Singapore - Malaysia -- Day 1 -- Johar Bahru

Here begins the second half of my journey with a well-deserved break in India. I arrived at Singapore Changyi Airport and from Terminal 2, I took the subway to Bugis station. The subway system in Singapore is absolutely fantastic; it is clean, fast and always on time and a pleasure to use. It was around 12.30 pm and I had a bit to eat (nasi goreng and coke) on Queens Street, very close to the fish market. I then hopped over to the taxi stand and took a shared taxi (S$ 8) across the Causeway to Johar Bahru on the Malaysian side. The immigration and customs were all processed while sitting in the cab. A nice touch! Incidentally, while taking the cab ride, there are signs instructing Singapore drivers not to drive empty to Johar Bahru and fill up in Malaysia, because gas is cheaper. The fine for such a "violation" is S$ 500 (~ 350 USD). Singapore is a "fine" city indeed.

You see the difference as soon as you step your foot into Johar Bahru. It's not quite as clean and as well organized. I walked a bit to the train station and bought a second class ticket with a sleeper (34 MYR) to Jerantut, the gateway to Taman Negara National Forest. The train was to leave only at 7.56 pm (and arrive at 2.54 am); I had almost 5 hours to kill. So I left my backpack at the train station and wandered in Johar Bahru with no particular plan. After searching a bit, I found an ATM and withdrew cash for the rest of my stay in Malaysia.

Johar Bahru is filled with people of Indian descent, mostly Tamilians. It is a peculiar thing with emigrants; their behavior and taste are frozen to the time they left their place of origin -- in Johar Bahru's case the 70's. What many of them don't realize is that their places of origin have moved on, but the emigrants haven't changed in the least bit. The city was dusty and hot -- no surprise there, and in the heat, many Indian vendors were preparing for Diwali, the festival of lights. Loud music everywhere and all sorts of things to eat too. Interesting town, but not worth wasting a vacation on.

At a local pub I had a beer, which at 15 MYR is indeed very expensive, but that is the case in all of Malaysia anyway. Some more walking around, some more water, rinse and repeat. Around 6.30 pm or so, I walked into an Indian eatery and got some biriyani and roti channai. It was filling and not the best food. The people running the eatery were very nice and friendly though. I also got some tea, but did not like it all. Finally, I pickup up my luggage and got ready to board the train.

The train was similar in many ways to those in India. Families with wailing kids, upper and lower berths, somewhat mysteriously functioning doors on the trains, dull colors, squat-down toilets, faded curtains etc. It had a quaint and homely feeling to it. The train started slowly and picked up speed only gradually. In some sections, the train swayed quite a bit, but it was no cause for worry. The travel is supposed to offer excellent views during the day, but sadly I took the night train. So, no views of greenery for me. There is excellent information about train travel here and the route too.

Finally arrived at Jerantut station at 3.15 am and met a nice young French couple, Nicholas and Marianne. A bus (or rather a minivan) was waiting to take us to Sri Emas guest house, a short 10 minutes away. I took the only room available, an air-conditioned room (30 MYR) for just three hours. I didn't mind it, because I was sleep deprived and badly in need of a shower. Time to sleep.