Getting there is half the fun

Tioman Island - Day 1

Sunday was the Buddhist holiday Vesak day so we had Monday off work, our second long weekend in the three weeks we have been here! The Pharmacology guys still haven't gotten their student passes yet so they can't leave the country. So just Samson and I decided to head to Malaysia and check out Tioman island because traveling there takes a little time so a regular weekend would be too short. Well it turned out that even three days was way too short of a time, but we still had a wicked trip!

We left our place early Saturday morning to try and catch a bus into Malaysia from downtown. I couldn't find any information of the bus route online except that there was supposedly one leaving at 9am. Well it turned out that I was spelling the company's name wrong so of course I couldn't find their web site...who woulda thought to use the Malay spelling (without a 't') of Transnasional...oh well. So we showed up at 8am hoping to get a last-minute ticket to Mersing...BAD idea. There were tons of people there waiting for just a few buses. The ticket office was closed due to a "down system"...but we soon learned the real reason. After waiting around for 45 minutes we finally found the sales man, a short and chubby Malaysian guy dressed just like everyone else buried the mass of people. I told him where we wanted to go but he just told us we had to wait to see if there were any free spaces on the bus. Around 9am the bus was pretty much full so we bugged him again to let us on. He and the drivers kept insisting that we wanted to go to Johor Bahru, which is just across the border and no where near Mersing.

"where you go?"
"Mersing, we want to go to Mersing."
"ah ok, I see... Johor Bahru?"
"nono, Mersing"

Then they decided to switch to Malay, because apparently I can't speak English and look like someone who might speak Malay.

"hwlerjweldsofsaluewojhsadfls"
"umm, sorry I don't speak Malay"
"hmm, okok I see"
So he turned to Samson and started speaking in Malay to him...so of course Samson told him that he also doesn't speak Malay the guy just shook his head like shame on you.
Well finally one of the other drivers walked up to us and said they would take us to Mersing and assured us there was in fact 2 seats for us. But it would come at a price...$26sg each just to get there - down system my ass! I offered him half that (about the usual price) but having the upper hand he said take it or leave it. We took it. On the bus I got talking to an Indian couple and they had also been charged the same outrageous rate as us so I guess it wasn't that bad if others were getting the same rip off as us - at least we were on our way to Malaysia!

Despite the huge traffic jam due to the holiday the Singapore checkpoint was relatively quick and orderly, just as expected. Then it was back on the bus to cross the bridge into Malaysia! Before we even reached the border there was a noticeably huge difference from Singapore. The customs buildings were way smaller and run down, but I actually liked it a lot more - they actually have personality, compared to the cold steel and marble of the Singapore side. Pulling up along side a bared, jail like building we got off the bus once again, this time taking our packs with us, and filed past another customs agent - one who was actually friendly and glad to let you into their country! Clearing customs we went back outside to board our bus again but the drivers stopped us short. "Sorry, I no check the list, no room for you, you take a taxi to Johor Bahru and then maybe another bus." We couldn't believe it...they wanted to leave us at the customs, not even fully into the country yet. I was actually really mad because they still had our 52 bucks and giant grins on their faces. But they DID give us our money back thankfully, and also apologized for the mix up. It didn't really matter to us much, if we made it to the island great, if not no biggie, at least we were in Malaysia! We hung around anyway not knowing where to go in the first place, watching the bus fill up and our old seats disappear. That's when our awesome luck came through...being stuck in the border traffic jam for so long the only other bus from Singapore to Mersing that day caught up to us and pulled up right beside our old bus. Our old driver called us over and said we had a ride to Mersing afterall - the last 2 seats on the bus! We handed the new driver our 52 bucks happily, saw him put it in his wallet and then hand our old driver $10 cash, which he promptly added to his collection...what was that exactly? They then kicked some very confused Chinese guys out of their seats at the very back of the bus and stuck us there, giving them 2 nice seats at the front. Once again I was the only visibly western-looking traveler on the bus!

Malaysian border:


The drive out of Johor Bahru was pretty boring - we were stuck in a massive holiday traffic jam which delayed us over 90 minutes. Finally we stopped in the country side for a rest break as the bus had no toilet. There was a guy selling deep-fried bananas (Pisang Goreng - yay I learnt some Malay!) which were deceivingly good and tasted nothing like the banana mush I thought they would. Back on the road it started to rain like I have never seen it...the windows of the bus were like waterfalls, you couldn't see a thing out of them. The highway started to flood with light brown water running out of the jungle, but that didn't stop our driver from driving at top speed anyway. The ride was surprisingly rough, but apparently Asians can sleep through anything. But there were a few bumps that would lift you off of your seat and wake everyone up, so at least I had fun laughing at everyone's reactions.

We finally arrived way behind schedule in mersing at 2:30, instead of around the estimated 12:30. We were the only people who got off the bus in Mersing. It was still pouring rain so we took shelter between the gas pumps at a gas station and carefully planned our mad dash to the closest awning. A tiny man pulled us into the first store we hit asking us if we needed a ride to Tioman. Now I know this is not always a good idea without looking around first but we weren't too enthusiastic about scouring the town for the best deal at the moment. Inside the place we met up with the Indian couple I met our first bus, who were still arguing over room rates with these guys. We ended up buying a "high speed" return boat ticket for 70RM($23) from them, plus one night at a guest house for 40RM($13) - a bit more than the going rate but not a rip off at least. And they had a free "shuttle" to the jetty, which was just a small, rusted out Japanese van with seats that weren't even attached to the frame, so I didn't even check for seat belts.

Our boat was supposed to leave at 3pm but didn't even show up until after 4. Plus there were about 50 people waiting for a 20(?) seat boat! Once again luck came though and we got on and even got a seat.

A few people had to stand at the back of the boat and ended up getting soaked later... It was still raining cats and dogs but the first half of the boat ride went smoothly. That's when we hit the rough water! We had to slow right down and even still it was a rough ride. There were huge swells and waves 5 or 6 feet deep at times. Waves kept crashing over the front of the boat and a few even went completely over the top of boat at times, completely drenching the people at the back! I was absolutely having a blast with it, for some reason I found it really fun. Samson on the other hand didn't see eye to eye with me and actually got a little sick and had to sit at the back with his head over board! After dropping most of the passengers off at their beaches we were the only ones who got out at a beach called Air Batang. As we got closer the seas calmed and we caught our first glimse of Tioman Island:


Arriving around 6pm we checked in and immediately went in search of a place to eat. It was a tough decision between the only two places that were open so we chose a place with a patio over top of the sand. Having not eaten much all day we ordered 4 entrees and 3 deserts between us, plus drinks. We were completely stuffed and satisfied for only 39RM($13)!

Posted by Evan at 8:13 AM