Little big adventure in small Tioman

When life throws you onto an island, go explore it! Okay, I lied, the truth is, since we've already been thrown into this inescapable exile called teaching on this hunk of rock, we really needed some sort of escapism. But then again, I think going deep into the jungle hardly qualifies as an escapism...

We had originally planned on going swimming at the Marine Park. It was as a 20 minute-ish journey on foot from our..er.. 'hut', so to speak. But then somewhere along the way we (and a couple of other teachers from Tioman) ended up having to lead a bunch of school kids from the mainland deep into the mystical hilly jungles of Tioman (confession: I just added that 'mystical' bit to spice things up).

It was my first time to that part of the jungle, and it was Sofya's first time trekking on the island. I really can't describe the jungle in detail because it was all like green, green, and green. And then there's MORE green. Okay, there's some brown too.

[Too small for you? Click them pictures]

The 60 minutes of trekking and hiking wasn't a cake walk. We climbed up uncountable steps - some cemented, some just plain ol rocks formations, traversed plant-laden path few have trodden, performed death-defying leaps (not), survived encounters with terrifyingly savage beasts (again, not), and at the end of it, rewarded only by the fact that we have most definitely shaved a few cals off!

Like the point I made earlier, the view wasn't much different regardless where we were, but I gotta admit though, being in the heart of nature feels very different. The air is in a totally difference level of fresh, the ambiance is relaxing, and not to mention the denizens there! Well, they're sort of creepy like...

They're even creepier up close

The path down the mountain was much faster, but its toll towards our poor legs also significantly higher. We went out the jungle with shaky knees and blistered soles. A word of advice: never ever try trekking with your walking slippers! That, however, wasn't the end of our weekend escape. We had after all, planned to go the sea, and I was dead set on going there.

Swimming at the marine park is great fun. The water isn't exactly crystal clear, but it's pretty darn near that quality. The wave isn't strong there so it's particularly easy for people like me, who's just starting to get his bearings with swimming. There's some great view to be seen there too, though it definitely isn't the best that the island has to offer. I'm really into snorkeling since. Might even make it a weekly routine if possible.

All told, we had a lot of fun and it was a good diversion from our same old daily routine. The only downer is that the wife was down with fever for 2 days after the adventure - she's doing much better at the time of this writing though =)