Pulau Kapas

17/04/08

The night bus from Georgetown to Terenggau went ok, a little fast & bumpy resulting in no sleep! We arrived at the bus station at 5am and settled down to a couple of Indian Chai's (tea) while we waited for the first bus to Marang which left at 7am. Met a really helpful guy from Singapore who suggested places to go, things to see and made sure we ended up on the right bus. So we arrived at the jetty for 7.30am to find that first boat out to the island wasn't till 9am. So Zak from Suria boat service kindly stored our packs for us while we went off to explore & find loo's etc. He's a real nice bloke who works 7 days a week, 9 months of the year until the island closes for Monsoon and then he travels. Europe, India, Nepal etc. His pictures were amazing, not a bad life eh?

So yes, we arrived on Kapas at 9.30am on Tuesday and stumbled straight into Kapas Beach Chalets (KBC) which is run by a dutch guy. Not bad little detached bungalows for 50RM per night. Bathrooms a little tired & poky but the beach is beautiful & hardly a soul on it due to it being midweek & early season. Snorkeling is good too, many different species of fish, loads of coral & clams. Even saw Nemo! However I fell asleep on the beach and got eaten by sandflies - at least 30 bites on my left arm alone. My head has several lumps on it that could get me a part as an extra in the next star wars movie and the mozzies are like F14 fighter jets. My right hand is inexplicably swollen and today I fell over negotiating some rocky outcrop and now have 3 cuts on my hand festering with oyster shell fragments buried in them - they will get infected for sure. Oh, and I've had the squits for 3 days - will someone please tell me what I'm doing here?

18/04/08

Well, after open wound surgery performed by yours truly and some more snorkeling it looks like all the oyster shell is now out of my cuts. My hand is returning to it's normal size and my poo has stiffened up a little. But, my bites are really itchy and driving me bloody mad!

20/04/08

My first solid poo for a week - Hooray! Bites are shrinking back and hand is back to normal size. Cuts are healing too. My back is peeling now though. I was a lovely colour and now I resemble a Springer Spaniel. I know what you're thinking Michael and no, definitely not. Tonight is our last night here, which in a way is a shame as I've got used to sleeping late (this is the first place I've had a comfy bed and slept past 7am without assistance from alcohol). A leisurely breakfast followed by a swim in the South China Sea, maybe some lunch & reading then an afternoon snorkeling session followed by a cold shower and out for an evening meal possibly accompanied by a few hands of shithead (a popular backpackers card game) and in bed before midnight. However, needs must and the next stop is Cherating which is a beach resort further south on the east coast. Hopefully we can fish there. You can't on Kapas as it's a Marine park with a fine of 20,000RM if caught.

21/04/08

Left Kapas on the 11.30am boat back to Marang. Waited a couple of hours for a bus that didn't show so had to get three buses and do a few extra kilometres to reach Cherating (app 130km). Cost 11.5 RM in total, just under 2 quid. Staying at Payung guesthouse which on first impression looks really nice. The manager here handed us toilet roll and insect spray upon our arrival which is a first so far this trip. He also supplied mozzie coils for your balcony. All for free - I think anyway!

I have swapped my big spider & 2 Gecko's in my bathroom on Kapas for a toad and two cockroaches in my bathroom here. I've had more pets in the last 5 weeks or so than I've had in my whole life.