Travel 2014: Kg.Salang @ Tioman Island

Returning to Kg Salang feels like coming home. This was the first village I visited when I first came to the infamous Tioman Island to take my diving course and I spent some memorable time of 5 days 4 nights here.

Here's a map of the Tioman Island to give you a rough idea of where Kg.Salang is:

It's one of the furthest stop and the ferry ride takes about 2 ~ 3 hours to reach this place, the delay is because the ferry usually stops at other villages before reaching the last one there. But as you can see from the map, Salang is also near to most diving spots, which is really nice if your aim is to dive only and you could spend lesser time on the boat travelling to the diving spots, especially when the wave is powerful and you are sitting on a small boat, you would wish that you spend lesser time on boat any ways.

Kg.Salang is just a simple village, without the luxurious accommodations that other villages offer nor the beautiful long beaches with fine white sand that some other settlements are blessed with.

It has its charms and if you are up for some minimalistic travel plan - a bed to sleep in and lazing around all the time then Salang is probably right for you. Time seems to move slightly slower here and that proves to be something amusing than a hassle. Before you even realise it, your body and soul have relaxed upon stepping into this village.

Diving centres or even snorkelling stops are abundance here, just pick the one you prefer, negotiate a good price and here we go out to the ocean to see what Malaysia could offer.

This return however, disappointed me much as I found the fishes are getting lesser than the previous time I was here, which was merely a year ago. There has been talk and rumours of illegal fishing with crude methods around the island, even though we paid for the marine park fees and no actions have been taken to stop people from destroying nature. It's no surprise, given how our country runs for so many years now; give them something nice and they can close an eye to whatever you want to do, legal or not.

I feel pain, ashamed and disappointed for my own country because we have so much to offer to the world on our lands and in our seas and we never bother to take care of them. In the end, it's always the foreign dive masters or instructors who always remind us not to touch the corals or picking up rubbish along the way floating around in the sea.

I love my country. Even if it's just a impractical fervent wish, I pray that one day, this country will see better years ahead.

Well, enough of my talking, let's just kick back, relax and enjoy some of the best photos my co-founder of this blog have taken and edited just for you. :)

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If you ask me what does Malaysia has?

The beauty of life.