously. Many Asian tourists also: Malays, Singaporeans, Japanese, Chinese ...
Malaysia: Peninsula and Borneo - July 2006
