This is my last day in Malaysia, if nothing unexpected comes up, touch wood! my plan is to reach Singapore and my hotel on Temple Street late this afternoon.
The sun is shining from an almost clear sky and it is hot and very humid.  I did a short stop and break when I saw a sign for bee farm, only 2 km from mainroad.

Entrance to the bee farm, Milik Penuh Mersing Bee farm Mersing

I was guiden around the bee farm by this smiling man.
The guide says each hive produces about 10 kg per month, about 2 kg per frame.

The road AH18 looks like this long stretches. Oilpalms plantations on both sides

After this break I continue my journey south. Quite easy cycling but  I notice some strange noise when I try to put more force on the pedals, but I couldn´t see  anything strange.

17-20 km after Jemaluang I get a response to the strange noises, suddently I lost every power , the chain has broken. Unfortunately, I have any chain lock left and  my spare link can’t be found either. I had to steer the bike to the next small town to find a bike repair shop or a bus to Johor Baharu, but without success.

Two elderly men in a repair shop offer me a ride to his home village a few km away to get help with my problem.

Accept the offer. We drove off and they stopped for lunch and paid mine.

The help they talked about wasn’t worth much. While I was looking the other way, the so-called repairman assembled the chain without pulling it through the derailleur.

The nearest bike repair shop was in Singapore so the only thing left to do now was to hop on a bus from the nearest village to Joho Baharu and from there find a way to my hotel in Singapore.

Phew what a day

In Kota Tinggi I bought a bus ticket to Johor Baharu bordercontrol, nearly 40 km. Then I had to steer my my ”bike crew” through the control.

Zero problem to pass through, pretty fast.

Now I will cross the Johor Strait, a 1.1 km wide road then I’m in my Singapore, my 18th country om this journey!!

Johor–Singapore Causeway over Johor straits

There were also no probs to pass through the Singaporian passcontrol. My biggest problem now is how to get to the Chinese part of Singapore, where I have booked a hotel room.

See Yeah later from Singapore
// P-G, The Global Cyclist

My second day on the island of Pulau Tioman is just nothing to write about, sleeps late, eats breakfast and strolls around among the few shops that are here. Tekek, the main village actually has only one street, where almost every shop, bar, restaurant and rental/tourism company is located. Tekek has also a very small airport, and a bank, but no problem to use creditcards.

Tekek mainstreet

Pulau Tioman Airport,is not large, slightly smaller than Schiphol’s complex in Amsterdam

Sunset at my corel reef beach

Tomorrow I had bought a speed boat tour, for bath and diving with snorkel.

Good Night
// P-G, The Global Cyclist

I woke up half past seven, walk some fifty meter to breakfast room for fried eggs and rice, toast butter and cheese and before I left
black coffe.
The speed boat leaves halv past nine from the marinan, 10 minutes walk from my cottage room. Marina from where all speed boats leaves

The weather is perfect, no to warm and some wind.
We are 10-11 person, most from Malaysia but also three girls from Germany. We stops at some popular beaches for snorkling and bath.

Just befor my first snorkel diving

The snorkeling equipment is provided by the tour operator. I haven´t snorkle much before so it will so it takes a little bit of practice to find the technique and rhythm in your breathing, but then a whole new world appears under the surface. Lots of colerful fishes and corals.

My first underwater photo

Some of the girls bring slices of bread that they fed the fishesd with, they acte like flies on a suguar cube. It was cool to swim in the middle of a school of fish.

Before our lunch at a popular diving-and beach bay, Salang Village we had some more stops for diving. The water is clear and there are lots of colorful fish around all the time. Feels like you are swimming in an aquarium.

A very popular beach, especially for scuba divers.

Here we stay for an hour for lunch before we head a little further north around a small island that is a bit out to sea.

This island is not allowed to go ashore as it is home to some Varanas, but we did get to see one or two wandering in a leisurely rocking walk on the small beach that existed.

Aquatic Varan. Has been regular on main island before, but now has been moved to an separate and empty island

Some years ago these varanas was quite common on main island and Tekek, they become to ”friendly” because the tourist fed them. So they decided to move them to an emty island.

Halv past three we where back at marinan and I was quite satisfied. Back to my cottageroom for a quick shower to get rid of all the salt. The late dinner a some cold beer

Tomorrow  I need to get up early, the ferry boat back to mainland, Mersing departs 7 am

Good Night
// P-G, The Global Cyclist

Last day in January 2019

I get up halv past eight, short shower and then breakfast. Packing the bike with my panniers and returns a small bag with remotecontrols för TV and aircondition. Had deported 50 ringgit for that.
09:40 I´m sitting on my SLHT heading south. The weather is quite cool for Southeast Asia, the sun is behinde some clouds, I have tailwind and the traffic is sparse.
After 20 km I see a touring biker coming from right, that he is a touring cyclist, I can tell from his bike and panniers. He has same model as my self, a Surley Long Haul Trucker.

Marcus, new bucycle friend from Canada with father from Estonia

We stop and starting a chat, his name is Marcus and his surname sound like he came from Finland…
– No, the name came from my father, he is an Estonian and my mom from UK and my self is canadian he said
We desided to do company to Mersing, a  medium-sized city smal around 130 km south.

The road is mostley flat and still the traffic is sparse.

Backpacker place with cheap and cosy room to rent

My selt in front of a wall painting in Kuala Rompin

We spent a night in a cheap 2 star hotel in Kuala Rompin

I wake up to the Huawei alarm that sounds at 06.15, outside it’s pitch black but the traffic and especially the motorcycles are on the way.
After the shower I’m a breakfast of yogurt, bread and sliced cheese.
Then I carry the stuff down and load the bike that is just as I had put it the night before among baskets with dirty laundry and hung and washed sheets.

After some km Marcus stops for his breakfast ata roadside bar. I order Roti Tellur and a coffe. We have tailwind most of the time and Marcus  keeping up the pace, 22-25 km/h. In Padang Endau we turn left and cycling after a small road closer to ocean, it´s winding but cozy to ride on.

In many places along the road small houses or cottages, often empty but signs says these are beach resorts, mostly for Malaysian. Foregin tourist prefer the island outside here.

We stops at one of these to refill our water bottles with ice and water. After another 10 -12 km Marcus stops at a top of a hill och pick up a little fun thing from his pannier, I want to get, a droner.

He configures it so that it automatically follows us when we later set off. The road is scenic, no plantations, just green rainforest and on the left side also large mountains that are also covered in green.

Marcus droner shows us cycling

Typical village between Endau and Mesing

The closer we got to Mersing, the more deforestation for oil plantations we saw.

Here will soon oil plantations starts

Few hours later, just after half past one we both cycling over river Sungai Mersing and entering Mersing and our routs will split. Marcus will visit a friend of his and I had planned for a ferry trip over to isle Puala Tioman. Before we split we shared a easy lunch at a bar middle of town. I order Fish and Chips andf Marcus Mongolian Lamb dish

The ferry departs at 5 pm and we say goodbye to each other after two cycling days together, although who knows, maybe we’ll see you in Borneo. If Markus only finds a sailboat, he will go across. He has one goal with his journey now and that is to avoid engines. I him for that

See Yeah later
// P-G, The Global Cyclist

The further south I go, the more oil palm plantations I see. Many are already established and completed plantations, others are growing and new areas are being cleared for more plantations.
Today, Indonesia and Malaysia together account for 85 percent of the global amount of palm oil produced.

For many in rural Malaysia, palm oil is a vital part of their economy. They often have nothing else to support themselves and their families.

Sadly, the environmentally sustainable palm oil plantations are a drop in the ocean. We in the rich world can do a lot to save the environment
and wildlife in Malaysia and Indonesia by demanding organic plantations.

This would help both the rural population and the wildlife, especially the endangered Orangutans.

Help them keep their home

Rest of my cycling south and to Pekan at the eastcoast was quite easy but very hot and humid. No problems to pitch up my tent and the roads was good.
Malaysia seems to be investing in tourism.
I passes several new hotel and tourism resorts and I understand them because it is a nice country to stay in. No problems with language communication, good beaches, nature experiences and nice people. Malaysia is an Islam country, sunni, but constitutionally a secular state. Therefore, other religions can be practiced legally, although religious freedom is still limited in Malaysia.

Al Makmur Mosque, a modern designed mosque outside Kuantan

The fact that I have the rainforest all around me is hard to avoid. Some road signs let me know.

 These lovely animals crawl around and they are not cuddly.

A typical river., But one thing is for sure, I don’t want to swim here.

What kind of snake is it I dont know

Green and denst rainforset with palmoil plantation

Late afternoon I cycled into Pekan and I already has planned to stay here two nights.

One of three main entrances to Pekan

Found a cheap hotel, Pekan Budget Hotel middle of town and by the Pahang river.Only 200 meters to city center.

My room at 2 star Pekan Budget Hotel

Firts thing I did after checked in was to jump into the shower. Tomorrow rest day and I will search for a shoemaker.

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See Yeah later
// P-G, The Global Cyclist

January 25

Time for me to leave this highlands for  lower part of Malysia. My plan is to cycle souhteast to Pekan and then by the coastline to Johor Baharu, the border control into Singapore.

At 7,30 am I sitting ouside the hotel at the bar and eating breakfast, sausage, white beans, toasts, juice and black coffe. The weather forcast has told  sun will shine during forenoon but then cloudy but no rain.
First 15 km mostly downwards and the road down to Ringlet is lined with several places that offer tea drinking, tea buying, beekeeping visits and the mountainsides covered with tea plantations.

no matter where I look, green fields of tea plantations everywhere or dense rainforest.

 It´s green everywhere and surrandings are more than beautiful, it´s breathtaking! After almost an hour I heading Ringlet. Here I turn left against Sungao Koyan on road 102.
The teaplantations has been replaced with huge of flowernurseries, mountain slopes are covered with plastic-roofed greenhouses, km after km. Trucks leaving and loaded with flowers, probably for export.

The geography is still downhill, but there are many small, short uphills to fight. Late afternoon, around 4 pm I stopped outskirt center of Sungai Koyan at a small bar for evening dinner, rice, chicken, vegestable but no beer. Here is it muslim tradition to follow. When I left is was still around 30 °C in the air and very humid. Another 15 km before I pitch up my tent beside the road.

Before I sleept I pick up a halfcold beer from my foodbag, drank it and then listning at a downloaded radioprogran, ”era of the spies”
Falling into sleep very fast

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See Yeah Later

//P-G, The Global Cyclist