Dream Island Perhentian

At 5 in the morning, we woke up to the sound of prayer echoing loudly across the city through loudspeakers. When the call to prayer sounds, all Muslims are expected to pray in the direction of Mecca, and if they’re unsure which way to face, they can just look up at the ceiling where there’s a little arrow pointing the right way. After snoozing for a couple more hours post-prayer, we ventured out into the city to find a place for breakfast. We stumbled upon a nice hotel that served a Malaysian breakfast buffet for just 11.50 RM per person. Once we satisfied our hunger, we headed back to the hotel to pack up, eager to leave as early as possible. Our destination was Pulau Perhentian Kecil. Right outside the hotel, there was a whole horde of taxi drivers more than eager to take us to the harbor. The ride took about an hour and cost a total of 20 RM. At the harbor, you can choose between a fast boat and a slow boat. We opted for the fast boat, which took half an hour and cost 60 RM per ticket. However, there’s a little catch: neither the fast nor the slow boat can dock directly on the shore, so you have to pay 2 RM per person to one of the locals to be ferried to land. Pulau Perhentian Kecil is the smallest island in the archipelago, but also the most beautiful. It attracts a younger crowd, which means there are plenty of bars on this island. Just a few years ago, there were no bars at all, but the islands are developing quickly as tourism picks up. Due to SARS, though, there weren’t as many people around as there usually are in July. We chose to stay at Panorama, which cost 60 RM total, including dinner and a fan. There were lots of young people around, so the place seemed pretty good. The island is quite small; you can cross it in just 10 minutes, and there are no towns. All the houses are lined along the beach, with no roads or cars—just paths. We were a bit unlucky with the weather since it was the first cloudy day in weeks. Still, we hurried down to the beach to cool off, swim, and sunbathe. We also brought the underwater housing for our digital camera so we could take pictures in and under the water. Later, we crossed the island to see what was on the other side. There, we met a Danish family. The dad lived and worked on the island as a diving instructor for about five months a year. Dinner was free at our resort, where we could choose anything from the menu. We decided on BBQ chicken and kingfish. Afterwards, we strolled down to the beach to see what was happening at the other resorts. We found a small bar right by the beach, but there weren’t many people around. Drinks were reasonably priced—beer was 8 RM and a vodka ice was 10 RM. Further down the beach, we spotted a bunch of people sitting at a long table, and we struck up a conversation with them. Among them was a Swedish girl named Anna, who was dating a Malaysian guy named Esganda. She had been on the island since April and wasn’t quite sure when she’d head home. We also met some Danish guys who we would run into several times during our trip. It was Anna’s boyfriend who kept the drinks flowing at the table. We bought vodka-orange from Esganda, and it only cost 25 RM for a bottle.