10th of January, 2025.
Hitchhiking in Malaysia: Pekan – Mersing – Johor Bahru
My plan is going to this small place by the beach, and camp there for tonight. In order to do that, I must come to a small town called Endeu, on the way to the popular Mersing Town, and from there take left, on my own, as most people will carry on to Mersing. But I haven’t made any signs for this part of Malaysia apart from Singapore, because the distances are all very short, and I thought it would be OK just stand by the road. It’s not, of course. Asian people tend to lack common sense, and even though it happens a lot that when I do have a sign, they still ask where I am going when they stop, if I don’t have a sign they don’t stop. So I hold up my “Singapore” sign.
A car stops soon enough. The lady on the passenger seat tells me they are going to Johor. I tell her that I only need a lift to Endeu. She says OK. She seems so friendly and nice. It’s raining a little, so I am so glad that they stop.
In the back seat there are some small backpacks, and I can see bags with food and snacks too. Joey and her partner are two super awesome people, and very cool too. They only met about two years ago, during a hiking. Joey is 54, and has two children; — is 63 but I don’t know about his previous life before meeting Joey. They look so sweet together, and I am so happy that they found each other. They both have Chinese roots, but Joey can speak English and Malay too. They are going to Singapore to visit Joey’s daughter.
Joey and I keep chatting, as I tell her about my lifestyle and my travels. She is very surprised! They are both vegetarian, and she gives me some chocolate bread and some delicious honey cashews.
I tell them I’m going to Kampung Mawar, and they don’t mind taking the detour to drop me off there, carrying on to Mersing after that. But then it starts pouring rain again, and I have a hard time deciding if I should go there or simply carrying on to Mersing as well. I know that the place by the beach looks nice, and there’s a chance that tomorrow the weather will be better (is it?) but I still hesitate and when we get by the detour, I just tell them we can carry on to Mersing.
The rain is still heavy when we finally arrive to Mersing. Joey offer to pay me for a hotel room in the same hotel they are staying, as I tell them what my plan was. And even though they both insist on paying, I don’t let them. But I must be reasonable: as I check the weather prediction by their hotel, I see that it will be raining the whole day, and as well tomorrow. Another thing is, Joey tells me that they will be heading to Johor Bahur tomorrow morning, so I can secure a lift with them, and avoid hitchhiking under the rain tomorrow, if I stay with them. Luckily, they are staying in the cheapest hotel in town, even though it’s not cheap at all for me, even more comparing to the hostels in Hanoi, for example. After a lot of consideration, I decide to book a room, and pay with my card online. By the way, booking through Booking.com it’s cheaper than via Agoda.
We agree to meet downstairs at 18.00 hours for dinner.
The room is spacious, with a nice double bed, a large bathroom, and very clean for Asian standards. Of course that in Europe you could get a way better place for this price (17 USD) but I think it’s still very good. Only water and a kettle though, no instant coffee or tea, neither breakfast included. I know, it sucks! But at least in this way, I can surely take a shower tonight, wash my clothes, publish on my blog, do some more writing, and a few more things I must do online. Besides, there was nothing else I could do, with this heavy rain today and tomorrow, so in the end, I do think this was a case of necessity, and I needed to use some cash.
We go to a nearby restaurant and have some rice, stir-fried vegetables and omelet. It’s actually very good. And with the compliments of Joey and her partner. How sweet!
As the rain gives us a little break, we go for a quick tour around Mersing. The water front is actually really nice, and very long. Even though it’s super windy, and the sea is furious, is a very nice experience! Due to the heavy rain, the sea is that milk tea color which I love so much! Like my Mekong in Laos around November. Laugh. There’s a huge monument for the Sultan, with some swords and a crown. We come back to the hotel soon after that.
The internet connection inside my room sucks! In order to load some “heavier” websites or activities, I must go out in the hall. And I must do the same in order to connect my laptop. But I manage to make on post on my blog, upload some photos to the laptop, and write one more text. But I am pretty exhausted after that. I already washed my shirt, trousers, socks and underwear earlier, hoping for them to dry for tomorrow.
Before going to sleep, I still check again on my “favourited” hosts for the Philippines, and send a message to one of them. I go to bed around 23.00 hours.
Next morning, we meet at 8 a.m. for check-out and breakfast. We have some delicious roti filled with eggs, vegetarian curry, roti with sugar, and milk coffee. Everything is great! We were supposed to go to visit Palau Mawar, a lovely place just nearby the Kampung Mawar I wanted to go yesterday, all because Joey and her partner liked so much and now they wanted to go there. It’s a short 30 minutes drive from Mersing, but because of the rain we call it off. What a shame! If it wasn’t for the rain, I could’ve got everything I wanted.
The drive from Mersing to Singapore border is about two hours. I am thinking that Joey will stay one night and Johor Bahur, as she told me yesterday, but once we arrive there and they park there car in a 24h parking lot, she tells me they are going straight to Singapore. What? Yep! As tomorrow is her daughter’s day off, they decide to skip the night in Johor Bahur and go straight to Singapore. Yay! Good for me, as now we are a short walking distance to the border, and it’s way easier to come with them, as Joey gets all the directions on her phone. But she also asks around a little bit.
10 Years Around the World 