Malaysia — Drive south from Desaru Beach, Bandar Penawar, 81900 Kota Tinggi, Johor, Malaysia
Exploring the coast east of Johor Bahru
May 2015
From Desaru Beach, I drove south and explored the peninsula east of Johor Bahru.
The map I found (see below) looked quite promising, but in reality, there was not much to see or do along the route.
When I visited in 2015, the region was undergoing a massive rebuild, and there were many areas under-construction. However, as with many projects in Malaysia, it was unclear where the people (or the jobs) would come from to support all the people living in the new houses. Was it a ‘build it, and they will come’ project?
One thing that intrigued me on the map was the ‘World War II British (Defence Bunker)’; however, when I got there, I could find no sign of the bunker apart from a small abandoned machine gun emplacement on the side of the road. No sign of any tourist attraction. There was a large Malaysian military base.
What I did find odd on the drive (besides the lack of obvious petrol stations) was the number of abandoned buildings I saw along one stretch of the road.
There was even an abandoned, and now in ruins, mosque.
One clear thing, though, is that the region was important for the gas and oil industry, as I saw numerous rigs moored off the coast and many large support vessels in the area.
Overall, it was an odd drive. The area felt deserted. There were few people about, and it felt weird. It was hard to put my finger on why it felt so odd; it just did.
