My GPS positioning is apparently between 2? and 7? to the north of the Equator line. I am in the middle of the world.

I stare, as if hypnotised, out the window of the bus at the new and strange landscape slipping by. The dense forestry and jungle make way for construction sites every now and again and the palm trees must be at least 30 metres high. We are on our way to Club Med Cherating Beach in Cherating, Malaysia after a journey of almost 26 hours from a damp, cold and grey Cape Town in South Africa.

Finally the bus gently hops over the last traffic bump in the road and through the jungle emerges the entrance to a place I would in the next few days come to believe holds magical powers.

We are warmly and personally greeted by the ?Chef de Village? Uggo and introduced to our GO Gareth.

Club Med staff members are called 'GOs', or Gentils Organisateurs (Gracious Organizers). Clients are 'GMs', or Gentils Membres (Gracious Members). The resort is known as a village. The resort manager is called the chef de village (Village Chief). This is Club Med parlance.

Built on shores of South China Sea

We are offered a welcoming cool beer at the bar: all drinks, including premium brands and cocktails, are included in the price as well as all food and snacks. The layout and design of the lounge and bar area encompasses a distinct tropical, exotic Asian and Western fusion of colour, materials and use of space.

Then it?s off to lunch. The dining room is huge and all meals are buffet style. Different cuisines from all over the world are represented at the various food stations ? Western, Chinese, Indian, Malay, Italian, Korean and on it goes.

The resort is situated on the South China Sea with pristine beaches stretching four kilometres and our rooms have spectacular sea views. The 297 rooms are divided between 15 three-storey buildings. Built in the local style, on stilts, with access via a stairway, all the buildings are made of teak. In fact, it is the largest wooden structure on stilts in the world, we are told.

After a dreamless and very deep sleep, we meet at reception and off we go into town for dinner at an authentic local Chinese restaurant, irreverently called De Jong. The evening is hot and balmy with a slight breeze blowing in from the sea. It seems like we?re the cast of movie set on a truly exotic location and the real world is far, far behind us.

The following morning we realise the pace of life in this 80-hectare Club Med Resort is set by the comings and goings of the macaque monkeys, gibbons, monitor lizards, rare birds and multicoloured butterflies. The beauty here is that you can choose to be in the midst of the activities or, walk a few metres away from the pool area to the sea, and you feel like you are a million miles from anywhere. You can choose solitude or interaction, tranquillity or participation. It?s all up to you?

"?a long, contemplative walk on the deserted beach?"

A visit to the Mini-Club is a treat ? the kids are happy and care free, playing in supervised groups, drawing or making things. Your children will never be bored or frustrated here. No stone is left unturned to give you and your kids the time of your life. You can choose to have them with you or leave them in the professional care of the children?s GOs. After lunch a head-to-toe massage awaits at the Spa?

Following a long, contemplative walk on the deserted beach, it?s off to the room for a quick shower and dinner after which we are treated to a truly outstanding comedy revue put on by the GOs. Every show put on here is done to professional standards, and after dinner we chat and laugh long into the tropical night.

"I have a surprise for you guys," says Gareth the next evening as we wander to the Rambulan Terrace restaurant. And sure enough, all 70 or so of us are called to the beach to line up next to water?s edge.

Uggo then proceeds to tell us about the turtle sanctuary and the turtle conservation program at Cherating Beach. Sea turtles are endangered and the sanctuary is located on the Club Med property. Then we are each handed a tiny baby turtle and Uggo counts down from three for us to release our baby turtles into the sea. They run hell for leather and we all wave them bon chance as they disappear into the waves only to return to this exact spot twenty years from now. And yes, there were tears?

All the stops are pulled that evening?

Dinner is entrancing ? the soft lighting, the music, the outstanding food, the venue overlooking the ocean, the tropical night. We slowly make our way back to the resort much like sleepwalking in a blissful dream.

Our last day dawns and I have that Sunday afternoon pit-in-the-stomach feeling when I think of having to leave this paradise. And all the stops are pulled that evening.

The theme is white elegant and the entire pool and patio area is dressed up in white satin covers. A special champagne cocktail party is hosted for us and we all converge on the theatre after dinner. Then the show starts. It would seem Michael Jackson is alive and well and touring Malaysia. Much later I fall into bed, my mind racing with one recurring refrain: ?I don?t want to leave, I don?t want to leave??

For more information on Club med Cherating, call 0860 CLUB MED or visit www.clubmed.co.za.

Jo Kromberg is associate editor for Family Holiday & Leisure magazine. She also serves as a judge on the annual SAT Welcome awards. In addition, she suffers from Attention Deficit Disorder and commitment phobia which serves her well as a travel writer.