Perhentian Trip '07 - The One With Pre departure Notes

Dateline : 25th May 2007.
To read the previous entry, click here.

I am feeling very excited that in a few hours time I will be on my way to Pulau Perhentian for some time off with the family. We bought this tour package during the KL Matta Fair back in March and I have been waiting patiently for this day to come. It was fortunate that there were no unforeseen circumstances happening in the intervening weeks that would have had us cancel the trip. We did however made some changes from the original travel plan.

When we bought our 3 days 2 nights stay at Perhentian Island, we did not actually know which resort we will be staying at. Given that we were a family group traveling together, the tour operator in Kuala Besut recommended that we stay on the family-orientated Perhentian Besar instead of the more rowdy backpacker’s places on Perhentian Kecil. We all agreed with the recommendation and booked 2 chalets at Abdul’s Chalet on the south end of Perhentian Besar. The more sedate environment didn’t matter much for us since we could always take a water taxi to the Kecil island if we wanted to get some nightlife action. I went online after we confirmed the chalets at Abdul’s to find pictures of how the place looked like and I have to say that I was really impressed with what they show on the net. I hope that what they have on the web was not all false advertising.

We also originally planned to travel from KL to Kuala Besut, Terengganu by overnight express bus before taking the first fast boat out from the jetty there to Pulau Perhentian. Considering that some of us (yours truly included) wanted to stop by Kuala Terengganu to do a bit of shopping, we decided to scrap that plan and drive up to Kuala Besut from KL instead. This meant that we would be adding another day to the travel plans as we will be leaving KL very early on Saturday morning instead of later in the evening. We hope to stop at Temerloh for breakfast before making our way up the east coast to Kuala Terengganu for lunch and a bit of shopping. Painted batik material and a good piece of songket are high on my to buy list for this trip.

After Kuala Terengganu, we would have to travel further up the coast for about 3 hours before we reach Kuala Besut where we would be spending the night before taking the first boat out to Perhentian Island the next day. We were lucky to be able to get 2 hotel rooms for that night on short notice as it seems that the rooms are getting booked up pretty fast due to mid year school holidays. We just need to check in at the tour operator’s office at Kuala Besut when we reach there and everything will be handled for us from that point on until the 30th when we leave the islands. Snorkeling and kayaking are among the activities on the island that I am looking forward to most. As long as they provide me with proper gear and a swim vest then I’m all set to go. I hope to make best use of my time there until we have to check out and leave on the 30th.

I’ve already got my newly purchased Speedo board shorts and sun tan lotion packed. I have already bought a few Kodak disposable underwater cameras for the trip in case we do find Nemo during our snorkeling trips. My mum will be bringing her digital camera as well so I know I will be taking my travel pics with that camera too. Will be spending the night at my parents house tonight so it’s easier for us to get everyone together to leave early tomorrow morning.

Barring any major catastrophes, we are all good to go. I'll blog about the trip when I get back and get all the pics together.

(Perhentian Besar South Point - I'm expecting something like this to be there when I arrive on Sunday)