Today I survived the most terrifying boat ride I have ever been on. Not that I ever really felt my life was in danger, so I guess survived is perhaps too strong a word. But I was pretty tense for the whole half hour it took us to sprint across the South China Sea from Kuala Besut in North Eastern Peninsular Malaysia to the little island of Pulau Perhentian Kecil. Our boat wasn’t the biggest of the trip, it wasn’t the smallest either (it definitely wasn’t one of those wimpy little longtails that mostly just look pretty), but the boat (and I with it) was catching air as it made its way perpendicular through the churning waves to our destination. I watched in fear as our boat went over wave after wave. I quickly learned to watch the waves and lift myself slightly off the seat as the boat caught air to prevent my butt and back from being jarred upon impact with the water. White-knuckled, I had one hand gripping the railing behind me and the other clinging to my backpack to prevent it from sliding into the passenger sitting behind it. We made it, but I am not looking forward to going back.