Island Hopping and Sky Bridge

Above: Pulau Beras Basah.

Island Hopping

I had to wake early today for the 0900 Island Hopping excursion departing from Teluk Baru on the far side of the island about 30 minutes drive away.

I got to the jetty at 0830 when it was absolutely torrential.  I was going to throw away the MYR30 trip because the weather was so unbelievably wet but at 0900 the rain had eased but it was still quite heavy.

Braving the wet, I found the waiting area only to be told to wait as actual departure was 0930.  With many boatloads of people, we eventually left at 0945 for Pulau Dayang Bunting, our first island.

At Dayang Bunting  it was a 10 minute walk from the jetty inland and slightly uphill before descending to the lake area.  The lake was formed when the roof of a cave collapsed leaving a depression which eventually filled up with water.

Monkeys along the walk were vicious to selected people, perhaps sensing that there was food in their bags.

The weather was still a little cloudy and the lake didn’t look as inviting as it did my first time back in 2002.  There had been a sign warning of the dangers of swimming in fresh water, but while this lake didn’t look stagnant, it was enough to stop me from swimming in it this time.

With age, the magic of things seem to be gone.  It wasn’t as special as in 2002.  Many things are starting to be “more of the same” having experienced so much of life and travel in my 53 years.   Sad but true.  I guess, that’s when the thirst for strange and off-the-beaten-track destinations come in.

There were solar powered paddle boats, swan boats for rent at the lake. The fish spa (where fish nibble the dead skin of your feet) has been replaced by a normal massage tent.

The 1h10 seemed a bit long since I wasn’t swimming.  I headed back to the jetty area where I chatted to some people before reboarding the boat.

This trip included eagle watching (or feeding) again.  This time, the boatman didn’t pull away and I managed to get some good shots of the eagles. Another boat pulled up once we were done and threw some more chicken skin into the water.  The supposed safeguards to prevent over-feeding of the birds didn’t seem to be in place here.

Our second and last island is Pulau Beras Basah.  I guess two islands is the minimum number of island one can have for an island hopping trip.  When we pulled into the jetty, the place didn’t look too busy.   But once we walked around the beach, the place was brimming with mainland Chinese tourists.  Most of them cleared off after a while so I managed to make use of our 1h10 stop for a cool dip in the beautiful waters.

It was a short ride back to the jetty where we started.  As it was about 1300, I grabbed lunch at Pantai Tengah.

Sky Bridge

Seeing that the weather was beautiful, I thought I should make full use of it by visiting the Sky Bridge in the north west of the island.  I drove there, parked and bought the minimum package of MYR40 for the cable car up Machinchang mountain.

The ride up was spectacular.  It seemed like a compulsory stop at the middle station for the viewpoint before continuing up to the top station.  It was a separate ticket of MYR5 to walk to the Sky Bridge.  It involved a downhill stepped nature hike to get there.

The bridge at an elevation of 660m supported by one pylon was an engineering feat (as was the cable car).  The view was good out to the west but it was cloudy on the other sides.

It was an uphill hike back to the cable car where the ride took me straight down to the base; stopping wasn’t permitted at the middle station even though the door did open briefly.

Included with the cable car up to the Sky Bridge were three other rides.  I did two out of the three before losing interest because they had scheduled times and I didn’t feel like waiting anymore.  They’re typical theme park rides I guess, one was a 4D ride (3D projection plus movement) while the other was a series of beautifully painted rooms with laser projection at set times.  I’m getting too old for these things, having seen and experienced them before.

In the evening

On the way back to Eagleye, I called at the Ayer Hangat Ramadhan Bazaar to get a few things for dinner.  All my choices proved yummy.

After dinner, Susie invited me for a drink at her cottage.  It was nice to chat with her and the others.