Juara Beach, Tioman Island, Malaysia and the future

James and I made it out to Tioman a few days ago. This place is one of the most unspoiled areas I've ever been too. Perfect beaches, jungle, and rivers. We are pretty remote where we are staying, it's a 30-40 Landrover drive or a 2 hour jungle walk, but it's worth it. We have been moving around from place to place each night. The first night was under the Turtle Sanctuary roof in my hammock, the next night was in a beach shack, then two more nights in my hammock in a rough campsite near the beach, now we are at a really cool house with a guy that also runs school trips. It's an amazing and beautiful house in a really great location, the catch is you have to wade across a tiny stream if the tide is out or you have to swim/paddle across a large river if the tide is in. It's a trade-off I'm comfortable with, especially being able to sleep in past 7:30am since the jungle blocks the scorching hot sun and it's not 100 degrees with no wind at 8am.

I'm buying my (steam-powered?) airplane ticket today and starting the countdown until I have to return to the "real world." It looks like I'll be back in Hong Kong around June 8th, that way I'll have a week to mentally prepare and rest up....haha from this travelling. It's hard to believe it's almost over, 5 weeks seemed like such a long time 5 weeks ago. Southeast Asia is such a large place, I could probably spend years here and not see it all. I'd say this is a sampler trip for more precise trips to come in the future.

This will probably be my last post until I get back to Hong Kong, James and I hiked 2 hours through the jungle path to get to Tekek and internet. So look for spot tracker messages over the next week.

I can't wait to send home all the goodies I've picked up for everyone back home, I think I have a little something from everywhere. I won't give any specifics, but there will be one of the Philippines most prized exports, Laotian handiwork, and Cambodian art... as well as something from the pestering Hanoi street walking merchants...

I also have something up my sleeve that will take some time for me to create... but will be well worth it.