The bus from Johor to Mersing departed with 25 min delay. I do NOT recommend SxS International company!!. On the way I saw throughthe window kilometers of oil palm plantation. This must be  big business in Malaysia! After some 2 hours of drive in Mersing I bought at bus terminal round trip ticket for the ferry to Tioman Island. Jetty is 10 min walk along the river. Uuuuu, there is a lot of bureaucracy… You have to call 4 windows one by one. One -check the ticket, two – register passport, three – pay 20 ringitts National Park fee, four – pay 5 ringitts Marine Park fee, five – get boarding pass. Little speedboat was full when we started 2-hours journey. After 90 minutes I saw through the dirty windows the green mountains of Tioman.  So it is not flat like the Maledives?!

Tekek, the little “capital” of the island was the third stop on the estern coast. Where to stay? Just 500 m walk in the heat and humidity south from the jetty I found Cheers Chalet. Little single room with a/c will costs me 60 ringitts per night. Bath is next door, flowers around… Lovely and cheap place!

In the afternoon I took a walk north – to the next coastal village. You have to know that Tioman is undeveloped. The only stretch of the concrete road goes 2 kms north from Tekek and 3 kms south. I reached northern end and then there is just a path after some steps at the cape. I went to the next village Air Bartang (ABC). There is a lot of accommodation and little restaurants. People are nice and ready for a chat, but sometimes they do not know English, Malay only like tis old man:

I was walking till the beautiful sunset. Tioman is 20 kms by 11 km big.. But not easy to explore due to the tropical climate (locals are to lazy to walk in the heat – they use motorbikes), lack of the roads – practically to many villages you can go only by the sea. Let’s see what I will manage to see tomorrow. Good night from the paradise island Dear Friends!