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Published: June 22nd 2010
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At this point we have been in Malaysia for over 10 days and South-East Asia for more than 2 weeks. I am proud to say that I have yet to need to use a squat toilet. This is a great success.
The Singapore/Malaysia border must be one of the easiest borders to cross in the world. You can go by pretty much any mode of transport you can think, including city buses, long distance buses, trains, ferrys and i believe it is the only border in the world which can be crossed via taxi. The best option for us was to take the city bus across the border to the long distance bus terminal in Johor Bahru, the southern tip of peninsular Malaysia. Just the 2.40$ bus fare takes us to the Singapore immigration building, where we disembark to get our passports stamped and officially leave the country. Then we re-board the next bus to take us across the bridge into Malaysia, where we must go through the same process again to enter that country. So far I am surprised at how easy the Singapore and Malaysian borders were to get across. Nobody even asks us a single question, they
simply take our passports and stamp them without so much as eye contact. Hopefully this is a trend that continues throughout south-east asia. I have no reason why but every time I cross a border I get an irrational feeling of relief like I've just gotten away with something.
From the border we got on the same bus which brings us to the bus terminal. It is immediately apparent that this is a completely different world from where we have come from. First impression was surprise at how islamic the country was. Woman are at minimum wearing head scarves and it is not uncommon to see someone completely lost under a burqa. The bus stop was 1/2 transport hub and 1/2 local market. After finding a money changer we were able to book a bus to the east coast town of Mersing, about 3 hours away. We had some time to kill and Yumi decided to get some cash from the friendly local "Bank Islamica" cash machine. However, instead of cash, the machine decided to take her card permanently in return for a slip of paper with several foreign languages printed on it.
We eventually had to abandon
Monitor Lizard
Some of these guys are getting close to 2 metres long her card as the bus was leaving and it didn't seem like the kind of place we would be safe spending the night. The bus was comfortable and air-conditioned. Three hours later we arrived in Mersing, found a hotel and looked around a bit. Mersing is unremarkable but conveniently compact and has anything a backpacker might need. It is a smaller town and the locals are quite friendly and relaxed. When we first arrived we had to cross a busy street at a traffic circle and had now idea where to do so. We asked a police man where to cross the road, who then proceeded to stop traffic in both directions of the busy highway for us.
The reason to go to Mersing is that it is the location of a ferry to an Island of the coast called Palau Tioman. We spent three nights here and it was everything you might expect a tropical island should be. Our accommodation was a rustic bungalow not 30 seconds from the beach. Super friendly locals who are genuinely interested in foreigners, not just in a profit motivated way. The scenery is absolutely gorgeous and the ocean is turquoise colored and
crystal clear. Even way out deep you can see the bottom like it is through a glass window. The small town on the island has the most laid-back lifestyle that I haven't seen since i was on some of the smaller islands in Fiji. They really know how to live. The three most interesting things seen here:
1. People living in tiny ply-wood shacks have satellite dishes.
2. Three eight year old boys joy riding up and down the main street on a motorcycle in excess of 80kph.
3. Dozens of monkeys doing battle with giant monitor lizards for dominance of the garbage fire.
Anyways, after 3 days in paradise, we had to head back to Mersing and onward to the capital Kuala Lumpur. I'll leave that for next time as I think I've rambled on enough for now. Just to finish Yumi's ATM story. She discovered a few days later that her ATM Card was in fact still in her wallet. Very peculiar. It turns out that she had just put an old card from a now defunct account into the machine and obviously that was why it was taken. Three days of stressing about someone stealing
her account details for no reason. Way to go Yumi!
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Jacquelyn
non-member comment
Sobbing quietly in my office. Or maybe not so quietly.
You jerk. How dare you post these pictures of paradise? That being said...wow! It looks like you are having an amazing time! I laughed out loud when you mentioned that ever time you cross a border you feel like you have gotten away with something. I feel the same way whenever I cross a border! Yumi is adorable!! You both are! Keep a' posting! And I will keep a' sobbing at my desk. *Sigh*