Malaysia - Tioman Island

We went to the pretty island of Tioman, 32km of the south east side of Peninsula Malaysia.  It's 39km long and 12km at its widest point

It's very quiet where we stayed, in Air Batang, or ABC as it's commonly known

Most of the beaches aren't as good as other Malaysian beaches, but the snorkling/scuba diving here is brilliant

Less than 20m from the shore, there are allsorts of fish, coral, sharks and stingrays

Looked like a 2 storey house which had shrank

Some of the beaches were still very good...

This is Tekek, the main hub of Tioman.  This is part of a new jetty investment, much to the annoyance of conservationists

There is a jungle landing strip 'airport' which can only be approached from the north, due to hills to the south, and the angle means this is about the biggest plane you get

There are thousands of these big bats (fruitbats, I think), hanging from the trees in Tekek

and hundreds of these all over the island...

Stiff penalties if you're a Muslim not acting very Muslim..

Nope, this isn't a path, it's the road in ABC

With the jungle behind, there are lots of streams coming down to the sea

Some have big Monitor lizards in them.  We saw 2 such lizards fighting, standing up on hind legs and tail and gripping each other, trying to pull the other down.  The victor then chased the other away and went to a smaller lizard, prob a female.  Like town on a Sat night!

There aren't any cars on ABC, but that doesn't mean that 8(+)-seaters don't exist...

There are also loads of monkeys, esp at Monkey Beach, where one tried to get into our bag whilst we were swimming

Sometimes all you can do to keep cool, is bathe in the clear waters of the South China Sea

Looking back at the pretty island as you do...

Being this close to the equator means that it's an necessary evil....

But we managed...

We went through the jungle to Juara on the east side of the island.  We saw some animals we'd never see before, including this, which obligingly waited for me to take a photo.  We also saw a snake, probably a rat snake, but it got away too quickly.

Shrooms on a fallen tree in the jungle.  This is far more interesting to watch for a few hours, than the film of the same name

Looked like an exoskeletal tree - mad!

A little lizard trying to dash up the slope away from my camera

The bananas here in SE Asia always seem to be small and fat, but taste the same as ones back home, apparently

Just arriving in Juara after a 2 hour hike from ABC at just over 10km, mainly very steep, at 2pm.  To say we were hot....

Juara is a wider and better beach than most on the other side.  It's also even quieter as it's the only village on the east side

Wasn't long after we arrived, that storm clouds started brewing - of course...

Malaysia - Cherating

Cherating is a small quiet village on the east coast of Malaysia Peninsula

At times, the beaches can be manic

Very pretty though

In some places, the beach was a bit rocky...

Pondering life...

I went on a trip down the Sungai Cherating, presumably where the village takes its name (or vice versa)

Locals fish and set baskets for crabs

And there are snakes in the Mangrove trees.  This is a Mangrove Snake

Spot the lizard

Its glass like surface was very pretty first thing in the morning

The Black River, one of its tributaries.  You can see how high the tide is from the Mangroves, 1.5m apparently

This was a Kingfisher which we chased down the river

Another Mangrove snake warming itself.  They hunt at dark and swim to hunt fish, frogs etc.  Although venomous, they're not the worst thing in the water, there are also salt water crocs, nearer the mouth of the river, some 14km away

A Mudskipper crawling its way onto the muddy shore

The monkeys here can be quite aggressive so we didn't get too close.  The locals capture some and use them to get coconuts

Malaysia - Taman Negara

No prizes for guessing where I am

The Taman Negara is said to be the world's oldest rainforest.  At 130 million years, it has missed all the past ice ages due to it's location, fairly near the equator

The entrance to the park is opposite Kuala Tahan, the village that you can stay at.  The river (Sungai) Tembeling acts as a natural barrier of civilization and the natural wilderness of the park

These are floating restaurants.  It's strange to sit eating dinner and riding the waves of passing boats....and petrol fumes!

There are lots of smaller rivers that join the main one, starting inside the park

You are restricted to a small section of the 4300 sq km park without a guide, but in this area is a canopy walkway

This takes you quite high into the canopy of the trees where you can see species you wouldn't see if on the ground

At 540m, it's the world's longest canopy walkway and held up by ropes, so there are restrictions of distance and number of people allowed

The views are good into the rainforest, once you get over the height thing

We were the only people up there

Ouch!

This is a Twin Barred Tree Snake, which is part of the Flying Snake family.  Gliding snake is probably a more accurate term as it flattens its underside and jumps and glides away from predators, or perhaps to eat a tasty lizard or frog

Not that it bothered Paul, posing right next to where it was

You felt as though they could carry you away, there were so many

Things just seemed bigger here

See what I mean

And I'm not just talking about the plantlife.  This ant was massive!

We went on one of the few walks you can do on your own to a 300m hill, Bikit Terisek

Where we briefly stopped to admire the view.  Briefly, because as soon as we stopped, swarms of mozzies came to join us

It was worth getting a few bites though

On the way back we saw some toadstools, but no fairies

Well.......you know what I mean....

Everywhere we've been in Asia, whether it be the remotest village with no electricity in Vietnam's northwest, or the cities of Thailand, or the poorest towns of Cambodia, people have got football club badges on their motorbikes.  Normally Man Utd badges, but a lot of Liverpool, Chelsea and others too.  Not seen any Man City ones though