travel to Tioman Island, Pahang, Malaysia ..part 2

(continued from part 1)

Day 1
I started my driving at 2:00am from Damansara, Petaling Jaya (a well developed commercial and industrial mixture city adjacent to Kuala Lumpur).

I filled petrol at the Esso Station right before Sungei Besi Highway Tol (PLUS Highway). Then Yoki asked me "want to eat?". That she is. If she is not sleeping after 12 midnight, she must feel empty in stomach. Alright then, I planned to stop by at a highway rest-a-side to fill her.

I reached Seremban R&R (a rest-a-side before Seremban, Negeri Sembilan state, exit) at 2:30am.

Nasi lemak and mihun goreng are the food which might have served here at the food court. Me ok with that; but i know Yoki don't like nasi lemak much, so we proceed further and seen a new? fried chicken restaurant. We walked into it. No other guest except two of us. And one of the only two waitresses told us that they are cleaning kitchen, so not much choices to be served. We simply order 2pcs chics and rest our arm for a moment. Then we saw few black guys walking in, and automatically sense told us to be alerted. We finished up the food and walked out there with 2 steps onto 3. It's bit of scary here cause heard too much of highway robbery. Well, what I'm saying is that it's our responsible obligation if a lady beside us.
Tips: Full your stomach first before you log yourself into Highway, cause not much choices of food at R&R

We continued all the way to Ayer Hitam, the junction for us to turn east toward a town called Mersing, where ferry to Tioman Island ported there.
We reached Ayer Hitam at 5:30am. It's right time for us take some breakfast before we continued to east. After paying the tol, turn into left from T-junction. About 2 minutes driving, there's one Chinese restaurant at the left hand side of a cross junction. Coffee served here is good. Then, we made a U-turn back and there's a few Malay food stall alongside the road. And we continued our journey straight to Mersing.

Driving all the way along here in early morning is relaxing, with bit of frost off course. After we passed through Kluang, due to my first driving in this area, I have to look for the junction turning into Felda Nitar, which is a nearer road to Mersing.
It's about 30 minutes from Kluang, then I managed to find the junction turning into Felda Nitar. Wow! this road is straight and fewer cars, with extremely fresh air freezing us. Then from here, I made some more turnings right and left at few junctions, with the rising sun right shinning onto our windscreen, it's amazing. The longer you drive, the longer you feel fresh and awake!

Our heart started to get excited when we reached Mersing (at 7:00am). We parked our car in a designated parking lot beside the jetty right opposite a post office. And I shot a proof on the parking fees just in case being chopped!

The ticket counter was hidden at the front end of the food court beside the parking lot. Ferry ticket was RM70 person for two-way. We waited about an hour for boarding. It's good for us to recall what we might have missed out and we still able to refurnish at stalls inside the food court.

It was bit of shocked when we've seen there was many travelers waiting for boarding. I thought it won't be many travelers after school holiday. There was group from China, Singapore, German, middle east and other European country.The ferry takes about 1 and half hour to arrive at the first stop in Tioman Island. Wow! what to say.....it is absolutely beautiful just a view at glance from ferry. And the ferry goes alongside the island from one stop to another. Finally, it stop at Panuba, where the resort of Panuba Inn we had booked resided.

We arrived!!


.....to be continued

travel to Tioman Island, Pahang, Malaysia

Me and my wife, Yoki, were planning to have a rejuvenating holiday spontaneous. At first, we thought of going back again to Langkawi Island for our unforgettable moment 2 years ago; but after we checked on air fares on net. WOW!! Triple of we paid then. So, we decided to drive this time.
"if we drive, why don't we try another Island we haven't been through",
"Tioman",
"shorter driving distance compares to Langkawi".


Vacation-eve
Like many other travelers, I surfed for information and travel guide before eager out to Tioman Island (Pulau Tioman, in Malaysia language).
This small island, Tioman, consists of few limited locations where we could accommodated. We prefer privacy and quite. From Salang at the north, to Ayer Batang (ABC, in short-nick name), Tekek, Kg. Paya, Genting (this one not the Highland) at the middle and Mukut at South, then to the east, is Juara; I shortlisted Mukut and Juara from reviews on the net by travelers as these area consist of beautiful sandy-beach with fewer visitors. Accommodation cost in Mukut's approx. RM300 per night and Juara approx. RM100 per night. We are going there for outdoor activities mostly; and not staying whole day long in the resort. So, Juara is where we want to head on.
Then I got knew from ferry service that Juara won't have a stop. Ferry only stop at West side of the island. To go to Juara, visitors need to take a 2 hours 4X4 jeep through village road. I decided to lapse 2 days in the west side and then only head on to the East, Juara. And I have to find an accommodation in the west then. I surfed into Panuba web from a link and call immediate to enquire. Luckily, I still managed to booked a room with air-cond. Cause I can imagine what the nightmare it could be if Yoki sleep beside me without air-cond. She will roll over and over for sure.
Ok, now accommodation set. transport set. I called Yoki, who is still hanging outside, to grab some junk food and necessities. Torch light, camera battery and new swimsuit (both of us getting big changes in our stomachs since this 2 years).
.....to be continued