From daybreak, I sit for a while with a waking tea at the drowsy all-night restaurant overlooking the Straits and then, more alert than asleep, start spinning the cranks on the road to Johor Bahru — the Pontian-Skudai Highway. Midday traffic approaching Johor Bahru is noisy and congested and the roads hot, but the route skirting the city is well marked and before long I'm through the conurbation and well on the way to Kota Tinggi.
The country is open and gently undulating and I get to Kota Tinggi sooner than I expect. I see no signs pointing the way to the waterfalls, but locals help me when I'm wondering which way to turn. By late afternoon, I've checked in at the Kota Tinggi Waterfalls Resort (1.829275N 103.834101E), have had a cooling swim in the pool and am sitting on the verandah of my small chalet drinking tea, watching monkeys scour the trees for food, and marvelling at the fleeting ferocity of an afternoon downpour.
On the way up to the resort, I noticed a warp in my back wheel. Inspection revealed a spoke broken at its elbow. Thinking back, I recall a metallic ping earlier in the day on the ride to Johor Bahru. At the time I thought nothing of it, but now guess it was when the break occurred. I don't have a spare spoke, so re-tension and true the wheel as best I can and hope that in its weakened state it will get me back to Singapore.
July 25 | 102.63 kilometres | 5:20 | 19.2 km/h average
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