Tioman

I arrived in the small town of Mersing in the afternoon with the intention to spend a few days on Tioman Island. Getting there was going to blow the budget for the week, but I figured that if I could camp on the island then it would be okay. The next ferry wasn’t until morning and I found a cheap hotel room in the middle of the city.

Early the next morning, after a quick breakfast of rice and crunchy sardines, I loaded the bike onto the ferry and found time for a quick nap.  A bunch of small isolated villages litter the western side of Tioman Island which are only accessible by boat. I arrived at the biggest village hoping to find a some tracks to ride my bike along.   Arriving at the village I found a new marina under construction and a huge concrete seawall that spanned the length of the main beach. I’d only been on the island 15 minutes yet it felt completely out of character in the fishing village community not to mention cutting access to the sea. I decided to cycle out of town and find a quiet beach to spend a few days. Not having a map made it more of a challenge. I rode as far as I could out of the village, past the golf course, troops of monkeys and a flashy resort. Sure enough, down a small gravel road I found the quiet beach I was looking for. It was largely deserted except for a small but recently built hut in a clearing. There I found an old man attending to the sweeping of leaves on the beach. I assumed he lived there on the beach in this small wooden hut about the size of a standard tool shed. Overlooking the beach I found a wooden table and chair that had been built around the trees and decided this was a good spot for lunch.

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Behind the small hut was a lagoon cut off from the ocean, guarded by two lizards perhaps a metre or two in length. They waded through the lagoon in a snake like manner looking for any type a food they could find. They fought each other over territory every now and then but otherwise avoided each other. They didn’t seem to mind me walking into the lagoon to collect some drinking water (that I later boiled and filtered!). There were signs along the beach in Bahasa that I was certain said something along the lines of “this is a special beach…”, but with the old man that wasn’t bothered with me hanging around. (I later discovered that it was actually a turtle hatching beach, but it wasn’t the breeding season). I found a shady tree to relax, take a swim and read a book. I got chatting with a German and an Australian elderly couple who strolled by and decided to say hello. They later offered me use of their mask and snorkel and I spent a few hours chasing fish and exploring corals 20 meters from the beach. It was a beautiful spot, quiet, inviting and, when I asked the old man if I could sleep on the beach he kindly offered use of this little shack which wasn’t a house at all but an empty timber room with a bed in the corner and a few tools lying around.

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I stopped for breakfast the next morning at a local cafe and had the usual roti (a kind of bread, similar to naan but not as bulky). I was really hungry and, with a mountain to climb to explore the other side of the island, I decided to take my fill. For such a small island, I didn’t expect the mountains to be so steep, but I found myself pushing my bike most of the way. It was hot and exhausting work. Some of the local motorbikes seemed to struggle getting up the hills. I’d set out early but it still took until midday to reach the top. It was nothing short of spectacular riding over the mountain. The massive trees towering above provided lots of cool shade, huge palms stretched out over the road, crystal clear streams ran under the road full of small fish. Everything around was green and lush. It was like nothing I’d seen in Malaysia.

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I found myself riding through the small village along the beach and stumbled upon the Juara Turtle Conservation Project. There I found an American and and Australian working to collect, incubate and release turtles along the beaches on the east coast of the island. Charlie, the American, was running the project while Mick, the quintessential Aussie, strolled up off the beach one day and decided to volunteer. I spent the afternoon talking to the guys and soon found a place to stay. Over the next few days I helped the guys out where I could. Cleaning, monitoring turtles, and checking beaches in the wee hours of the morning. It was all very exciting and I felt it was a better way to spend my time on the island than lounging around on a beach.

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We spent the next few days building extensions (laying bricks and forming timbers), framing windows, cutting down coconut trees, making new vegetable gardens, watering the vegetable gardens, monitoring turtles, feeding and cleaning the enclosure of the one turtle they had (born blind to the project and now used to educate others) and generally enjoying the fruits of a tropical island with a purpose.

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In between all the chores, we found time to swim and wait out the hot midday sun. I hiked to this amazing waterfall nearby where I had to clamber through the jungle, over vines, small streams, through overgrown ferns and navigate up a seemingly dry river bed and climb over boulders the size of a small bus. I should have taken a machete, but the scratches and the odd fall were worth it when I came to the waterfall and tranquil pool. The jungle provided lots of shade except for a small window of light that shone through. The water was running fast despite the river appearing dry and it was cool and refreshing swimming in the pool below.

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