I caught a bus across the middle of the peninsula to the port town of Mersing. I had no guidebook or map so took a guess as where I thought the main CBD was situated and happened upon a tourist office that looked barely finished. I booked into a hotel here that had internet and TV so I could watch the New Zealand soccer team play Paraguay.
There is not much in Mersing to see and do and most tourists don't bother to stay long in the city as they are only here to connect with the ferries to the islands off the east coast.
In the morning I caught the ferry to Tioman Island. I got off the ferry and walked along the concrete path that serves as the local footpath and motorbike and side car highway. I had no bookings but found a cheap wooden chalet across from the beach and checked in there.
I spent a lot of time reviewing my French for our trip to West Africa, chatting with the locals, and walking everywhere I could reach in half a day. In the evening there was a beach bar restaurant with a huge screen showing the World Cup Football games in South Africa so it was a fun place to meet people in the evening.
One day the chalet owner told me to walk across the island to the other side and said there were lots of people on the jungle trail everyday. It was a dull cloudy morning so I set off before the temperatures got to the middle 30s. Not far along the trail I saw a snake cross the overgrown path ahead off me. It was as long as me and about 80mms across with yellow and black markings. At this point i decided it was not a good idea to be walking in the jungle alone as all the people that I had been told would be walking the trail were no where to be seen. I turned to go back the way I had come after watching the snake disappear in to the grass opposite to where he had come from only to discover that he had turned and was headed straight for me with his flickering tongue pointed in my direction. Now I was stuck and didn't want to continue along the path alone and couldn't get back out. I stomped on the concrete path, rattled the fence beside me and threw rocks at him but he wouldn't budge. By now I was bathed in sweat and trapped, hoping someone would appear to frighten him off or tell me he was not a danger, but no one came. He slithered back and forth in a circle in front of me and I just had to wait until he slid off into the grass so the track was clear for me to go back and wait for others to come to join me. After half an hour I gave up and went back to practising my French. That was enough excitement for one day.
The sea is a beautiful colour but the locals just dump the rubbish on the sand, burn it and leave all that cannot burnt to be washed into the sea. The macaque monkeys come down everyday and troll through the litter for food and spread it around the place. The monitor lizards then chase the monkeys away and gobble what they can.
A lot of money is being spent on the area near the airport with a new marina for the fishing boats and water taxis as well as a tiled path along the low tide mark on the beach. I can see this will be wrecked by sea water in no time but someone thinks it is important.
There was a large gathering of people for Sea Week at the Marine Park. There were tents in the park grounds and divers were gathering crown of thorn starfishes, photographing them, and burying them on the beach. I was told these starfish eat the coral and destroy the beds.
Everywhere there are cats. I read that the indigenous Malay cat is born with a crocked tail and there were many of these lazing around any where there was food.
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