Desaru

Desaru is on the East Coast of Malaysia is the closest beach to me. Six of us decided it was high time we got some sand between our toes and headed off in search of the sand sea and sun. It should take about 1.5 to 2 hours to get there so we decided an early start was not required.

The lead car, not mine, said they had a map, so off we went. I should have known that we were doomed when they almost missed the first turning. The drive was interesting, we pasted some WWII pill boxes, a lone monkey, and some flat animals. We witness probably the most extraordinary overtaking manoeuvre I have ever seen, we were on what we know of in the UK as an 'A' road, with cars overtaking on both sides simultaneously!

After a little longer than expected we turned off the main road and after a while came to a dead end. At this point the lead car had to come clean. Their map was of most of South East Asia, not Johor State Malaysia. We consulted a larger scale map and found we were some 75 Km north of our destination. Off we go again, down another side road shown on the new map. Relief we were heading in the right direction, and what is that on the horizon? The sea. All of a sudden the potholes were getting bigger, that's no pothole, it's got a JCB in it , yes a JCB not a Case. Actually a JCB with the cab and electrics I helped design back in 1994! Then the potholes stopped, it was just cinders now. We carried on regardless, passed a chap with 2 Km of road to build with a builder's cement mixer! In the distance we could see the bridge on the map, but as we got there we could see it is blocked. Do you think that stopped us? We swerved around it to be confronted by a man on a deck chair waving a red flag. We stopped and asked is we can get through, no, the bridge is not finished. So what have we learnt so far, Malaysian maps are rubbish. They either have no roads marked, and those that are may not be built.

That was it, time to take control. I got the map, jumped into my car and sped back off the way we had come, over the cinders, swerving around cavernous potholes with a JCB in, back past the Pill boxes and the flat animals to the correct turning.

So four hours after we left we got to the beach, and it was well worth it. We all went for a swim in water that was as warm as the River Trent on a canoe course (Catherine knows what I mean). We lazed in the sun, and the shade, swam some more, two went jetskiing and just did nothing. Just before we went there was the obligatory hole digging, well you can't go to the beach without digging a hole can you? The return trip was very uneventful, but all in all a good day out.