virtual diaries

Just a quick hello

Hi there to you all,

Well, we're still here on Palau Tioman, in Kampong Juara - doing not a lot more than reading, swimming, playing chess. I'm trying to stop smoking and drinking completely. We think we're going to leave here on Thursday, as this place is going to get very busy, as it's a public holiday on the 1st May.

We're going to go back to the mainland, and from there we don't know yet...we just don't know. Work, travel, home to Europe? We're still not sure. And it's really hot here today...

Take care all!

Sweaty Back

Hello all,

We're back in the "big" town of Tekek again today, to get some money and check our email. We arrived a lot earlier today, after getting a lift half the way (along the "road"), then going through the jungle, along the trail. It takes us about 1h 40 along the trail. It's very pleasant in fact, there aren't many mosquitoes for some reason, and lots to see. Big tropical trees, lizards, all manner of insects, many strange and wonderful sounds. It's very humid though, of course (hence the title of this post).

We're planning on walking back too, after we have lunch - we're going to be tired out when we get back! So, things remain much the same. We still haven't decided what we'll do next. Aurelie is going to send an application to a school in Cambodia. So who knows? I've been snorkelling on Juara beach - very nice. We cut down some bananas the other day - they're still green. Hopefully they'll soon be ripe. An enormous beetle landed on Aurelie's towel last night (it was hanging up outside) which freaked her out a bit. But she's doing very well with all the bugs really.

My bites are a lot better now - keeping away from the beach - those sand flies are vicious. Trouble is, you can hardly see them, and they even bite you when you are having some food at the little cafes on the beach. It seems the only preventative measure possible is oil, or oily suncream, which they don't like. I'm spending most of my time reading. We swim in the sea most days. I try to do a bit of yoga, too.

Well, as soon as we know our future plans we'll let people know. But then we all know what happens to plans...

Sandflies and fruitbats

Hello!

Aurelie and I just walked across Tioman island, through the jungle to get here. I had a slight ear infection and also a lot of bites on my back. The doctor just syringed my ears and told me the bites on my back were caused by sandflies. In fact, she said I was allergic to the bites, so she gave me some anti-histamines and told me to keep clear of the beach for a while. I didn't even know they had bit me, until Aurelie noticed the red spots on my back. She took a photo of the bites - it's quite a sight! One day I'll be able to upload the pictures...So I've got some medicine to clear it all up, no problem. The doctor was from Burma.

So we're staying in a place called JUARA and it's absolutely beautiful. Lovely beach with densely forested hills all around. Again, pictures later, but I'm sure you can find some on google. The only way to get there is by boat or 4x4, or the jungle trail. In fact the only way was by jungle trail or boat until the road was completed a year or so back. The jungle trail is very nice, about 3 hours in all. Au did it in her flip-flops! So we're here a little while, go to the bank too. (No internet in Juara, as you may have guessed).

The place we're staying is pretty good too, very friendly. Costs about 7 euros a night to be next to the beach. Lots of wildlife around. Huge monitor lizards, very noisy fruit bats in the coconut trees, assorted insects, birds etc. Not too many mosquitos, thankfully. Hardly any, in fact. Just the sandflies...which I didn't even notice...(itches like crazy now though). Yesterday I cut open a coconut we found on the beach and drunk the milk inside. The shower is cold. It's quite cool at night, no problem there. We eat a variety of things - there are several simple restaurants. Everyone is so friendly! Did I mention that?

We spend our days swimming, eating, playing chess, reading. Au was making me a hat out of straw, but we've just bought one instead - haha! We don't yet know what we'll do next. I think the ultimate plan is to start a language school in France, or maybe Spain. But that may be a long way off. For now, we're enjoying time to ourselves, to be our own masters for a change. We don't even know how long we'll stay...

Well we're going to the bank now, then we have to find a 4x4 to take us back to Kampong Juara. I'll try to get back here sometime next week.

Escape from KL!

Aurelie and I are now in a little town called Mersing on the east coast of the main peninsula. After a lot of consideration, we decided to leave KL. I won't go into all the pros and cons of that decision right now. In some ways, it was the easiest decision to make - long days relaxing on a beautiful beach, who wouldn't want to do that?

But then, I had agreed to work at the university, and I'm sure I would have enjoyed teaching those students. But I'm sure that after a month of getting up at 6.45 every day and going to work, getting home around 6 o'clock, that I'd be feeling pretty fed up. So we had to make a decision before I signed the contract and the work permit process was kicked off. If I'd quit after a month or so, I'm sure there would have been some problems.

I was due to go into the university on Tuesday, to start off the process, but we reached our decision on Monday evening, and I sent my contact an SMS - rather cowardly, I know. But he accepted my decision right away which was very good of him, and then I then phoned him the next day and we spoke about it a bit more. He showed a great deal of understanding about the whole thing, even said I could work at their other university in Cambodia if I wished.

So Aurelie and I looked into our guidebooks and chose to come here on Thursday, no need to rush, or so we thought...then on Wednesday morning, John from the school left a message on my voicemail (we were still in bed) - we had to get out of the flat that afternoon - apparently the university were 'freaking' that someone who didn't want to work for them was still in the flat , and someone else was to move in later that afternoon! So, we swang into action, went to the bus station, got our ticket, packed our bags, got them over to the station.

We came here because there are a lot of wonderful islands just off the coast, and tomorrow we're going to Palau Tioman on the boat. Have a look on google. We're staying at a place run by a man called Omar, it's very basic but cheap enough (about 6 euros for our room with fan), and he's said we can leave some stuff with him there. Yes...our luggage - we have far too much for the normal backpacker type experience. We packed for living in one place of course. We sure did sweat a lot yesterday carrying it here and there...and the bloody stairs!!! We haven't got that much, but enough to make moving from place to place difficult. So what to do? We either dump a load of it, or we buy a car.

So for now, we're going to spend some time on the beach, then we'll think about what we do after. It sure would be cool to buy a cheap car and travel all around this fascinating area of the world! I don't know whether we'll have web access on the island - probably, but it'll probably be rather sporadic. Thanks for your comment Ewa - I'm glad you like my writing! I don't think it's particularly good, because I'm normally pressed for time in these internet cafes. Hope you're enjoying spring in Raciborz :)