Pangkor Laut, monkey hunting and "AIEEE"

Pangkor Laut Island Resort really is as good as it says on the tin! From the moment we landed we were treated like royalty! We were met at KL airport by our driver, Mr Logan, in our own private people carrier. Because we missed breakfast at the hotel in Bali and missed it on the plane as we were sleeping, by the time we landed in KL, we were starving! The fact that we had a 4 hour drive ahead of us meant that we had to eat something, so, being sacrilegious, we stopped at a McDonalds drive through! Well it was cheap, quick and just what we needed for a quick fix! Almost! It is nice to see that McDonalds staff are thick and incompetent all over the world, and not just in the UK!! Ju, being the fussy eater that she is, simply wanted a big mac with nothing but the bread, burger and cheese in it. Simple you would think?! Nooo. It took four, yes, four attempts for them to get it right! The first came with sauce and pickle, the second, no cheese, the third, sauce and pickle again, and finally, on the fourth go, they got it right! So, after an elongated food stop, we lay back in our seats and slept most of the 4 hours up to Lumut to catch the ferry across to the island.

As soon as we arrived, we were greeted with a cold flannel and a drink and then given the run down of the island. It is such a big complex that they use shuttle buses to get you from one place to the other!!
When we entered our room/ spa villa- Wow! It was amazing. Set about 50m from the shore, over the water, with our own sun balcony, huge bedroom, huge bathroom and a bath that managed to actually swim a stroke in, it was that big. Complete luxury!
We settled in, went for dinner and had an early night and slept so well.
Over the next couple of days we just mooches about the island, swimming in the spa pool in the morning and then catching the bus to Emerald Beach for lunch and sun in the afternoon.
On our first day on the beach, we discovered that there were hundreds of small hermit crabs on the sea bed, in the shallows of the water, and I managed to catch a few, most and inch or two in size. Ju was fascinated by them and sat on the beach having her own 'crab wars', where she would try and get one to fight the other!!
What was so funny was that, on the following day, when we went to the beach, Ju was reluctant to get in the water because she realised that the crabs were on the sea floor and thought that they would bite her. It was so funny because whenever anything touched her feet, she would jump and yelp
' aieee'! That was all I heard all afternoon!! That was my soundtrack to Pankgkor Laut- AIEEE!!
There is lots of local wildlife on the island and we were lucky to see Eagles, Hornbills, turtles, sea otters. There are also wild monkeys as well and Ju was obsessed about seeing them, and on day 3, she got her wish! We were on the beach when a cry went up from a woman to our left. 3 monkeys had come down from the trees and jumped on her table and were trying to pilfer food!! They scampered off, with Ju in hot pursuit, camera in hand, saying 'here monkey, come here'!! She got some good pics. One of them of a monkey with his head in an ice bucket!!
On our final day, which was our Wedding Anniversary, we had a nice lie in and mooch in the pool In the morning. I thought I would tackle the 3km Jungle trek that goes from the East of the island along the south coast and over to the west coast. The guide time was 60 minutes. So I told Ju to meet me on the beach in 1 hour for lunch and set off. No sooner had I set off and found myself a stick with which to beat away any monkeys or

Monitor lizards, then I felt something on my shoulder. I just brushed it and felt a cobweb and saw a fecking HUGE Black and yellow spider fall to the floor!! Those of you that know me well know that i am EXTREMELY arachnophbic!! Needless to say I literally shat myself, screamed like a girl and let off a fair few expletives! Thankfully I was on my own, so was not embarrassed any further! I even managed to take a picture of the bugger!
I managed to compose myself and continued on my trek, making sure to clear any cobwebs away with my stick! To say it was hot would be an understatement!! I was sweating more than the proverbial fat Man in the pie shop, who was also wearing a sweatsuit. Whilst running. In a sauna. That was in the middle of the sahara. It was hot!!
It was a good trek as well, some really steep bits, up and down, where they had cut into the hillside and placed logs for steps. I eventually emerged on the other side about an hour or so later, drenched in sweat and staggered on to the beach, plopped my stuff onto a lounger and fell into the sea. Bliss!!
Had a final lazy afternoon with Ju on the beach, still going AIEEE, whenever she was in the water. When we were leaving, 2 monkeys literally appeared in front of us and jumped onto a table and started rifling through someones beach bag. I still had my jungle stick with me and managed to beat them away before they took anything so they just ran to the back of the bar and took some fruit and sat on the road and ate it! Buggers!
We had a really lovely anniversary dinner. We just ordered room service and ate it on our balcony over the sea in our villa, with chill-out music in the background, the sun setting and local fishermen in their small boats catching barracuda. A perfect end to a perfect stay.
The resort really is an amazing place to go, and can recommend it to anyone, if you don't mind spending a bit of cash! We were lucky in the fact that we got a very good deal on the room, but the food is expensive, about £20 per dish minimum and the spa treatments are very expensive as well. But the whole experience is worth it. We shall never forget this place and hope to come back again someday.
Now though, we are on way back to KL airport, via another 4 hour drive (our driver has a fantastic handlebar moustache, I will try and get a pic) and a flight up to Phuket and another 2 hour car trip the other end to get to Krabi. Thailand, here we come! Just under 4 weeks of exploring all Thailand has to offer! Really been looking forward to this!
I will try and add pictures at a later date.
Until the next update, so long Malaysia, hello Thailand!!

G & J