I was falling in love but time was running out
Romance, weird fruit and a baby turtle miracle in Malaysia
This story is taken from the diaries I kept during my travels 12 years ago in Southeast Asia. If you missed the previous part of this story, you can read it here: Bali was beautiful. I was a mess.
I’m writing this from the front porch of a beach hut in Malaysia. He’s sleeping inside. In front of me, waves lap up against the shore, fizzing and crashing onto the pure white sand. The sun is peeking over the horizon to start the day, its light filtering through the palm fronds.
But I’m done with travelling.
Stand by me?
I’ve lost count of the number of airports I’ve transited through over the last year. Though Singapore was one of the best with its huge waterfall and forest displays. We were there a few days ago - the Frenchman and me - after our beautiful time in Bali.
On our first day in the city, we explored Bugis Street Market and I laughed as Steeve tasted durian fruit with a grimace. I’d already tried it during my solo travels, so I knew it takes some getting used to.
We stayed with my friend Jenny, who I met in Thailand a year ago. The three of us hung out on the rooftop pool of her condominium until a neighbour came to complain that we were laughing too much.
Over the week, we went sightseeing in Singapore while Jenny was at work. At one point over lunch, we started bickering and it made me feel sad. Our trip had been so wonderful until now. We went quiet for a moment.
Out of nowhere he told me the 25th July is etched in his brain. It’s the day of my flight home from Bangkok, in a month.
“I don’t know how I’ll cope without you,” he said. “I feel like I want to sing Stand By Me.”
That Ben E King song. He keeps surprising me.
Sunrise in Juara
We got here by bus from Singapore to Malaysia, then by ferry to Tioman Island where we are now, in Juara village. Yesterday we discovered a small, idyllic waterfall hidden in the jungle nearby. It was so refreshing to swim in the pool below it.
Now I’m watching the day come alive, as he dozes inside our beachfront hut. I can’t stop thinking about my dream last night. It felt like a message, a reminder to focus on what I want from my life. Where I want to live when I get back to London. I want to put roots down now. I’m done with travelling.
This past year I have learned so much. But this chapter of my life is closing now, it’s at its conclusion. The final few weeks.
And how splendid they will be - Malaysia and Thailand with my gorgeous Frenchman.
An island miracle
That afternoon we stumble across the Juara Turtle Project, a small conservation centre a short walk from our hut.
When we arrive, one of the volunteers tells us about their valuable conservation work to help these endangered Malaysian turtles. He shows us the hatcheries, each containing a hundred turtle eggs, and I point out that the sand is moving in one of them.
Suddenly, the volunteers get excited and rush round to see. One of the little critters has decided it’s time to emerge, which means the other 99 or so baby sea turtles will hatch today too.
That evening at sunset, we join around fifty people on the beach for a ceremony to release the newborn turtles.
A volunteer tilts a large box toward the sand and a hundred tiny turtles scramble out, flippers working furiously, heading straight for the water without hesitation. They’ve never seen the sea but they know what to do.
Steeve is grinning as much as I am. We watch until the last baby turtle disappears into the waves.
The love lock
We’re still glowing from the turtles experience when we leave Juara the next morning, riding in the back of a truck to the ferry terminal.
But we haven’t even made a plan for that night. Over lunch on the mainland, we discuss where to go next. We settle on the capital Kuala Lumpur then Penang, from where it’s easy to cross the border to our last stop before I go home: Thailand.
The skyscrapers and humidity of Kuala Lumpur hit us like a wall of heat after the island breezes of Tioman. While I sleep off the journey, Steeve sorts our bus tickets and accommodation for Penang.
We go sightseeing in the city, ascending the Kuala Lumpur Tower, posing in front of the glittering Petronas Towers and admiring the grand statues of the Batu Caves.
On the night bus to Penang, we spot a passenger eating durian, catch each other’s eyes and try not to laugh.
When we arrive, we check into a guesthouse on Love Lane. I stayed here last year and learned it got its name from visiting Chinese businessmen who used to keep their mistresses here. So not as romantic as it sounds, but it makes me smile.
The next morning we catch a bus to the bottom of Penang Hill and ride the steep funicular to the top.
At the summit, we find an observation deck with a long fence of padlocks. In front, a giant sign displaying the word LOVE in capital letters.
Couples are invited to decorate a padlock by hand before attaching it. We spot keys down beyond the fence, where people have locked it and thrown away the key.
Steeve insists we buy a padlock and write our names on it with a colourful heart. Then we attach it to the fence. He kisses me and we take photos of ourselves with it. I don’t know if we’re making a promise or a wish.
Our final destination
After our trip to Penang Hill, we book our bus and hotel in Ko Lanta. Back to Thailand, the place I loved to go on my first solo trips. Our final destination together.
He doesn’t know how he’ll cope when 25th July arrives and neither do I. Are we kidding ourselves that our relationship is locked in now? Are we just being romantics?
In three weeks, I fly halfway across the world, while he will continue travelling. Will we really stand by each other once we have thousands of miles between us?
Maybe we’ll need another miracle.
Thanks for reading this latest installment! The next one will be about what happens on our last days together in Thailand.
I really like the way you presented this. Raw and unfiltered, great way to present your thoughts and emotions in the moment.
Fantastic pictures and writing!