Kota Bahru

This place is mostly a stopover place for people going to the islands and the cheap hostels are easily found online and in guidebooks. I stayed at denai lodge for rm15 per night(the place is mosquito infested).
Food is decently cheap again and the night market has a good choice, iced lemon tea is called teh o ben limau here(Ben instead of ais). The place doesn't have much to offer, but people are friendly and especially the children at the night market are awesome.

There are usually some silat events to see you have your usual fare of mosques etc.. I just spent 5 days relaxing and doing nothing. I thought I'd meet other travelers there but I had no luck for some reason the few usually arrived late and left the next morning. I supposedly was lucky seeing this big silat convention with different styles from different Asian countries. Apart from that I slept a lot.

Kemaman

I hitched my way to kemaman, and planned to stay two days, because I felt I needed some time of rest after all the camping and suspected a fungal infection because of several red itchy patches of skin. At first things looked bleak. The only place there calling itself a hostel had a room rate of rm120 ... and nobody at the reception. I didn't give up however and managed to find a cheap enough hotel with one room for rm 25. It was a tiny room, barely enough space for the double bed(but with ensuite shower) and I wondered whether they used it for 'special' guests usually(fittingly called VIP room..). It was good enough for sleeping so I took it. I was pretty much the only foreigner around and locals were quite friendly especially the Chinese. A guy called Harry decided to give me a tour of kemamans heavy industry.

The place didn't seem as conservative as I read it would be, or the Chinese just don't care. I saw a few just wearing hot pants.

Cherating

I didn't know what to expect of this place except that it was supposedly a backpacker place. However I found that it let down even the modest expectations of meeting people there.

I arrived at about 7 p.m. after hitching a ride from Kuantan, a city which I couldn't stand anymore after a few hours(mostly due to accommodation prices). I heard that accommodation in cherating was supposed to be cheap. All I saw was resorts and chalets in a mostly deserted village. Everything seems to cater to tourism and there's nothing aside of it. Since there were pretty much no tourists that means the village was dead. A few locals waiting for business that's all.

I met another traveler who had the same impressions, so we passed the days pretty much just talking in the shade drinking iced lemon tea (te o ais limau ) I was going to spend the last night in a Rm20 accommodation but that price was outdated it seems or only for long term stays, so instead I'm writing this article and stay in my tent. The only other option would be the 'dorm' the other guy had stayed in for just rm 15(cherating cottage), but since it apparently is mosquito infested, my free tent just seems way more comfortable. I guess if you just want to relax and come as a couple or have someone to share a room with, cherating may be a viable option, food is priced similarly as in most places (Activities offered don't look cheap.), however if you expect backpackers.. this is not the place.

In case you want to camp for free, just go towards the beach and then left till the houses end. I camped next to the tree there, you might want to consider walking on towards the trees, at some point you'll find a burnt down ?House?. You'll have some palm trees there, more shade and you'll be more out of view. Note you can find free showers in the toilets next to the food court kind of place at the main road.

Further note: I had no coverage with u-mobile, they sell digi here, so maybe that works, but I have been getting by with guessing hostel Wi-Fi passwords.