South East Asia photography

Tioman Island lies in the South China Sea not far from the Malacca

Peninsula. You'll find a lot of small islands here, and it's possible to

visit several of them including isolated Pulau Aur supposedly very

beautiful with traditional villages and pristine beaches as well as

good snorkeling and diving. Tioman is a high island covered in jungle.

The vest coast is developed for tourism while the east coast remain

much more quiet. A multitude of little sandy bays is scattered all over

and each has it's own greenish-turquoise-blue color. Huge ancient

jungle trees climb up the steep slopes which are often covered in mist

or thunder clouds.

When I saw the description in a guide book, I had found the island I'd

been looking for the last many years. It was something like: The reefs

around this islands are colorful and begin just few meters off the white

beaches which are lined by swaying coconut palms. The coconut

grooves are gradually replaced by dense jungle completely covering

the interior to the highest peeks more than one kilometer above the sea.

Many people go to Tioman, but don't let this keep you away there are lots

of places to go to get away from the more populated bays. Getting around

by speed boats is easy and not expensive. People are friendly, water is

clear, food is good and the jungles has a rich wild life with huge yellow

butterflies, monkeys, birds and much more. Biologists find the Island

interesting and there is some research going on somewhere in the jungles.

The Sinai Peninsula is a desert and full of beautiful red and green mountains

reaching high above the sand and dust. The Red Sea around Dahab offers some

of the best snorkeling I've ever seen. The climate is hot hot hot and dry. People are

friendly but you wont meet all of them on the streets. There are many touts and this

is not easy to get used to but after a while you'll get a certain unsympathetic

attitude which helps a lot. The food - lets not go there - come prepared - in some

countries handmade is a sign of quality - in other places machine packed is a

popular catchword on foodstuffs. Still it's a nice place very different from Europe and

America. Dromedaries, old dusty cars, smiling men in burnouses, dirty travelers and

white little hostels shaded by palm trees.

This is the weather in southern Malaysia - right now!: