Malaysia: Pulau Besar

As the boat thundered across the calm waters back to Mersing, I realised we were getting further away from my bunch of keys which was in the bedside table in our room. No matter, a cunning plan should see us reunited with them later in the week.

Two hours later, we took a second boat to Pulau Basar, which is about three times the size of Rawa. A long strip of white sandy beach heads in both directions from the jetty where a sign indicates the direction of the Aseania Resort to the left. The accommodation costs about half of Rawa Safari but a short wander around indicated it was preferable to the previous place. ‘Isn’t it sweeeet?!,’ yelped Mrs M as we dumped our bags in the room and headed for a quick bit of lunch. The lack of Carpenters music and very good home-style Malaysian food brought favourable comments.

The beach called. Most of the Malaysian guests were probably having their afternoon nap, as the beaches were empty. Somehow the hours passed. A short walk along the beach path revealed other ‘resorts’ of varying quality. The huts in one camp looked like garden sheds that had been decorated in the dark with remnants of old pots of paint.

As the sun headed towards the horizon, boys played volleyball while local families frolicked happily in the sea fully clothed, unlike in Oman where the women usually sat on the beach looking miserable (sorry OP, just an observation!). Enormous bats with wings the size of hot water bottles flew from tree to tree causing the occupants to squeak and squeal as if the tree had already reached maximum capacity.

After a delicious dinner, we sat on the beach with coffee and banana cake looking up at the stars distracted by the occasional flash from a storm on the mainland.

Ahhhhh……