30 March 09 Johore Bahru (JB) (Malaysia)

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Getting out of Singapore yesterday was not as bad as I thought it would be. Being a Sunday the traffic was light and the sign posting excellent. The only issue we had was with the 'one way system' around the city which seemed to go in the opposite direction to the way we wanted to go. The island is fairly flat (thank goodness) as it was very hot and humid. By the time we reached JB in Malaysia, having covered only 23 miles we were shattered. We were both very tired however even before we started that day. The previous night we had had little sleep seemingly still suffering from the effects of jet lag. Furthermore any attempt to sleep wasn't helped by the constant drone of traffic that could be heard all night despite living on the 7th floor!

The first hotel we came to in JB was outside our budget so we decided to push on further into the city. By time we came to the next one Joy was having one of her 'I'm very hot' wobbles so we checked in despite the cost (£22 a night). Half an hour later, after a cold shower, she was fine. Later, when we went out to get some food, we found loads of hotels at half the price and judging by the photographs of the rooms displayed outside them, would have been comfortable enough for our needs. At least we are on the 14th floor this time so traffic noise is not a problem, however, judging by the racket we heard last night the karaoke bar is on the 13th floor! Thankfully our sleep patterns now seem sorted, no doubt helped by a hard day in the saddle and we soon drifted off to sleep listening to Frank Sinatra's 'I did it my way' - Chinese style.

We are staying in JB for 2 days as we needed to post the bike bags, we used to fly with, to Joy's brother in KL so we can use them again at the end of the trip. This we did this morning along with trying to get some money out of an ATM. Despite telling our bank that we would be travelling around the Far East for the next 4 months the transaction failed. Later the bank phoned me from the UK on my mobile to tell me that someone was trying to use my debit card in Malaysia - you can imagine my response.

Tomorrow we head for the east coast. To avoid any further wobbles we will be setting off early.

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Photos

JB
View from our 14th floor hotel room

Comments

[Corrie and Colin]

Really glad to read that you are underway again. Look forward to reading about the next few months. With best wishes

[Moira and Les]

Have a fantastic trip you two - love reading your blog. Take care. Big hugs and kisses xxxxxxxxxx