Getting stuck on Tioman Island...

So the next day we leisurely cycled down to the ferry port to join the mad rush to get on the boat, even though it was one of the very few allocated seats and ticketed boats throughout SE Asia! Pretty painless and we enjoyed the AC inside the boat. It seems that the only way to get around Tioman island is by boat, because there is no joining road between each of the villages, so this means that you need to choose carefully where you get off initially or you’ll need to get another boat to the next village around the corner if you change your mind once on the island – something we really didn’t want to do! We had read so many things about what village to stay in and we just decided to go to a village in the middle of the 5 along the coast called Tekek. We turned right out of the port and cycled for about 5 minutes until we found Swiss Cottages and checked in – no need to book as it was low season and there is space pretty much everywhere. We stayed in a detached bungalow on the beach, with the sea literally steps away from our porch. It was fab! We had three days on the island before the craziness of Singapore and getting the bikes packed up, so we were determined to enjoy our time here.

Not ones to totally relax until we've earned it, we were up early the next day – before the sun had risen to hike over the mountainous island to the other coast to the only village that side; Juara. Very rarely do boats go round there, and the main way that tourists go is to get in a jeep – the only road on the island. During our research, we also found that you can walk it as there is a designated path that the Japanese cut out through the thick jungle during WWII when they invaded Malaysia. Being the adventurous ones that we are, we decided to hike! It looked like the Japanese did the islanders a favour by cutting the path out because it is now used to feed electricity the Juara and water into Tekek from the huge waterfall that feeds the pipes.


The trek was pretty hardcore; sometimes there were concrete steps, but it was mostly a rough trodden forest path. It was incredibly steep at times and our packs were quite heavy because of the amount of water we had to carry! I struggled with the steepness coming down the mountain and into Juara – James practically being the Duke of Edinburgh himself; a pro at all types of hiking was trying to teach me, but I was pretty knackered to start learning! We hiked for 3 hours and it was amazing – I enjoyed it so much. Along the way we saw some interesting wildlife; a giant black squirrel and a long tailed macque – a first! Juara had two beautiful beaches split by rocks jutting out. We found a restaurant that was actually open and order plenty of food – some of which they had and others they didn’t so it was a bit hit and miss. After restoring our energy we managed to walk about 100 metres down the beach in the blistering hot sun before feeling the need to sit under a palm tree and listen to the sea calling us! Soon we were sun-screening up and running into the sea to play in the waves. We were thinking about hiking back over but thought better of it as we didn’t want to get caught in the forest when darkness falls, and over here, darkness falls very fast. So, we negotiated a price with a couple of bored looking drivers – the only cars to be seen to take us back up and over, down into Tekek. We relaxed on our chalet balcony watching the local guys surf, a little tired to join in.

Not a lot happened the next day other than sleep, swim, read and eat! That night there was a pretty bad storm and we were woken up a few times in the night, wondering whether the roof of our little chalet was going to blow off. The next morning we woke up to devastation on the beaches and the island. There was rubbish, trees and general debris everywhere. A bungalow that some of the family and staff live in as part of our hotel had a tree that had fallen and smashed through the roof in the night while they were sleeping. Luckily it is the only bungalow that has a solid brick wall, which stopped the tree falling right through the whole thing – had it fallen on any other chalet, all made of wood, they would probably be dead. We took a bin liner and wondered up the beach, tidying up all the rubbish that had been washed up, but there was just so much of it, we needed a team, it was such a shame! As we got talking to the locals, they were saying it was the worst storm they have had in three years. This was when we discovered the awesomely chilled café along the beach, run by a load of seasonal workers than bum around during the low season, but happy to have us none the less. This was where we spent most of the day. We were due to return back to the main island the next day to make the final leg down and into Singapore to have plenty of time to sort everything out before flying back. However, due to the bad weather, they apparently cancelled the boat the next day. We asked lots of locals, but they all said different things and the ferry station was just utterly deserted when no boat was there. We didn’t want to miss it if it was there, so we decided to pack up everything and go down there in the morning anyway just in case. So up we got at 5.30 to go down there and were told no boat. So back off to the chalet we had just left, (no one even knew we had gone and come back) and rethought what to do. OK, one day should be alright, so we chilled out again and went back to our funky soul/rock/funk/blues playing café, where I made a friend; a kitten adopted me and happily sat on my lap purring while I read.


The next day we didn’t even bother getting up again to see if the boat was going, and it wasn’t. We bought a body board and had endless hours of fun in the sea and the waves. We chilled out in the beach café over dinner and listened to the pack of guys that run it play in their pretty awesome band and then got talking to them about their life here. It is so chilled and the community of people all work together, and help each other. They are all educated and do such wicked things; the guy we were talking to surfs, juggles fire professionally, is a dive instructor, and plays in his band. He was very proud of his island and his family was one of the first to settle here. He wants to protect the island and preserve what they have, and all the islanders fight hard to warn off developers.

Everyone seemed to be saying the boat was leaving at 12.30 the next morning, and we were actually a little sad to go. The two extra days we got stuck of Tioman was so wonderful, even if I was panicking slightly about whether we could actually get off, and get down to Singapore on time! But we did and we got safely back onto mainland Malaysia.

Crossing Malaysia - West to East coast....

After spending some time in Melakka thinking about the final few weeks of our trip, we had booked our air tickets home and worked backwards to where to were now. We wanted to spend as long as possible traveling and seeing as much as possible before returning to the UK. We explored a few options and decided on crossing the width of Malaysia to the East coast – we had heard from books and people that it was so different to the West coast, so we wanted to see for ourselves.

On cycling out from Melakka prepping ourselves for a long day of riding ahead, after 20 miles the day changed dramatically; in a good way. We stopped at the traffic lights of a cross junction and saw 4 cyclists pull out and down the road we were going. They caught sight of us and were clearly just as much intrigued by us as we were them! We managed to catch them up and we cycled along for the best part of 10 miles in a peloton, chatting side by side. They were 4 Malays, who spoke perfect English out for their morning 70 mile ride to Melakka and back. They totally understood what we were doing and they cycle toured themselves. They offered to buy us drinks, so we stopped with them and enjoyed an ice cold lychee juice, ordered in Malay by our new friends. They then learnt that James needed new inner tubes and so insisted on coming to their local cycle shop that will help us out, so we agreed and they excitedly showed us the way. Unbelievably, as we approached the shop James’s tyre was flat – how about that for fate? The cycle shop could not have been more excited to see us and we were literally ordered to tell them where we have cycled while they changed James’s tube over and gave him spares in a flash. We had our pictures taken countless times! When our new friend Rashid asked us where we were going next, he advised us on which towns had hotels, and it turned out that the towns we had planned to get to each night were not good options. He advised that we rested for the night in a seaside village not far from where we were and then make it across the country in two longer days, and be guaranteed to find a place to stay for the one night. There’s no better advice than from a local so we agreed with him. He wanted to come and see us for dinner, so we swapped numbers and we went for lunch next door. We couldn’t believe that when we came to pay, we found that the cycle shop owner had already covered the bill for us – unbelievable hospitality. So on we cycled to Parit Jawa and found the guesthouse he recommended and when dinnertime came round, three of the four cyclists we met earlier zipped down on their motorbikes to meet us, also insisting on paying for us. This was when we learnt that Rashid is the founder of the largest motorcycle and bicycle touring website in Malaysia! They have 40,000 members apparently! Thanks for your help Rashid!



Rashid on my right

The next day we were out early as we thought we had a long day ahead of us. The mileage markers on the road and on our maps differed greatly though and it turned out to be less than we anticipated. This was a relief as it was a really hard day of riding, with long rolling hills and constant palm tree plantations, which made it pretty boring. When we reached Kluang, and were searching for a hotel, we met Jenny who ‘Coo-eed’ us from the side of the road. In perfect English, she asked if she could help and took great delight in assisting us in find a hotel. In her elegant yet forceful manner, she stopped the busy town traffic, waved to countless numbers of people and marched us over to the ‘best’ hotel in the town. She ordered us to come down in 15 minutes for coffee because she had to “dash off” – hilarious and love to you Jenny if you’re reading this!

The next morning we cycled the final leg to reach the coastal town of Mersing. This time not only did we have discrepancies in the mileage but whole roads either didn’t exist on the maps or they did on the maps and not on the land so we were a bit confused and ended up following road signs instead of the map, which got us there! We stopped in the middle of absolutely nowhere in this tiny café to have lunch of the few things they served up and it was the best meal I have had in a very long time; pineapple in tomato sauce with chicken and rice, and we got there just in time before a group of hungry farmers demolished the lot! Upon reaching Mersing we investigated how to get across to Tioman island. Interestingly, Malaysia has different monsoon seasons on the west and east coast and at present, it is the monsoon on the east coast, making the town much quieter than normal. Boat services normally run 5 times a day, but only once during the low season so we booked our tickets that night and negotiated the bikes. We then relaxed and had a little look at what there is to do on the island of Tioman.