It took us more than 4 hours to reach Lumut and thereafter Pangkor Island with a pit stop at an overcrowded R&R along the highway in between. 4 hours is a very long time to spend on a bus and with little things to do on the bus, most of us decided to sleep to spend the time.
Others decided to play card games at the last few back seats in the bus. My son, on the other hand, decided to spend his time watching the scenery along with the travel and when got bored, switched seats. He hardly slept most of the way.
Read Part 1 here
When we finally reached the Lumut jetty, it was over 2 pm and we were so hungry. Thankfully lunch has been arranged but we had to queue with our luggage for a plate of rice with fried chicken, fish curry and vegetables. Hungry and tired, we managed to “crawl” ourselves to the place where lunch was being handed out.
With our stomachs full, we headed towards the jetty where our tour guide was getting our tickets for the ferry ride to the island. Being a holiday season, the jetty was almost full of people – all heading towards the island. The ride from the Lumut jetty to the island was uneventful although we always got a kick of excitement whenever we pass the Lumut Naval Base. Of course, it would be better if the windows on the ferry were much cleaner for us to see. The interior was stuffy and does not look too sturdy.
Despite the condition of the boat ferrying us to the island, much of the time was spent on seeing the (whatever possible) view outside the boat – namely passing boats, the coastal fishing villages and of course, the reflection of the faces of those in the boat.
(The boat that we took looked like this – dirty on the outside and somewhat stuffy on the inside)
Several minutes later we arrived in Pangkor. We were eager to settle down in our rooms – carrying all those luggage under the hot sun was unbearable. We walked towards the taxi stand and we were one of the last in the group to catch the pink van taxi to the hotel. The drive to the hotel was quick and swift.
The hotel room was nothing to shout about – the bed was somewhat comfortable but the other things were a big letdown. The TV (advertised as Astro TV) was not working. The bathroom did not look too clean but at least it had running hot water.
We dumped our luggage; I and my son had a quick change and headed towards the hotel swimming pool. My wife decided to stay back in the hotel room for a short nap. I was barely able to keep up with my son as he was headed towards the swimming pool. He jumped into the kiddies pool and made himself at “home”. Seeing him comfortable and safe in the kiddie’s pool, I decided to jump into the adult’s pool and cool myself.
Immediately I noticed the swimming pool was kind of slippery – a good sign of the pool was not being well maintained. One wrong footing and I slipped. The next thing I knew, I was facing the pool floor, underwater and gasping for air. Thankfully I did not panic and managed to recover. Otherwise, there would have been a dead body floating in the pool on that day.
That incident left me more alert and in fact, that was the only time we ventured to the pool. My son was tired after playing in the kiddie’s pool. So, after we left the pool, I took him for a warm shower and it was not long before he got hungry and sleepy. After the close encounter at the pool, I was kind of shaken up and was hungry too.
To be continued…