Tanjong Jara Resort in Malaysia

Tanjong Jara Resort As I wait to board my flight to Terengganu, everyone around me is buzzing with pride for this lesser-known Malaysian state.But instead of being enticed, as I am, by the prospect of exploring a long coastline with the finest beaches and clearest water on peninsular Malaysia, it turns out I'm sharing the jet with jubilant members of the state football team who are returning in glory after winning the FA Cup Malaysia with a last-minute goal in extra time.
While many of the other passengers are fans who jostle for photographs with the players and their trophy (bigger and more gaudy than even the FIFA World Cup), my goal is exploring the tropical archipelagoes that extend into the South China Sea and which offer a dose of splendid isolation - within an hour or two of the mainland.
All along the coast are close-knit fishing communities with busy night markets. The east coast of peninsular Malaysia may be a road less travelled but anyone who makes the journey here will be richly rewarded.
On landing in the state capital, Kuala Terengganu, I leave behind the football mania and check into Aryani Resort, a charming beachfront base from which to explore the city and surrounds.
Owned by a relative of the Sultan of Terengganu, there is a refined ambience here among the villas. I walk along the shore passing fishermen wading waist-high casting into the ocean while their children play in the waves. Then I return to the hotel to lie back on one of the hotel's rattan loungers and gaze out at the fishing boats bobbing in the South China Sea.
On my first morning, I visit Terengganu's Central Market with its stalls of pungent salted fish, shiny fresh squid and dried cuttlefish. I gaze forlornly at the pyramids of turtle eggs, still covered in grains of sand (collecting turtle eggs is an illegal practice but the law is neither well respected nor well policed). In the vegetable market I come across milky-green chillies and trunks of banana trees. I buy a half-dozen ripe mangoes and sweet apple-bananas, as well as keropok prawn crackers, a local delicacy.
Alongside the market I walk through the streets of Chinatown with its 19th-century shopfronts converted to cafes, boutiques and batik ateliers. Small ferries offer trips to nearby villages such as Seberang Takir, where families still earn a living through age-old cottage industries and can be seen outside their homes frying crackers, printing batik and drying salted fish under the sun.
From the city I head north to Kuala Besit, where travellers come to catch a ferry to Pulau Perhentian, a duet of islands that is one of my favourite hideaways in Malaysia. This is not a destination of five-star service or fine dining but instead a place to escape the trappings of the world. The islands are ferociously beautiful, clad in thick lush forest and fringed with white-sand beaches and teal-green water. I spend my days on Perhentian Besar, the more grown-up and family friendly island. Perhentian Kecil is preferred by low-budget travellers but neither island is heavily developed and hotels are low-rise and low-key. A large number of dive schools operate here and many visitors come to obtain their scuba diving certification. In the water, the wide-eyed fish are so curious they butt my goggles. By night, the only sound is the croaking of geckos and the rhythmic chirruping of crickets.
A few hours south of here is Pulau Redang, the largest island on this stretch of coastline and with the hands-down best beach I encounter on my trip. The Taaras Beach & Spa Resort sits on an unrivalled crescent bay with sand as fine as sieved icing sugar and with sparkling waters.
Reaching Redang is straightforward enough. Its small airport operates regular flights from Kuala Lumpur (60 minutes) and Singapore (75 minutes); passengers are on the beach within minutes of disembarking.
Back on the mainland I return to Kuala Terengganu to visit the State Museum, one of the largest institutions in South East Asia. The building itself is a fusion of traditional timber and palatial concrete architecture. Inside are galleries of ancient Islamic manuscripts, Chinese porcelain and fine old photographs from British colonial times. I still remember the delicate examples of antique songket, a brocade fabric through which silver and gold threads are handwoven in beautiful, intricate geometric designs.