Day 2 - Sunday 8 January 2017

Departure........There is no need to rush today and it’s a late departure after 10.30am but I’ve yet to figure out how to get back to Larkin bus terminal. I think I should simply wait for a passing taxi but the road is quiet. Just when I start to query my assumption, I get help from a car dealer outside whose premises I’m standing. He says I should use UBER. For those who haven’t heard of uber it is an American worldwide online transportation network company which develops, markets and operates the Uber app, which allows consumers with smartphones to submit a trip request. My smartphone is offline at the moment but the dealer has one. Within a few minutes a private car arrives. Quite honestly I’m gobsmacked. Not only is it efficient, but quick and cheap. No wonder taxi drivers worldwide are concerned. We arrive at Larkin in no time and managing to slip by the touts, I get a bus ticket to Mersing departing at 11.45am.
Mersing........Google Map. The trip from Johor Bahru takes about two and a half hours but I manage to sleep much of the time. My recollections of the trip are restricted to views of palm and rubber tree plantations. On arrival I find Mersing much as I expected, a sleepy fishing village but it does act as a port for a ferry to the islands in the South China Sea....more.

Mersing Hotel........Google Map. The decision to stay one night in Mersing is based on uncertainty of ferry times to the islands and I am prepared to compromise over accommodation if it means I’m near the port. From the bus station it is walkable but not with luggage. Fortunately a local bus it parked at the bus station. When we ask the driver where the hotel is, he tells us to get aboard and even with no other passengers aboard he takes off and delivers us at Mersing Hotel (left) for small change. As expected this hotel has budget accommodation but is currently being renovated with only certain wings available. There’s a climb up two flights of stairs and the room doesn’t have a fridge but it is more spacious that the one last night and at least I have a table to work on. With a mid afternoon arrival, I’m happy to take a break but sooner or later we need to go out.
Fussy........As Katoon didn’t eat breakfast she ordered a MacDonalds in Johor but she doesn’t eat beef. Thinking she ordered chicken, I again find myself hoovering up what she doesn’t like. By late afternoon she’s starving and we have to go out to find something she can eat. It can get desperate when all she can eat is Thai food but right on cue there’s a restaurant just round the corner run by Thais who moved to this area many years ago and they manage to sort something out for her. I’m quite happy with a beer but I just know she will over order: And so she does which explains why I don’t fit in a shower cubicle!
Ferry port........Google Map. The final chore for the day is to check on ferry times for tomorrow but a problem soon appears. The times depend on the tides and at the hotel they don’t know. I think it best to walk to the pier but it’s now 6pm and a boat departed today an hour before. When I ask about tomorrow there is only one possible time and that’s at 7am in the morning. With this news I beat a hasty retreat back to the hotel to make the necessary arrangements. Luckily the weather is fine at the moment but it can be unpredictable. It’s just a question now of preparing for an early night. At least I can book a ride to the ferry in the morning. Next Page.