A Change of Heart

Trip Start Aug 05, 2007

Trip End Ongoing

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Flag of Malaysia Pulau Perhentian Kecil, Terengganu, Malaysia
Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Ok, so a week in to Malaysia, and I am now officially in love with the country!!!! Although I still struggle to find decent food to eat, I have thoroughly been enjoying my time here, mainly because of the amazing people I've been meeting. It's been really great being back in the traveling scene again, meeting and socializing with other travelers, and the nice thing about the travelers in Malaysia is that they tend to be older and more adventurous. In New Zealand, Australia, and Thailand the scene tends to be a lot of 18-20 year olds that are really just out for the party. Most of the traveler's I've met here have been my age. I've also had some wonderful conversations with Malaysians, informing me more about their culture. I sense a feeling of repression and lack of freedom from a lot of them. Malaysia is a very materialistic and consumer-driven place, where it's all about making money. The Malaysians I've spoken with have expressed that they feel it's so much more than that, and they tended more towards the spiritual side of things, but families and other Malaysians just don't understand and think they are crazy for thinking or talking that way

island inspiration

. And the family structure is very strong, so there is a lot of pressure to conform. It was really neat hearing peoples stories, as they openly chatted. It was like they have been holding all this stuff in and finally there was someone that would listen to them and could understand.

I ended up leaving KL 4 days ago with another traveler I met at the hostel. I had wandered around most of the city and wasn't too keen on spending another week there, and she was heading up to the Pulau Perhentian islands to do some diving, so I thought I'd join her, as it's meant to be really good. First of all, travel in Malaysia is not easy. Things that should be relatively simple and straightforward are not. It took us a good 6 hours of going to 4 different places just to book a bus ticket. It was a pain in the butt. And, getting anywhere is just a hassle. But, we finally got it all sorted and took an overnight bus and morning ferry to the islands. It is beautiful here! It just may be the nicest island I've ever been to. Very small, not many people, but beautiful. And, I've been diving everyday. I've just finished my Advanced Open Water Diving course, so I'm now a certified advanced diver!!!! It's been so wonderful! The diving is great and I am in love with it!!!! So, I'm thinking I may be sidetracked and head to Borneo to do some diving before India, as it's meant to be the best in the world- more species of fish than the Red Sea, Great Barrier Reef, and Caribbean combined

Perhentian Islands

. I'm going to look into it further today.....

The diving has been awesome- aside from getting attacked by a triggerfish- those things scare the crap out of me and they are very territorial, so if you get in their line of view they come right after you. And they are massive. We also saw sea snakes, which are the most poisonous snakes, but they can't really bite us because their fangs are too far back, so they are not threatening. Other than that, tons of damselfish, cuttlefish, snapper, grouper, angelfish, surgeonfish, jacks, eels, etc. Yesterday I also did a wreck dive, which had lots of bamboo sharks and cobias. Needless to say, I love diving!!!!

We've also had an awesome time with so many of the people we've met. The first night at dinner it started out as just the two of us, and ended with a table of about 15, as we'd ask other solo travelers to join us and every one of us was from a different country. I love that, meeting other travelers, hearing their stories. And, in Malaysia you don't get the typical backpackers, so most have quite interesting stories and travel adventures. It's been a blast!!!!

I think I'll be leaving the island in the next few days, first to KL and then I guess I'll decide between Borneo and India, so I'll keep y'all posted.

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