Pulau Perhentian Kecil

I departed Koh Phagnan in Thailand at 5 pm on August 22 by ferry. Three hours later I reached the Thai mainland and went by bus for another two hours to Surat Thani. I waied there for about 4 hours until I caught the 2:15 in the morning (on the 23rd) train to Sungai Kolok, which is the eastern Thai border town with Malaysia. I walked across the border, hopped in a cab with a few other travellers, and made my way to Kuala Besut. There we immediately caught a boat to Long Beach on Palau Perhentian Kecil.

Long Beach is is a beautiful strip of white sand that stretches for about 2 km and it is lined with guesthouses, restaurants, dive shops, and even a couple of bars (Malaysia is a Muslim country). Accomadation on the island is VERY expensive and i have seen back yard tool sheds in better condition than the shack i ended up staying for $10 per night. I found one for $7, but it had bats living on the ceiling.

Following the recommendation that I had received from several dive shops elsewhere in southeast asia and other travellers I met I decided to go diving with Spice Divers, the oldest dive shop on the island. This proved to be a bad decision in the long run as i will now explain...

I did two dives my first full day on the island (24th) and was done diving around 2:00 in the afternoon. The two dive masters who do the fun dives - malay locals - then proceeded to start drinking - heavily - with three of the customers. They were playing some drinking game with dice in a cup. They were working through a big bottle of gin in a hurry. Another guy came by the shop who I had not seen before and I aksed him if he worked there. He said yes, and I asked who was leading the night dive later that night that I was supposed to be going on. He said that it was the two guys who were drinking really heavily. I promptly paid my bill and left their shop. So, if you ever make it to Pulau Perhentian Kecil, do NOT go diving with Spice Divers. Go with Coral Sky Divers. They were the shop that I switched to. Diving with them was excellent as you can see below.

I departed Kecil at 8:00 am yesterday, retraced my steps to Sungai Kolok and my middle name held out like never before. I needed to get a train ticket from Sungai Kolok to Bangkok - a 1260 km journey that takes 24 hours. I did not have a ticket in advance. Now, on a Thai train there are several classes of accomadation. First class with a private compartment, air-con sleepers, fan sleepers, and second class, which just has seats. When I got to the train station (with 45 minutes till the only train of the day departed) I was standing behind two 20 year old british girls who discovered that their were no more beds available. They bought seats for the journey and left the train station to get some food. I stepped up to the window and asked about beds. The guy behind the counter said that there were no beds available. I looked at him. Studied him. Pulled out a 500 baht note ($12) and asked if there were any beds. He said to come back in 30 minutes, but did not take the bill. 30 minutes later I came back and low-and-behold the computer now said that there was a lower bunk in a air-con sleeper. I paid for the ticket and included the 500 baht bribe. So, with 15 minutes to spare, I managed to get a bed for the extremely long journey. I saw the two girls on the train and they figured out on their own that I had a bad and were shocked and asked how I had gotten one. I just smiled and winked at them...

I am once again back in Bangkok and am about to start my usual end of trip power shopping. Tomorrow I am headed out to Chatuchak, the weekend market with 15,000 stalls that sees over 200,000 people a day. I think that, like Morocco, I am once again going to have to buy another bag to get it all home...