The long haul to Cherating

We finally made it out of Tioman Island with lots of kicking and screaming. We didn't want to leave, but we have so much more to see. We met a really cool man, named Shai, that was born and raised on the island and spent a lot of time with him talking about everything. His family owns some land where they have some chalets to sleep in and a restaurant. He owns a bar that is on the rocks right next to the beach. It was destroyed 2 times by the monsoons and he keeps rebuilding. He was in the process of rebuilding the bar when we were there. He told us all about the island and Malaysia. We had some good laughs with him.

One day, Tanya and I decided to rent a kayak and sail the ocean blue to a nearby secluded beach called, Monkey Bay. It was quite amusing to see us try to kayak, but once we got the hang of it, it was smooth sailing. The beach was gorgeous. Something you see on movies and forget to realize that these places actually exist. No one was there and the water was so clear and warm. It truely felt like a huge bath. I was disappointed when we didn't see any monkeys, but there were plenty in Salang to see.

We extended our stay a couple times and then almost one more day, but we decided to take the later ferry back to the mainland and catch a night bus to our next destination...Cherating. After waiting around for every mode of transportation possible, we got on a luxury bus that went all the way up the coast to Thailand. We told the bus driver we wanted to go to Cherating and then watched a movie and fell asleep. After a few hours, the bus stopped and we were told that this was Cherating. We get out and realize we have no idea where we are and it's 1:30am. We went to a little restaurant that was open and asked where the hotels were and they told us they are 5 km down the road! But, the nice people they are, they offered us a ride. We found a chalet and crashed out after our journey. We woke up today and went to find a better place to stay, since our place was a little creepy.

Cherating is a little beach village. We are spending our day just walking around and deciding what our next move will be. Fun, Fun!