Escape the Haze: Tioman Island

Thanks to our lovely Indonesian neighbours Singapore was covered with haze last week and every day it got worse. While the PSI Index kept climbing from "unhealthy" to "very unhealthy" and even "hazardous" the only place where the air was still ok-ish was our office. The company even provided us with some N95 masks which turned into the most sought-after good in Singapore within hours. Of course I had to try them as well. So I turned into a mixture between a pretty Darth Vader and a dentist.

Even though I tried to stay at home or the office most of the time because of the haze, a friend of mine gave me a reason to ignore the haze and make my way to Marina Bay Sands. Somehow she got a golden member card for the hotel that night and after a couple of phone calls a group of interns gathered at the hotel to crash the infinity pool. Although the haze was still pretty bad we had an awesome time there :)

 

On the weekend I finally wanted to escape the haze so I went with a friend of mine to Tioman island in Malaysia. From Singapore/Johor Bahru it takes about 3h by bus to Mersing (from Singapore ~30 Dollars; from JB ~12 ringgit) from where the ferry to Tioman departs (70ringgit return; 3 hours). Unfortunately even there was haze, although it wasn't as bad as in Singapore. We still had a great time there. We got off the ferry in Tekek and then took a taxi to Juara Beach where we had booked a room at the Beach Shack Hut Hostel. It was a really basic but nice hostel with a very friendly Australian owner. The beach view hut cost us 55 ringgit per night/room and it was right at the beach.
Apart from relaxing in the hammock and swimming in the crystal clear water we also went for a hike to a nearby waterfall. After getting lost a couple of times we finally got to the waterfall after more than an hour. But it was totally worth it. We went swimming in the river and let the waterfall give us a natural massage. Time passed way to quickly and after 2 nights we already had to leave our little paradise island. But I'll definitaly come back there!