Ahoy from Tioman (a.k.a. Bali Hai)

This afternoon we arrived on the island of Tioman, off the east coast of the Malay Peninsula. We took a three hour bus from Singapore and then a two hour ferry from Mersing, Malaysia to arrive at this island paradise. We have a beachfront chalet with a great collection of flowering plants surrounding our porch that seem to only attract beautiful butterflies. We saw the tracks of a reptilian in the sand as well but haven't yet figured out the source.

Tioman is a significant snorkel and scuba destination. There are numerous boat tours each day to different dive sites. We are staying in the Air Batang area where you can actually just walk right into the ocean and see coral and sea life that way, no boat needed. Getting around the island is primarily done by boat taxi for tourists. We've seen motorbikes utilized for transporting luggage, but have yet to see any cars (or any roads, for that matter; there is only a wide paved sidewalk leading away from the jetty). There are also some mountains on the island that we're looking into climbing, though no one else seems to be interested in leaving the beach. We don't blame them!

This will be another week of few FindPenguins updates. The Internet is extremely scarce here, and we'll mostly just be swimming and reading on the beach. Hopefully, though, something wonderful and exciting will happen that will lead to more Tioman updates. If not, that's not a bad thing; it just means we're busy relaxing! After this we head back to Singapore for a night before flying to Bangkok, Thailand.Read more