We were up at 4am to get ready for the 5am minibus. We commandeered a seat on the front row in the hope it would be a more comfortabe ride but I had a rocking, clicking seat that kept reclining itself onto the legs of the poor guy behind. Combined with the windy road and sharp braking, we didn't get much sleep but the bus driver very nice and friendly and made regular short stops so the 5 1/2 hour journey still flew by.
We arrived at Kuala Besut about 10.30, signed in at the surprisingly helpful desk and took our first speed boat. It cut through the water at a thrilling speed, bouncing up and doown dramatically and spraying us all with water. It was really good fun and the kids on the boat didn't stop grinning. The water was an amazing colour and the islands looked a lot better preserved than the Thai islands we'd seen.
We dropped a few others off at their respective beaches and arrived at our destination, Coral Bay. We were last off the boat because I couldn't stop looking at the school of fish that were next to boat and resting in the shade of the pier. We hardly walked a few paces down the pier when we saw a shark gliding through the shallows. We also spotted a long, thin swordfish type thing and big, pretty, colourful ones.
I left Matt in the shade and enquired along the beach about accomodation but most places full or too expensive. It came to a toss up between Ewan's and Aur-Bay. Ewan's was not available until after 3, was only free for one night and even though it had nice chalets, they looked onto a patch of land that was being landscaped. Aur-bay was not so nice but it was on the beach, available immediately and cheaper. We went for tight option to save a couple of quid a night.
After a quick shower, when I realised there was no sink and the floor had a constant pool of water (which meant I had to take my trousers off to take a wee!) we asked around a few of the schools about diving. We stopped at Ombak diving school first. We were expecting a price and the name of a site or two but were given a very detailed and passionate explanation of the options by a guy called Holly. We both took to him immediately and foud ourselves wishing he'd taught us to dive. We also asked at Quiver and, though they were nice, we preferred the personal approach of Holly. Unfortunately, Matt's ears were still feeling bad with the 'Baro Trauma' he sustained at Koh Tao after not equalising properly and so decided to give it a day or so before taking the dive.
Back at the room, Matt fell to sleep but the bed smelled funny so I couldn't drop off. Instead I wandered the few metre to the beach. There was no shade at all by this time so I went in the sea. The tide was out and it was really rocky underfoot and so didn't swim. I could have braved the rocks and walked in further but to be honest, even though I knew the sharks weren't dangerous, I didn't fancy running into one alone and so gave up and sat on the balcony outside our room.
Under the opposite bungalows, there was a large 'swamp' where all of the shower water ran out into the ground. I thought I's seen something swimming in it earlier but,as I sat there, 2 HUGE lizards over a metre long came out and faced each other off for a bit. They scrurried back in the water before Matt got a look at them but they were like mini dinosaurs.
We went to a beach front restaurant for food and to watch the sun set. We bumped into a girl called Holly who I'd briefly met earlier and so asked her to join us so we could pass the time while the family at the restaurant broke their Ramadan fast and started taking orders again. We had a nice chat about her job which was interesting because she works at a mine in Mongolia teaching safety and had a few funny stories about how strange it could be, especially at the fortnightly disco.
We went back to go to bed but the bed smelled so fusty that I took a closer look. The pillow cases were mouldy and the bed covers didn't look much healthier so I asked at reception for some different ones. When I took covers off I was horrified to find that the pillows themselves were black with a respiritary disease level of mould. I quickly ran up to Ewan's to ask if the room was still free and felt lucky to discover that someone had cancelled. Back at Aur-bay, I spoke to the cocky guy there and found out that he was well aware of the problem. He would not give us all our money back and was quite rude and dismissive. We packed our stuff, asked whether they fancied returning the rest of the money in exchange for the lock and, since they didn't, we out the padlock on the foor and took the key as a souvineer.
Ewan's Place was even more lovely than I remembered now that it wasn't full of workmen and I kicked myself for not checking in there in the first place. Ewan himself was as sweet and generous as when I met him earlier and offered to make us some food even though the kitchen was closed. After all the excitement, it was about 1.30am before I feel asleep.
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