Monday, April 17, 2006

Perhentian

Perhentian is a little further than Redang. It's a torture to get there by by anything but flight. I took the torturous option. It was a long, aching 13-hour journey despite having your own chartered transport.

We reached the "resort" before 11am. They have silly regulations. You cannot order lunch till 12 noon. We ordered "breakfast" for lunch. You pay RM$12 for a whole set of Western breakfast, which they called The Full Monty, or you can choose to order a subset of it. There were also other options available but the Western set looked the most filling, since we haven't had anything to eat after supper the night before.

Everything has a price tag here, including water refills. Everything here is much catered to the angmohs. We were almost the only Asians at the place. The juices were lousy and 5 times the price at mainland. There was a cap of RM80 a day to utilise for our meals. We didn't finish using the RM80/day. The milk shakes are gorgeously addictive.

We didn't need much for a dive trip but the accomodation in a kampong was a little less than basic and non-airconditioned. There was an attached (unlockable cos it was spoilt) bathroom with no hot water (quite normal). I slept in a twin-share on a double bed with a fan mounted to the wall. The blanket was a thin piece of rag which we didn't use. One of the towels provided had an unwashable stain. Triple sharing means sleeping on the floor with an additional mattress. If not for plentiful huge spider webs with huge occupants, hammock-ing might have been a better option. You also need to be prepared with your insect repellants and mosquito coils. I chased a lizard out of my bag, and 2 millipedes out of the bathroom. This is a place where torches will be handy when the sun sets and when the electricity goes off at 730am (Windows had to be opened from outside). The mirror was cracked, the tap was leaking, one light by the balcony shared by 3 units was not working. There were no power points. Thankfully, when the rooms were supposed to be locked, they remained locked. I seriously think this must be about the worst among the lot on the entire stretch.

Its really nice (and a very lovely surprise) to see familiar faces at Perhentian. Somehow, you just feel happier to see people you know in a place away from home.

If you have time to spare and nua, consider Perhentian Island Resort. It's a 5-star luxurious world to completely rest and relax and nua with its own fine sandy beaches. Otherwise, Coral View Resort isn't too bad too. Both remind me of the at least 4-star resorts in Samui. Be prepared to pay for the luxury.

Well, for less than S$300 including 6 boat dives (fully rigged for you if you choose to), I have no complains.

Posted by LiTTle-FooT at 2:07 AM with 1 comments