Boom! Merang!

Day 5 Hotel Continental, Kula Terangannu
(interim post, to be completed with photos and more details)

Breakfast here was entirely Asian, so noodles all round. We packed up and got into a taxi driven by a madmanwho did the hour trip to the jetty in about 30 minutes. Apart from the fact he was overtaking left right and centre, the trip was interesting, seeing suburban and semi-rural Malaysia. We arrived at the jetty in a place called Merang where we had a short wait until the boat arrived over from our destination on Pulau Redang in the South China Sea. The trip out was about 30 minutes or so, where we disembarked and checked into Pelangi Resort. The sight you arrive to is a long beach of white sand, fringed by palm trees with buildings nestling back in the trees, tree which cover the mountain behind the resort. Some of the other resrsts aren't quite so subdued, with one r twoof them going for the bigger is better is more exclusive look. True, it's not as bad as a lot of Spanish seaside resorts, but is very out of character with the rest of the scene.
Our room was in a wooden building, a decent size with sir con and an electric shower, so way above the basic level we have stayed in places like Tioman nd the Perhentians which had no hot water and only a fan to cool you.. We unpacked a few things and went out for lunch at 12 (the accomodation is full board, and includes two snorkelling trips a day if you so desire). Lunch was a buffet affair of local ood, but served cold. Or at least served up warm, but rapidly cooled as there was no way of keeping ithot in the trays. It is a little like school dinners, especially in the fact that you have to clear your own plates.

After this we headed back to prepare for our first foray snorkelling which was to a nearby island. This had some decent coral and a fair few fish, though nothing spectacular. We were here for about an hour before heading back for afternoon snacks: curry puffs were especially good.
Now we lounged aro9und for a couple of while before having a wander along the beach to see what else was available, and alighted at a bar at a resort called Coral which was very pleasant to enjoy a beer, but it's aeach bar, so what else can you expect?

Dinner was BBQ night, so served up in buffet style we had chicken wings, fish (mackerel I think), lamb and vegetables including baked sweet potato. It was passable, but again quite cold by the time we got it.

That evening we explored what the beacjh had to offer in terms of nightlife. There are 10 resorts on the stretch of beach, and probbly all but one or two have somesort of bar. One of them is a very expensive place that we didn't even bother going in. As it transpired we went to three or four, ending up at the Coral where we had cocktails. It's defintiely not a holiday without the od cocktail.