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| Indonesian Rhinos |
Many thanks go to Emilien Di Gennaro for planning this trip and to both he and his wife Xinhan for being such great hosts. (Emilien and Xinhan recently spent 2 years biking around the world so they have lots of experience.) Not having to do any planning or decision making was a vacation in itself!!
The trip was a great introduction to cycle touring for us and we learned a lot from our hosts: stopping often to take photos, stopping to try local foods, buying drinks and ice cream and resting in the shade often; checking our bikes as luggage on the ferry; going off road and on road to explore new trails; planning routes; using maps and navigating.
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| Our meeting point in Singapore |
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| Mountain biking in Singapore |
Day 1 - Johor, Malaysia to Singapore. (40 -50 km) Eric and I parked our car in Johor. Then we hopped on our bikes and followed signs to Woodlands being careful to stay in the motorcycle lane to cross the border. We had to show our passports twice and complete a Singapore entrance form in the rain. (note to self - get a better system for passports and a pen) We were lucky enough to be met by Emilien at the intersection of Mandai and Mandai Lake Roads in Singapore. He showed us some beautiful mountain bike trails through the parks and green spaces of Singapore on our way downtown. We arrived near the near Clarke Quay where we me up with Xinhan and enjoyed dinner along the river. Then we continued on the bike paths (called the park connectors) across Marina Bay stopping in key places to enjoy the beautiful nighttime Singapore skyline.We continued biking to the area called Joo Chiat to spend the night.
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| Singapore skyline at night |
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| Mosquito net - romance or safety? |
Day 2 - Singapore to Bintan Island, Indonesia - (75 - 130 km depending upon the route) We woke up early and cycled along East Coast Park to Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal.- Singapore. We took the Bintan Island Resort Ferry to Bandar Bentan Telani Ferry Terminal - Indonesia. This is a fast ferry that takes about 1 hour and, because there is a time change (1 hour earlier in Indonesia), we arrived at about the same time we left Singapore. We cycled across the island through lots of rolling hills and quiet farmland to the east coast. The last 10 kilometers were flat and beautiful only the coast. We stayed at the Marjoly Beach Resort. (www.marjolybeach.com) where we enjoyed a quite cabin on the beach and delicious food at the hotel restaurant. Peaceful and beautiful.
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| View from beach cabin |
Day 3 - Bintan, Indonesia to Singapore - (75 -130km) - We took about about 6 hours to cycle back to the ferry terminal. We had a tail wind most of the way so the hills did not seem as bad as the first day. (Eric might disagree..) Enroute we found a small, family run restaurant where we enjoyed fresh, homemade soup. We repeated the ferry ride home and cycled along the East Coast trail back to food and lodging in Singapore.
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| Indonesian fishing village |
Day 4 - Singapore to Johor, Malaysia - (40-50 km) - Our goal was to use the park connectors to ride as far north as possible, but after arriving at our 2nd huge overpass and deciding we did not want to lug our loaded bikes up and over another overpass we rerouted to continue our journey along roads. Luckily, the farther north in Singapore we got, the better the roads got, and often there was a bike path/sidewalk on the side. We followed the signs for Johor or the Causeway again using the motorcycle lane to cross the border.
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| Fermented rice - high alcohol content :) |
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| Resting on an overpass |
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| Ice Cream bar and Spongebob. |
The trip, I think, gave us a dose of some of the realities of bike touring. In other words, it wasn't all sunshine, flat roads, and tail winds. The ride started in the pouring rain. The standing water and splashing from passing trucks can be scary. But, in my opinion, the rain in SE Asia is a good thing because the weather is so much cooler. Riding on Bintan Island was quite hilly and our legs got pretty tired. We'll need to find some more hills to train on, or schedule shorter rides in the beginning of our tour until our legs get in shape. And, we'll need to seek shelter and shade during the mid-day heat. The heat has been, and continues to be, a real energy drainer for Eric, even though Double Espresso Magnum Ice Cream bars and Gator-aid type drinks do help!
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| Meal after the trip back to Johor |
We're looking forward to our next trip but especially want to thank veteran bikers Emilien and Xinhan for making this trip possible!
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