Report No 28 -Singapore,20,496 kilometers

After languishing on Langkawi I took the ferry to mainland Malaysia and went in the wrong direction towards Thailand to make sure that I had not missed any bits and broken the rules. I then turned south down the west coast. The last time I was in these parts was in the early seventies when I used to drive my Vauxhall Viva up there and I worked on Penang Island for a while. One night I was having dinner with a cyclist from Cornwall when a cycling couple I met in Thailand arrived so it was a cyclist’s night out.

In another place I was told about a cheap penthouse apartment. It was great, three bedrooms, nice views, all mod cons. But the next morning the two lifts weren't working and I had to wheel the fully laden bike down steps for twelve stories. I had three nights in Malacca which is a major tourist destination and a wonderful historic city. I arrived at Johor Bahru, the crossing place for Singapore, early and spent two nights there. It's not the sort of place I ever thought I'd stay at. It lived up to its reputation as I was propositioned and there was a dead body on the steps of my hotel one morning.

In Malaysia all the hotel rooms have an arrow stuck to the ceiling so you know which way to face when praying. I was very tempted to climb up and turn them in a different direction but I never got around to it. So I had a dipping ceremony in Singapore at more or less the same place as the one we had for the Sing Honk ride. As I thought might happen the whole area had changed and was under construction so it wasn't easy to get access. That completes the central loop of the RTW. Sing Honk 6905 km, Honk Sing 6362 km.