Palau Perhentian = Paradise?

We spent one uneventful night in Kuala Terengganu before embarking for the Perhentian Islands, off the North East shore of Malaysia. After a 3 hour bus ride, we got on a speed boat for the extra bumpy 20 kilometer ride out to the islands. Approaching the two islands of the Perhentians made us laugh because everything looks like a beach scene movie set - white beach inlets surrounded by thick jungle on one side and ridiculously blue water on the other. We opted for the smaller island, Kecil, getting of the boat in Coral Bay, a perfect beach with a couple of small hotels, cafes, and dive shops down the 200 meter beach. The beach faces west for those perfect island sunsets. What more could you want?

Nothing except cheap beer, which simply does not exist. Nor do bars. The east coast of Malaysia is much more homogeneously Malay Muslim than the more mixed west coast, and drinking as not at the top of their list of activities. Not one of the restaurants has alcohol on the menu, which is shocking. There is, however, a dude with a cooler of crappy but expensive beer cans -- we laughed pretty hard when he called out "Last call!" around 11 pm. All of the white tourists (mostly European) are as perplexed as we are, and its funny to watch people discover the island's teetotalling ways.

Yesterday we went on the long snorkeling trip, stopping at 5 spots around the two islands, in addition to a little place for lunch. Our boat driver/guide was great, hopping in the water with us at every spot to point out different corals and fish. We saw reef sharks, sea turtles, spotted rays, a whole bunch of different corals, and thousands of amazingly colorful fish. The three other girls on our boat were from Norway and actually had the names Helga, Uda, and unprouncable combination of vowel sounds. Whenever they saw something exciting or potentially scary, they would squeal loudly through their snorkels - it was hilarious. They were not fans of the sharks.

Today we played a little frisbee on the beach and walked through the jungle to the Long Beach on the other side of the island to internet and look around. We're trying to avoid the intense tropical sun after yesterday's boat trip and will be hiding in the shade, reading and relaxing. Tomorrow we head to Taman Negara, the jungley national park in the interior of the country.