The Perhentian Islands: Paradise on earth? Quite possibly...

Me and Luke. We've officially turned into fish.

If reading this blog sometimes feels like I'm on a quest to find the most beautiful place on earth, then call off the search: I've found it.

When we arrived on the island of Pulau Kecil after a stomach-churning boat trip from the Malaysian mainland, we were greeted by the palm tree-fringed Coral Bay surrounded by turquoise water.

Beautiful Coral Bay at Pulau Kecil, Perhentian Islands, Malaysia.

There are no cars on Kecil, so we trudged with our backpacks to the other side of the island to Long Beach, a vast stretch of white sand with a slightly wilder feel to it. The beautiful beaches are littered with pieces of snow white coral that have (hopefully, naturally) broken away from the surrounding coral reefs.

Long Beach at Pulau Kecil, Perhentian Islands.

Pulau Kecil is one of five islands that make up the Perhentian Islands which lie 10 miles away from the Malaysian mainland. All of the coral-fringed islands belong to a marine park and Pulau Besar and Pulua Kecil are the only ones that are inhabited - Besar is the more expensive option while Kecil is the choice of backpackers.

Being budget travellers, we booked ourselves on to a ridiculously cheap boat tour of the islands with low expectations. For 35 RM (so, £6.50) we thought it would be a pile 'em up high kind of day, when in fact there were just ten of us on a very powerful speed boat which saw us nipping around the sights of the marine park - including Shark Bay, Millions of Fish, Turtle Bay and The Lighthouse.

Bezzing around the Perhentians on a speedboat.

Turtle Bay, as it says on the tin, is where turtles go to hang out because they like the algae that grows on the sea floor at that particular spot. As soon as we got there, the driver started shouting for us to get into the water QUICK as there was a turtle next to the boat. An actual real-life turtle metres away from us - imagine. So we threw our snorkels on, jumped into the water and had the amazing experience that is swimming with a turtle.

A photo of the actual turtle we swam with - what a guy.

Turtles are magnificent creatures that very gently glide through the water, bobbing up ever so often for breath. It was breathtaking to see one swimming wild and it's something I'll remember forever.

Our super-cheap day of exploring didn't stop there though. Later it the day (funnily enough at Shark Bay), Luke saw three Blacktip sharks frolicking at the bottom of the ocean . I then jumped into the sea at Millions of Fish and saw the back of a very fat metre-long Blacktip shark and near enough had a heart attack. I don't think anything can quite prepare you for seeing a shark that big in the open sea, but I was assured that they don't bite!

Blacktip shark: "I don't bite, honest."

Me and Luke in the water at Millions of Fish.

Still on the same trip (for just £6.50, remember!) we visited the beautiful Romantic Beach which is, well, very romantic. The sand is the whitest I've seen and feels like icing sugar under your feet. The atmosphere is further romanticised by the fact that people have taken it upon themselves to collect stray coral and attach it to the trees lining the shore. In shallow water and within easy swimming distance from the shore, there are also some pretty reefs with vibrant purple Anemone and pretty Nemo fish.

Pretty coral strung up Romantic Beach.

Nemo fish at Romantic Beach.

Little restaurants and cafes line the shore at both Coral Bay and Long Beach but we think we found the best place to eat - and luckily it was also the cheapest. Ombak Biru is owned by a lovely man called Raza who since 1994 has run his business from his rustic wooden shack. Initially it was just him with his guitar and a cool box full of beers. Since then Pulau Kecil has become much more developed but Raza still has his lovely shack - these days his wife cooks up amazing rotis for 9 RM (£1.70) and his 13-year-old daughter Aisha serves them up with the sweetest smile you'll ever see. Pilau Kecil is definitely on its way to becoming even more developed, but I really hope places like Ombak Biru survive as they make it the paradise it is.

Aisha serving up a roti at Ombak Biru on Long Beach.

Luke at Ombak Biru. Now that's what I call a view.

Pulau Kecil can only be accessed by boat and there aren't any cars on the island which means that it can be very wild and woolly at times. I would say that there are definitely more lizards than people and I'm sure half of them were living in the roof of our beach hut. There was one particularly cheeky one that used to poke his bum out of the roof and poo on the bed! Just wandering down the street you were quite likely to bump into a Monitor Lizard and, at one metre in length, these guys are big.

Monitor Lizard going for a stroll on Pulau Kecil.

Pulau Kecil was our last beach stop on our six-month trip across Asia and I think we saved the best until last. It's the perfect mix of breathtaking scenery, amazing underwater creatures and wonderful wildlife.


USEFUL INFORMATION ABOUT PULAU KECIL, PERHENTIAN ISLANDS:

Accommodation: We stayed at D'Rock on Long Beach which is the cheapest accommodation on Pulau Kecil. We paid 35 RM (£6.50) a night for a hut with shared bathroom. The shower and toilet block was really clean but the room wasn't great. We were there at the end of March/beginning of April and in April the same room went up to 50 RM (£9.30) a night but they let us stay on at the cheap rate. They did have huts with en-suites starting at 80RM (£15) a night. They didn't have wi-fi and the walk up there was quite steep.
Eating & drinking: Apart from amazing rotis at Ombak Biru, we mainly ate at Ewan's, between Coral Bay and Long Beach, which did cheap breakfasts (under 10RM,£2). For dinner we went to Mama's on Coral Bay which did tasty, cheap curries (again, under 10RM, £2) and you could get cold beer from the stall next door. It's particularly beautiful on Coral Bay at sunset.
Snorkelling: We booked it through Amelia Cafe on Coral Bay and paid 35RM (£6.50) each. All of the cafes along here seem to offer the same trip and, as far as I could tell, all took people to the same places.
Getting there and away: The Perhentian Islands are a 45-minute boat ride from the mainland and, as we went slightly out of season (late March), the seas were really choppy and the boat ride quite hairy. But it was all worth it. You get the boat from Kuala Besut for 80RM (£15) return and from Kuala Besut you can get direct buses to Kuala Lumpur - there is also an airport nearby as well. We pre-booked a bus from Kuala Besut to KL while on Pulua Kecil for 60RM (£11).

Art and eats in George Town

Having recently been named by Yahoo! as one of the Top 10 Islands in the World, Penang was the first place on our hit list in Malaysia.

Arriving from Thailand, I was immediately struck by how organised Malaysia is. There are lots of traffic lights, road rules that people (kind of) stick to, rubbish bins, toilets with toilet roll and even the odd attempt at queuing. There are absolutely no tuk-tuks and people are definitely opting for big air-conditioned cars over mopeds. 

At first I thought this could mean it's a bit boring, but that's far from the case. It's very multicultural with a mix of people from Malay, China, India, Persia and Europe which has created a nation of many different colours and religions. This great mix has also influenced the architecture, food and fashion.

I also found a lot of people have a very witty sense of humour - and their beaming smiles could rival the Thai people.

While in Penang we stayed in the ultra-cool city of George Town and the best thing we did there was cycle the Street Art route. This was started in 2012 as a street art project called Mirrors George Town but since then lots of Banksy-style art that's not part of the original project has sprung up. It's a genius way to get tourists to see the whole city - even areas that are little visited. It also appeals to tourists' need to take selfies at least a million times a day, especially Chinese tourists. (Experience Nottinghamshire take note: I think something similar could actually work well in Nottingham.)

Here are some of our favourite works of art:

Luke at Brother and Sister on a Swing on Step-by-Step Lane.

Me at one of the new unnamed installations.

Love Me Like Your Fortune Cat on Gat Lebuh Armenian.

Kung Fu Girl  on Jalan Burma.

The big cat's called Skippy - I think the rat is new grafitti.

Luke with Lion Dance on Lebuh Armenian.

As well as a funky art scene, George Town is also famed for serving some of the best food in Malaysia, particularly at the hawker stalls which spring up in abundance after the sun sets. As a vegetarian this was slightly less exciting as 99% of this gorgeous and ridiculously cheap food involves meat.

Not to be deterred, we went in search of some of the best veggie food George Town has to offer. There were a few dedicated veggie places including Lily's Restaurant on Madras Lane and Ee Beng on Lebuh Dickens. We liked Lily's although found the focus on using mock meat a bit disconcerting - I'm happy to eat vegetables and find the concept of using fungus and soy to mold food into meaty shapes a bit strange. Saying that, the chicken satay skewers were quite tasty and, well, quite chickeny.

Ee Beng was good because you could fill your plate with as much as you wanted from the buffet and then the woman would glance over it never charge more than 7 RM (£1.35) and they had loads of actual vegetables in their dishes.

Luke enjoying lotus rice and mock meat chicken satay skewers at Lily's.

Plate loaded with veggie goodness at Ee Beng.

One place that turned out to be a bit of a find was Yeap Noodles on Lebuh Chulia. It's a family-run, no frills place but is unique in the fact that they handmake the noodles for their noodles soups - so you can get noodles in a chilli, carrot, spinach or mint flavour. Unfortunately there's only one veggie dish on the menu - tofu noodle soup with spinach noodles - which was tasty but quite plain. We went back and asked for the same dish but with chilli noodles and the woman wasn't having any of it, so flexibility isn't their strong point, but at 5 RM (£1) a dish it's hard to complain.

Tofu soup with handmade spinach noodles at Yeap Noodles.

If I had my time in George Town again then I'd splash out on a meal or at least a slice of cake at China House which is so big it straddles both Victoria Street and Beach Street. It's a cooperative which houses different cafes and restaurants in a beautiful 1930s Chinese house with 14 rooms decorated in different styles - both classic and modern - with a varied menu to match. We just went in for a drink and were really impressed. And the cakes looked divine.

Cakes on display at China House.

In other news, we went up Penang Hill on a funicular train and Luke played with a scorpion. Very random, I know, but I just wanted to share the creepy photo!

I took this photo and then ran away. Ugh.

USEFUL INFORMATION ABOUT GEORGE TOWN IN PENANG:

Accommodation: We stayed at D Mo Inn on Chulia Street which is a relatively new backpacker guest house. It was 57 RM (£11) a night for a double room with a window (albeit internal) and a shared bathroom. It was a great location and perfectly okay for the price. If staying here I would advise asking for a room on the top floor because the toilets and showers are nicer than the other floors.

Eating: I think most of the good places are covered in the blog. Definitely try Yeap Noodles on Chulia Street for the handmade noodles and a great place for breakfast is Mugshot Cafe on Chulia - they do amazing cream cheese bagels and really creamy yoghurt with mango and walnut.

Getting there and away: We travelled from Ko Tao in Thailand to Butterworth with a boat and overnight train combo ticket for 1,600 baht (£32). Once at Butterworth train station we got the boat - the jetty is a short walk from the train station, so ignore the taxi drivers' lies - over to George Town for about 2 RM (40p).After George Town we got the bus to the Cameron Highlands for 45 RM (£9) which took 6.5 hours - the bus was really comfy with big seats.

Shipwrecks, night dives & underwater selfies: scuba diving in Koh Tao

Scuba-Luke is A-OK. Photo by Jan Tuerlings.

While travelling you can definitely live by the mantra "do something every day that scares you". In India this involved no more then getting on a bus or crossing the road, but in Thailand you have to try a little bit harder to get your kicks.

After the relaxation of Railay beach and Katie and Grant's wedding (that blog has gone down a storm by the way), Luke and I went to the island of Koh Tao on the east coast of Thailand and signed up to do our PADI open water scuba diving. We chose Koh Tao because it's one of the cheapest places in the world to get PADI certified and we had a recommendation for Planet Scuba dive school from a Nottingham friend who used to work there.

Before you're allowed to jump in the water at any great depth, the open water certification requires you to do a lot of theory work and watch A LOT of videos. Of the three-and-a-half days the course takes, I'd say we were watching videos for nearly half of that. They basically tell you about the many ways in which you could die while scuba diving - it turns out there are a lot.

There's a lot of this before any diving takes place.

Two days in we went out into the big blue to test of our new-found knowledge - thankfully in the pretty dive site of Japanese Gardens, in an area too shallow for you to actually kill yourself.

Our instructor made us do horrible things like take our masks off underwater (truly awful and makes your eyes sting); take the air supply out of our mouths and put in back in again; and use our buddy's alternative air source to practice what to do if you run out of air. All of these things are really uncomfortable and quite scary, especially taking out your air supply, but essential to practice for worst-case scenarios. We had two dropouts from our group at this stage which just shows how difficult it is.

Then we could get onto the fun stuff.

Our first proper dive was at a depth of 12 metres at White Rock dive site. It was a brilliant feeling to put all of our hard work into practice and spend some time under water. We were joined by a young lad from Chichester called Zak and together with our instructor, a Liverpudlian bloke called Scott Edwards, we were a bit of a dream team - we had good camaraderie on land but under water no one behaved like a loose canon.

Scott turned out to be a brilliant instructor - he's ex-military so a stickler for safety and detail (something definitely needed when scuba diving) but he was also a massive Mickey taker which kept us all laughing.

Zak, me and Luke checking our gear before heading into the water.

Being under water is a feeling like no other. First of all you can't speak so, apart from the odd hand signal to your buddies, you're completely on your own in an eerie kind of silence. The other thing is that this part of the world belongs to the fish, coral and other marine life - there's a definite feeling that you're a guest in their domain.

We also got to practice more skills such as pivoting on our fins and doing forward and backward roly-polys under water. My roly-poly provided Luke with his favourite moment of the whole dive course as, apparently, because I used my hands to claw my way upside down to roll, I looked like a cat trying to scuba dive!

Me, Luke and Zak after our first dive - awesome feeling.

After that we ventured into Junk Yard which is a man-made dive site full of, well, lots of junk. There's a car down there, an exercise bike, dumb bells and lots of other crazy stuff you wouldn't expect to find under water. It's relatively new but the fish are taking to it and making it their home - we saw a particularly beautiful Lion Fish which spent most of it's time hanging out under an upturned park bench. There was also a friendly Puffa Fish which thought it was a cat - it would come up to you to be petted and crawl up your arm.

After passing our PADI open water diving with flying colours, Luke and I decided to stay on and complete our advanced training - this is a lot more fun than open water as it's minimum theory and maximum diving. Unfortunately this is where we lost young Zak to the parties of Ko Phangan but gained a nice German girl called Alex.

Luke, Alex, me and Scott heading down the line. Photo by Jan Tuerlings.

The advanced certificate involves deep diving at 30 metres, navigation - it turns out I can't use a compass - and we also did a shipwreck and a night dive.

Our first 30 metre dive deep dive was at Green Rock and was a nightmare dive for me. First of all, as soon as we went down the line we saw a Trigger Fish which are famed in the scuba diving world for being nasty things that will actively come towards and give you a bite if they feel threatened. You know if they're going to bite because a spike comes up on their back -hence the trigger in Trigger Fish - and they dart towards you. Their teeth are so sharp that a bite can often require stitches. Seeing one in the flesh I was also alarmed at how big it was.

Trigger fish off Google Images - look at those teeth.

The dive then got more difficult as my mask fogged up - this was worrying being down at 30 metres for the first time as my nerves were already heightened. The mask being fogged up was possibly a blessing in disguise as, about 15 minutes in, I saw Scott do the hand signal for a Trigger Fish and then a quick about-turn in the other direction. I couldn't see clearly enough but I found out later that we'd encountered a "Trigger pit" of around 15 Trigger Fish who were paired up and mating - something which they particularly angry and being disturbed at. So that was a close call.

However, with the rough comes the smooth and next came my favourite dive of the whole week at HTMS Sattakut, Koh Tao's wreck dive. This Thai Navy ship was deliberately sunk in 2011 to create an amazing shipwreck at 30 metres. As we went down the line and the ship came into view I couldn't believe how beautiful it looked - it's quite a mind boggling sight to see something that far under water which isn't meant to be there.

As it's been established for three years it's become home to quite a few fish - some of which lurk in dark corners while others proudly swim around the outside.

Me swimming around the shipwreck. Photo by Jan Tuerlings.

Fish hanging out by the shipwreck. Photo by Jan Tuerlings.

Me giving the OK sign on the wreck. I look a bit cross-eyed. Photo by Jan Tuerlings.

As we were exiting the water we had to do a five minute safety stop (a precautionary measure to ward against decompression sickness) and while we were holding onto the line a huge school of Yellowstripe Fish  swam around us which was completely magical.

Next came the night dive which I'd been dreading and looking forward to in equal measure. Prior to doing the PADI course I didn't even know you could scuba dive at night, but it's actually very popular due to the fact that, using a torch, you can see more colour under water at night.

Luke, me and Scott on the boat before our night dive. You can see the fear!

So we set off just before sunset and waited for it to go down before heading down to Junk Yard. Initially I thought it was absolutely crackers to go underwater at night - I couldn't see a thing! - but once my eyes adjusted to the dark and we started to find things with our torches I understood. The colours are much more vibrant than in the daytime and you can pick out details that just aren't possible through the haze of water and sunlight.

Vibrant-coloured Nemo fish in their anemone on our night dive. Photo by Jan Tuerlings.

Not sure what this fella is but he's cute. Photo by Jan Tuerlings.

I'm not really eager to do a night dive again (it's definitely got to be a wreck first) but I would definitely try it again if I could find the right instructor who I trusted - I think Scott will vouch that I didn't venture much further than an inch away from him for the whole dive!

Surfacing after the night dive - looking relieved. Photo by Jan Tuerlings.

Out of everything we've done while travelling I think this has been the thing we've most enjoyed and got the biggest sense of achievement out of. It took us out of our comfort zone and gave us an experience we'll never forget. Most of all it gave us a certificate we can use anywhere in the world - the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, here we come.

USEFUL INFORMATION ABOUT DIVING IN KOH TAO
Dive schools: We went with Planet Scuba which is a great dive school near the pier at Mae Haad (turn left when you get off the pier). The instructors are mainly British which is always a good sign in my book! Our PADI open water diver cost 9,200 baht each (£184) including four nights' accommodation and the PADI advanced diver cost 7,650 baht each (£153) including two nights' accommodation.
Accommodation: As part of our diving courses we got free accommodation at Pier 24 which wasn't anything flash but was fine - you really do just sleep there when you're busy diving.
Getting there and away: We went to Koh Tao from Railay in Krabi using a joint boat/bus/boat ticket which cost 1,400 baht (£28) and took seven hours. From Koh Tao we went to George Town in Malaysia - the first leg was a joint boat/bus/train ticket from Koh Tao to Butterworth in Malaysia via Surat Thani which was 1,600 baht (£32) and took around 18 hours. We then took a boat from Butterworth across to George Town which cost 1.2 Malaysian Ringet (just over £1) - the train station is next to the boat port.

A Magical Wedding on Railay Beach

We were privileged to be invited to Railay beach in Thailand to see the marriage of our good friends Katie and Grant. Their wedding turned out not only to be an amazing day full of laughter, new friends and love - but it also gave us a luxurious break away from our current life as dirty backpackers.

For anyone who doesn't know Katie and Grant, they're our friends from Nottingham who now live in Adelaide, South Australia, with their little girl Bethany. Katie's a Brit and Grant's Australian which means the halfway point of Thailand made for the perfect location to ensure optimum attendance of family and friends from both isles. It's also a pretty spectacular place to get married.

Railay/Railei beach in Krabi, Thailand.

Most of the guests arrived a few days before the wedding in order to enjoy the hen and stag parties. The ladies' day was a classy affair with lunch in nearby Ao Nang overlooking the sea and an afternoon snorkelling off a junket boat with the odd cocktail thrown in for good measure. While the men had a day canoeing and an evening enjoying the night life of Railay. Considering it's not the wildest of resorts, I hear they managed to show themselves up in a way that only a large group of Brits and Aussies could... and I'll say no more.

The hens on board the junket boat.

Katie moved to Australia nearly five years ago and since then I've been doing my very best trying to talk her into coming home. But after meeting all of her Australian friends and family I know I've got a job on my hands - they're friendly, generous, funny and they obviously love Katie and Grant very much.

The ceremony itself was held at Railei Beach Club which is a collection of ornate, traditional wooden houses on the beach front. They chose to get married in House Number 1 which is perfectly shrouded by trees from the gawping eye of sunbathing tourists but has the dramatic scenery of Railay beach and its limestone cliffs as a backdrop.

House Number 1 at Railei Beach Club set up for the wedding ceremony.

Me and Luke before the ceremony.

From the moment me and Luke arrived and got handed stubby holders with our names on, I knew it was going to be a wonderful and thoughtful day full of things that are typically "Katie and Grant".

Katie is the kind of person who always puts extra special effort into everything she does - not only will she remember your birthday but she'll hand make you a personal card. This was reflected in her wedding as she and Grant had thought of everything from giving fans and a bottles of water to all of the guests, who were wilting in the heat, to providing buckets and spades for the kids.

Personalised drink holders (pic courtesy of Conor and Elva, forgot to get one of ours).

The order of service was written on a blackboard and hung on a tree.

Katie and Grant's photo tree of their best memories.

The guests were given a Poloroid camera and hung their photos up.

Along with another of their Nottingham friends, Emil, I was given the role of doing a reading which was both an honour and a source of great anxiety. I read the lyrics of All I Want Is You from the film Juno while Emil read The Book of Love by The Magnetic Fields. Emil's Indonesian-print batik shirt was also a big hit of the day.

Me and Emil practice our readings before ceremony while the groom fans himself! 

I'm not a big cryer at weddings but when the time came for Katie to walk in with her dad I think the whole congregation had a little tear in their eye. Not only did she look beautiful, but also so happy and delighted to see all of her family and friends, both British and Australian, in one place for the first time ever.

Katie arrives with her dad.

One of the most memorable parts of the wedding was the Sand Ceremony which saw (slightly pebbly) sand from Katie's hometown beach of Shoreham and (much softer) sand from Grant's hometown beach of Adelaide being poured together. They then kept some of the sand as a keepsake and the rest was poured into Railay beach - meaning there will always be a little bit of the UK and Australia swilling around on the shore where they got married.

The sand from Adelaide and Shoreham.

Grant and Katie during the sand ceremony.

Katie and Grant wrote their own vows which meant there wasn't any of the "honour and obey" crap and instead they spoke words that meant something to them and everyone around them. The wedding celebrant was also a fantastic chap who'd devised a little poem about how they met.

Happily married.

The newly weds with both sides of the family.

By the time the ceremony was complete and we'd all had a glass of South Australian pink wine, kindly brought over by the Australians in their suitcases, the sun had nearly set and we all had dinner on the beach. The setting was amazing - it was so quiet in front of Railei Beach Club it felt like we had the beach to ourselves.

Katie, Grant and Bethany (The KGB) on the beach after the wedding.

Wedding dinner set up on beautiful Railay beach.

In another "Katie and Grant" touch they had named all of the tables after places they've travelled together and did the table plan on a world map.

Map of the world table plan...

We were on the Great Britain Table, of course!

The party on the beach was pretty epic and something I'll remember for the rest of my life. If the amazing setting wasn't enough, they'd planned entertainment in the form of fire dancers who were probably the best I've seen in Thailand (and believe me, you see a lot of fire entertainers in Thailand!). I think everyone's heart was in their mouth when fire dancing Mr.Ting brought Katie up and danced around her (and her dress) with his flaming torches. I think the ladies will also forever remember Mr.Ting's rippling muscles!

Katie plays with fire with Mr.Ting (photo stolen off Nick Donovan's Facebook).

After the party there was an after-party on East Railay where the congregation headed for more cocktails. Again, the bride and groom thought of everything and at midnight a man arrived on a bicycle with loads of pizzas for the tipsy guests.

As well as the tradition of throwing the bouquet, the Brits were also introduced to an Australian tradition where the man takes off the bride's garter using only his teeth. Grant actually did a pretty good job, rather worryingly.

Katie doesn't like Australian traditions!!

After that there was just enough time for Kayten to challenge everyone to a press-up competition and for the Best Man to whoop his ass.

So there it is. Surely a contender for Wedding of the Year 2014?

USEFUL INFORMATION ABOUT RAILAY BEACH
Getting married: Jeeez! Don't ask me, Katie and Grant did all of the hard work - I just rocked up and enjoyed the day. The best place to start would probably be at Railei Beach Club as I know they used their wedding planner. Just say you want the "Katie and Grant Special".
Accommodation: We stayed at Railay Garden View Resort which is a brilliant mid-range option at 1,240 baht (£25) a night for a double room including breakfast. We then moved on to 500 baht (£10) a night huts at Phutawan Resort which were the cheapest huts we could find in Railay and were fine, if a little depressing after a week at Garden View.
Eating: By far the best food we found was at The Organic Thai restaurant, an unassuming little place located on the pathway between East and West Railay. For Western food then Joy Pizza on East Railay does really tasty stone bake pizzas.
Getting there and away: From Bangkok to Railay we took a night train, bus and long tail boat which was a joint ticket and came to 1,350 baht (£27) and took 15 hours. To get from Railay to Koh Tao we took a long tail boat, bus and catamaran, again a joint ticket, which came to 1,450 baht (£30) and took 7 hours.