Johor Bahru
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As one comes through the Causeway from Singapore, Johor Bahru opens like a stage curtain with its old towers and magnificent view of the Malaysian shoreline. To a new visitor, the southern gateway to the tropical sprawl of the peninsula appears like a dramatic show of bustling commerce and architectural landscapes moulded from centuries of Malay monarchical rule. Beyond that, however, the larger state of Johor hides many earthly treasures a step beyond its state capital, amply rewarding the patient and the adventurous. Fancy dining on succulent crabs at a ramshackle restaurant on stilts, or frolicking in crystal-clear waters and powdery sands on a paradise island, or camping by the banks of roaring rapids coursing through the oldest virgin tropical forests in the world? All these adventures and more lie less than a three-hour drive from downtown.

Day Trips

As one passes beyond Johor Bahru’s sprawling suburbs, a landmark scenery of rolling palm-oil plantations hails, stretching seemingly to infinity. This sight of Johor’s staple crop makes for a pleasant travelling companion on the other side of the windscreen. Avoid the highways and the drive becomes infinitely more enchanting. Small towns and kampongs, heavy with rustic charms and reminiscent of a bygone era, proliferate from coast to coast, often connected by narrow but usable trunk roads.

On the west coast, Kukup is renowned for its value-for-money seafood dishes and its stilted clapboard restaurants. A short distance to the south, the land’s end of South-east Asia, Tanjung Piai hosts more waterfront seafood restaurants, Tanjung Piai Resort--a family resort on stilts--and an unspoilt mangrove forest. From Kukup, the coastal trunk road winds its way through innumerable seaside kampongs, where bullock carts rattled by not too long ago. At Pontian, history buffs will find the Muzium Bugis a worthwhile visit.

Much of Johor’s east coast has retained its own identity through the ages. Quiet, timeless fishing enclaves, palms bending out over a blue sea, fishing boats pulling up on the shore waiting for a return of the high tide--come and discover the soul of Malaysia. Blessed by the bountiful South China Sea on one side, Jason Bay, Ayer Papan, Tanjung Balau and even Mersing town hark back to a time when this land bore nothing more than a coastal ring of seafaring communities.

A clutch of small towns line the spinal region of Johor, having sprung up in the past to serve neighbouring rubber, oil-palm and pineapple plantations. Ayer Hitam, Yong Peng and Segamat--each with its signature dish or speciality product--are familiar names to shuttling motorists on the North-South Highway. Numerous family attractions abound in the midst of these small rural towns, including the Orchid Valley, Kampung Sri Timor, Kampung Sepak, Tropical Village and Gunung Pulai Recreational Forest. Nature excursions have also become increasingly popular weekend and school-holiday recreation, officially promoted by the Department of Agriculture through its Agro-tourism Programmes.

Golfing, another prized rest-and-relax option, commands no less than a dozen golf resorts lying within a 30-kilometre radius of Johor Bahru. Informed golfers make a beeline for highly-acclaimed courses like Pulai Springs Resort, Tanjung Puteri Golf and Country Club or Palm Resort Golf and Country Club. Although a little further away, Sebana Golf and Marine Resort and Desaru Golf and Country Resort are still well sought, due to the lighter traffic on their fairways, even on weekends.

Sun, Sand and Forests

Pulau Tioman once starred in the movie 'South Pacific', portraying the legendary Bali Hai. Ancient Arab and Chinese traders had already made it a port-of-call for its fresh water spring centuries ago. It is, however, only one of 64 volcanic islands off the shores of Mersing. The others, including Pulau Tinggi, Pulau Tengah, Pulau Rawa, Pulau Pemanggil, Pulau Aur and Pulau Hujong, afford similar water-sport facilities and beach ambience at varying extents of development and comfort. Another chain of islands, the Sibu Archipelago, lies south of Tioman, a mere three kilometres off Tanjung Leman. Pulau Sibu, the largest island in this cluster, plays host to the four-star Sibu Island Resort, the Sea Gypsy Village Resort and several other resorts.

Inland, Johor’s most popular seaside destination centres on the resort town of Desaru. Home to several large-scale family resorts (Desaru Golden Beach Hotel and Desaru Impian Resort, to list but two), it has remained a well-liked balmy weekend retreat.

Enticing adventure lovers, the Endau-Rompin National Park ranks amongst the oldest tropical rainforests in the world. With a permit, one can camp by one of the secluded banks of its rivers, with a log fire and the piercing silence of a virgin forest for company. Mount Ophir, Johor’s tallest mountain, is as often shrouded in clouds as she is in local folklore and ancient myths. For decades, too, she has rewarded thousands of climbers with breathtaking views of the wondrous land beneath her wings.