Charging the Batteries: KT & Kuantan

Ha ... carrying on from my last 2 vacation posts ... Cherating / Chendor and Perhentian Besar, we spent the last morning in Perhentian just wandering around, taking some pictures and just saying my goodbyes. I love Perhentian loads, but I don't think I'll be back soon - there are so many other islands to explore in Malaysia that Girlfriend and I haven't been to.

Leaving Perhentian Besar by speedboat at lunch, Girlfriend had a glimpse of the other beaches on the other parts of the island we didn't get to visit due to the inclement weather the day before. I'm sure we'll be back sometime to visit those places.


After lunch at the jetty, we took the beach route, via Penarik, down to Kuala Terengganu. Girlfriend found a nice batik replacement for her lost hairband, which is probably fish food somewhere in the South China Sea now. Nice, no ?


At KT ... we visited my new best friend and her good friends, her terrapins. She's currently at the final leg of her research on a headstarting protocol for terrapins.


We were given a very good overview of her project, and I'll have to say I'm impressed with what she and her colleagues have done. She deserves all the support she can get ...


Moving on, we went down to Pasar Payang in KT for some batik shopping. That's when I realised KT doesn't have any ATMs ! Not in downtown anyways.

By nightfall, we've reached Kuantan, after stopping by Cherating for grilled seafood again. We decided to end the holiday in a good hotel, so we were at the Hyatt Regency at Teluk Chempedak in Kuantan. It's a lovely resort, and we stayed in the sea view room ...


After a good night's sleep, this view greeted us the next morning ...


We soaked in the view, had a lazy morning, and took a walk around Teluk Chempedak after breakfast. After a few days eating in resorts and nice restaurants, we decided to just stuff ourselves with McDonald's. =)


The beach is actually pretty good, and there's a nice boardwalk, right at the edge of the water, and next to the Beserah Forest Reserve. Which probably explains the squirrels around the beach.


Walking right along the boardwalk which connects Teluk Chempedak to Teluk Tongkang, named as it was the place where Japanese troops landed during World War II, Tongkang being the malay word for junk, the type of ship which the Japanese used to come ashore. There's another beach reachable by trekking the jungle - Pantai Pelindung (Protector Beach), so named because the locals sheltered there from the Japanese who landed at Teluk Tongkang. And after that, we went back to the hotel, packed up, and said goodbye to a holiday well done !


The batteries have been totally recharged. And while the amatuer in me haven't quite figured out how to get the D80 to handle bright beaches and sunny skies well, some photos did turn out decently.

Don't you just love that sunrise pic over Teluk Chempedak? I do. And it's my post. So, I'm putting a different one, because I can. And because I'm so happy after my holiday !