94 km

We decided we wanted to take the ferry to Pulau Tioman, one of the ten most beautiful islands in the world. It is the tail-end of the monsoon season, so it’s not generally recommended to make the trip, but we wanted to relax for a couple of days and swim in the ocean. So, we bought tickets.

We ate breakfast and then came back to the ferry dock. The boat came in and it looked big enough. They loaded our bikes on the top deck on the front. We stepped down inside the boat and were pleased to see comfortable seats and feel cool air conditioning. As we started I got pretty excited, because the only other boat I’ve been on is a ski boat on a lake and the big car ferries in the Puget Sound. Pretty tame stuff. This was going out on the OCEAN. Wow. The ride was pretty tame because the boat was of a pretty good size, but I was still nervous–mostly about the bikes. I couldn’t see how they would stay up there with all the pounding and swaying. The whole ride took about two hours, and I was relieved to get off. I didn’t get sick, and it was fun at times, but I had a hard time relaxing. Maybe the ride back will be better, though it will be later in the day and likely be rougher.

We found a little cabin (called a chalet here) for 15RM and then went swimming. OH MY GOODNESS, we went swimming in the ocean with goggles. Why didn’t I think of this before? Goggles make all the difference. We swam and swam, looking down and diving down to see all the coral and fish. It was amazing. The visibility was better than we had hoped for with this being monsoon season.

We slept under a fan, with the sea air blowing through the cabin over us and the sound of the tide bringing the sea even closer to us.