Setting - the South China Sea

Our hotel in Johor Bharu overlooked the Johor Strait between Malaysia and Singapore. We had a look at the causeway which carries traffic between the two countries and we were surprised as to how narrow it is and perhaps therefore not surprised this is where the Japanese launched their attack in 1942. In the evening we had a wander into the centre of the town where we saw a faith healer surrounded by an enormous crowd - the Chinese are great believers in the supernatural. As Singapore has abolished brothels Johur Bharu has a great deal of "hair salons"! We spotted quite a few - I assured Jeff his hair did not need cutting!
The following morning - May 6Th we set off early as we wanted to do some more cycling before we went back to Singapore. We intended only to go as far as Kota Tinggi which was 25 miles away but as we got there so early we thought sod it we will go all the way to Desaru on the coast. We finally got here after 65 miles our longest trip yet. We booked into a very swish hotel by the South China Sea. Our room overlooks the beach which is only a few yards away as is a glorious swimming pool. We intend to luxuriate here for a couple of days. The place is virtually deserted. Desaru is a favourite spot for the Singaporeans who tend to come at weekends.
We forgot to share with you one of the reasons we prefer to stay in non- back packer accommodation. As we were going back to our hotel in Kota Bharu we spotted a cat with a very large mouse in its jaws - it headed across the road in front of us and went straight up the stairs of the Back Packers Lodge!
Malaysia really is trying hard to ensure all ethnic groups live happily together. There is a lot of mixed marriages, all people seem to be happy eating other peoples foods. On the television they have the news in Mandarin, Malay and Tamil.
This is our penultimate blog - many of you may be pleased; for the others who have enjoyed our news thank you for reading and being with us on our fantastic journey.