Day 23: Leaving Paradise

I slept pretty well in my room, but I felt rather down when I woke up. There were just too many things going through my head. I got up to go to the beach, sat under the shade and watched the waves lapping gently on the shore.

Then it was business as usual. I set up shop in the reception area, plugging my laptop and my mobile phone to charge. I finished up just before lunch, to head back to my room and pack up my things for check out at 12 noon. Since my boat isn’t until 4pm, I leave my things behind the reception desk and headed down to the beach for some light reading and uh, people watching. That cheered me up immensely, and after baking for a while, I head back the restaurant for lunch, pick up my laundry and pay my bill.

I played games on my phone while waiting for the boat, and as I was starting to really get into the game, the receptionist taps me in the arm because the boat is already waiting. She shyly asks me why I only stayed for one night. I was asking the same question myself. But really, I was ready to leave. The ride back was uneventful — it was more forgiving to the bottom, since the boat was full compared to the ride going to the island.

Back in Kuala Besut, I headed straight to the bus station to get tickets for the 9pm bus to Kuala Lumpur. I was able to get a seat, and I walked over to the playground to pass the time until I had to have dinner. Dinner never happened though. I was too content just sitting in the gazebo staring at the sea. I didn’t like Kuala Besut when I got there the other day, but at that moment, I fell in love with the place. From five o’clock until eight, I just sat there, thinking about things I shouldn’t be thinking about. Still, that was easily the best three hours I’ve ever spent.

The girl at the ticket counter said to be at the station by 8:30pm. As soon as all the passengers in the list are on board, the bus pulled out of the station, even if it wasn’t 9pm yet. We stop to pick up a couple of passengers in Jerteh and Tanah Merah, but the bus never even got halfway full. The seats were comfortable, but predictably, I was having a hard time falling asleep. I did manage to doze off a couple of times, but most of the time, I was looking out of the window and still thinking.

Suddenly, the view outside was spinning. The bus was spinning on the road, before finally landing its end in a ditch. As we were registering what just happened in our heads, another ar crashed into the bus, pushing us further into the ditch.