Melting

The shuttle bus to the Perhentian Islands ended at a small jetty, where we were ushered out of the bus and brought into a small travel agency. Since it was the Malaysian school holidays, Ann and I were sort of concerned that we wouldn’t be able to find accomodation so late in the day, so the agent behind the desk called a few places to book a chalet for us. Only two islands make up the Perhentian Islands, called Besar and Kecil, or as most people call them, Big and Small island. Most backpackers stay on the small island as the accomodation is cheaper and there are more bars apparently, but Ann’s friends were staying on the Big island, so I decided that was fine for just the three days I would be there. I was told that the Big Island was “full of resorts” and “really expensive.” What backpackers consider resortlike and expensive is fairly laughable, as Besar was the most unspoiled beach area I have ever been on, and while some things were more expensive than mainland Malaysia, it was insanely cheap compared to any other island getaway. [read on]