Forming the whole southern tip of Peninsular Malaysia, Johor is surrounded with coastline on its three sides – the west coast, the Straits of Johor on the south, and the east coast. Though Mersing is well-known as the gateway to nearby islands, this little fishing town has several beautiful natural attractions of its own. And one which caught my attention is Pulau Mawar.

About Tengkil Waterfalls

Located in Gunung Panti Recreational Forest, Tengkil Falls is yet another waterfalls in the same range of Kota Tinggi Waterfalls. However, instead of located near the entrance of Kota Tinggi Waterfalls (like Pelepah Waterfalls), Tengkil Falls lies on the western slope of Gunung Muntahak.

About Pelepah Waterfall

Pelepah waterfalls, also known as Lombong waterfalls, is located in Gunung Panti Recreational Forest, about 15km from the town of Kota Tinggi, Johor. The trail head lies just next to the Kota Tinggi Waterfall Resort, the entrance into the Kota Tinggi waterfall where most people are more familiar with.

About Mount Pulai

Gunung Pulai, or Mount Pulai is a 654 meters tall mountain located in Johor. Located in Kampung Sri Gunung Pulai, about 12km south-west of Kulai town, or 19km north west from Johor Bahru central, it is a popular hiking spot among the locals and Singaporean hikers due to its proximity and easy access.

I’ve retired from hiking

This is what I used to tell people when they asked why I’ve not been hiking for some time. It’s meant as a joke of course, as there’s no such thing as a retirement from a hobby. I’m not a hiker by profession, so how could I possibly retire from a career I do not own?

About Chiang Mai

Located in a verdant valley on the banks of Ping River 700 km north of Bangkok, Chiang Mai is a land of misty mountains and colourful hill tribes. Translated as “New City” (Chiang means city in northern Thai dialect while mai is new), it was founded in 1296 as the capital of the ancient Lanna Kingdom. In the olden days, it could only be reached by river journey or an elephant trek until the 1920s, which helped kept Chiang Mai’s distinctive charm intact.

Day 5 (10/10/2017) : Joke Sompet – Tiger Kingdom – Moncham – Ice Love You – Chiang Mai Night Safari – Wat Doi Suthep - Rustic & Blue – Chiang Mai Street – Another night market – Mona Boutique Hotel

<<< continued from our first day adventure in Chiang Mai

Joke Sompet

After experiencing a rather tight schedule the day earlier, we decided to leave the hotel earlier in the morning to ensure a full productive day ahead. Breakfast was settled at Joke Sompet, a restaurant famous for congee. Apart from their congee, we also ordered roasted fish with rice and roasted chicken leg with rice. The total bill costs us 255 Baht (64 Baht per person / SGD 2.61 / RM 8.11) for 3 items.

Day 3 (8/10/2017) : Chiang Mai Arcade Bus Terminal – Hotel Arch 39 – Chiang Mai Sunday Walking Street Night Market – Fong Fei Fei Pig Trotter Rice

<<< continued from our 3 days adventure in Pai

Arrival in Chiang Mai

After another 3 hours ride on the same winding mountain road, we reached Chiang Mai Arcade Terminal at 5pm. There were plenty of tuk tuk drivers approaching us at the station, offering to take us to our hotel, but after checking to uber rate, we decided to go for the latter one which is much cheaper. Our uber ride to hotel costs only 70 Baht (18 Baht per person / SGD 0.72 / RM 2.23) wheres a tuk tuk quoted us for around 200 Baht (if my memory served me right).

<<< continued from our 2 days adventure in Pai

Breakfast at Pai Panalee Resort

Once again, the room we booked comes with breakfast, and so we had our buffet breakfast before heading out to complete our unfinished business in Pai. In comparison to Yododo Inn, Pai Panalee has more interesting spread of cuisines. Yum yum!

Day 1 (6/10/2017) : KLIA2 – Chiang Mai International Airport – Chiang Mai Arcade Bus Terminal – Pai Bus Station – Yododo Inn – Wat Phra That Mae Yen – Pai Walking Street

Minivan from Chiang Mai to Pai

We took morning flight to Chiang Mai, and by the time we arrived at the airport, the first thing in mind is to get a local sim card. We don’t normally have the habit of getting a sim card when we backpack, but for this trip, we figured it’d come in handy since we needed to navigate our way as we would be riding and driving around Pai and Chiang Mai on our own. However, all the sim card sold doesn’t allow tethering (sharing of mobile hotspot), and therefore we could not share the data usage. We bought AIS sim card for its 7 days unlimited data which costs us 249 Baht (sharing 4 pax = 62 Baht / SGD 2.55 / RM 7.92)