monkey 01 jeanne 00

i spend a lazy day on the beach.  i hate to encourage the indigenous animals to eat off the tourists so i shoo away the monkey when it comes onto my porch looking for a snack. it snarls at me and i remember how ebola is spread through monkey bites.  i'm not even in Africa and it's the first thing i think of when i see monkey teeth. i have nothing but an empty potato chip bag so i back down pretty quickly, okay immediately, and let him have it.  fucker.

i'm off to Kuala Lumpar.

night of the bug attack

after a couple of days in ABC the Canadian and I store our bags, take a toothbrush and sleep clothes, and hike over to Juara. it's about 2.5 hours through the jungle and it's hot. it's hard to explain the amount of sweat it is possible to generate in the jungle climbing uphill. since there is no fixed path they say this is an unspoiled jungle walk.

there are trees along the way where they are collecting rubber and the only other guys i see on the path find a purple crab. wait, there was one old man who i passed. he had a half burnt cheroot hanging out of his mouth and a huge knife on his belt. he says "Juara?" out of the side of his mouth and i reply, "yes". he walks on by. until just a few years ago the path was the only overland route to Juara but now they have put in 'road'. as the path widens a 5 foot snake cross my path and also the monitor lizards are everywhere. still Juara remains an isolated little used bay with meager accommodations. the beach and water are pristine.
 
last night i slept with the windows open in my room. it was late and i was reading with the light on when a big [like four inches] bug flew into my room and attacked the light, shutting it down. i was doing a freaked out dance for a few minutes. outside i looked for the kind man who runs the bungalows but he was gone to bed. the only person around was a drunk girl wandering back and forth. i summoned all my courage, grabbed my headlamp and chased the bug out. gosh i'm proud of me. tonight i'll sleep with the windows shut but that will always be the night of the bug attack.

i'm making friends with the troll who runs the internet access on the island. although they have internet he doesn't seem to really understand the wireless part. since i have been using my laptop he is awed by the magic and has started letting me use the internet for free.

beach, snorkeling & fresh fish

Tioman island is spectacular. we arrive by ferry at ABC and run up and down the beach looking for accommodations. there are five of us in the group and we each find accommodations just steps from the beach. we swap clothes for swimsuits and are in the water in less than 5 minutes from checking in.

it's perfect then BOOM. i feel a sharp bite on my leg and look down to see a fish making it's getaway. we get hit a couple of times and i think they are baby barracudas. we check out the village and stop at a place for dinner and the sunset.
i am sharing accommodations with a Canadian. my share of the room is 17 ringets [$5.34 US]. food is fantastic. fish is caught daily and fruit is plentiful. a typical meal in Malaysia is running 10 - 15 Ringits which is $3-$4 US.

the next day we hike through the jungle to Monkey Bay. it's not a strenuous hike but the path is overgrown and it's really more of an electrical line repair access than a path. also, it's the jungle so it's really hot and we sweat buckets all the way. at one point the monkeys are angry and throw fruit down on us. fortunately we had snorkel gear and could use the fins as shields for our heads but they didn't have very good aim so i didn't get hit anyway. finally, we find our way and it is worth every drop of sweat. we have the whole bay to ourselves and it is spectacular. the snorkeling there is pristine. the coral is green and blue and pink which attracts a variety of colorful fish. it is isolated, peaceful and clean.

it's an hour back and it's already 4PM. here's the thing. all the food vendors shut down between 4PM and 7PM so if you don't eat before it's a three hour wait. as soon as someone tells you can't eat... that's exactly the time you'll want to eat.
everywhere there is talk of the volcano eruption in Europe and how it will affect the plans of travelers who plan to fly there in the next few days.


tomorrow we are hiking across the island to the village of Juara where we plan to stay a night or two. thankfully there are no starbucks on the island so there is no temptation. instead i drink coffee offered at cafes along the way. usually 1-2 Ringets [.30 - .75 US]

did i mention how much the locals hate to break big bills? it's crazy but i remember this attitude from traveling before. if you don't have exact change it can take quite a long time for them to find it for you. as a result i'm hording all my 1 Ringet notes. it's like carrying around a bag of pennies in the US.
 
there is a troll that runs the only internet access on the island.  there is another second internet cafe but the modem is broken and could take a month to get repaired.  the troll sleeps until 11am everyday and closes at whatever time he is drunk or stoned.