Day 6 - Tioman Island - Malaysia

Dear all:

Here's my journal entry from a few days ago:\

"Rose from our chalet bed here on Tioman Island at 7am and stumbled out to our balcony. About a hundred feet below, a few wooden fishing boats bob up and down just off the wide beach. There is the soft hum of the tide as it pushes itself in towards the wide beach. Thich jungle rises abruptly from the beach to form palm-fringed mountains that stand guardian over the South China Sea. Some peaks are just high enough to be obscured by some whispy morning clouds. The jungle around us is slowly transitioning from its nightime banter of cackles, chirps, sqeeks, screeches, and whoops to a more serene voice--broken only by the occasional chirping of a bird. We'll soon head down our perilously steep stone steps, down the jungle path to one of the beachside restaurants...little to stress about here...I wish you could see this vista...as well as the curious monkey who is eating his breakfast on one of the nearby palm trees...

keith