Pulau Ubin

Yesterday I trekked off to Pulau Ubin. It is a smaller island at the eastern end of Singapore, reached by ferry from Changi Village.

It has an interesting colonial history, which I was given some insight on by a local when I stopped at their kampong (village) house for cold coconut water part way through my cycle tour of the accessible parts of the island.

It's production was granite quarrying and rubber plantations. By 1970s both had ceased to be economic and familes were moving to the mainland to get better education for their children and better jobs. Like so many places in this world bright lights beckon the young in particular and by 2020 only 22 households remained on the island. In 2020,  as part of Singapore's covid response, they were moved to the mainland.  Most have not returned but their houses and a few small businesses remain.  By then the island had largely returned to 'jungle' and mangrove coastline anyway, had come under the management of National Parks and has been for the last 40-50 years an oasis of green.

Wooden bumboats (the name comes from the combination of the Dutch word for a canoe—"boomschuit" ("boom" meaning "tree"), and "boat" )  from Changi Village take about 5 minutes and deposit visitors at the pier of the main village where bike rental seems to be the main business these days; bike rental and some rudimentary victualling.

Bike rented, map stowed in basket, I set off south to Chek Jawa wetlands. No, I do not have a love affair with wetlands but as places go, these are areas where humans don't settle in abundance - generally speaking.

Faux-Tudor styled English County cottages aren't what you might expect to find in a Malay mangrove swamp, and probably not best suited to the climate. Some bloke built this one in 1930 possibly as a holiday home or guest house. I can't imagine what the 1930s guests did about the heat and mosquitoes; lots of gin perhaps. (Note here - no evidence of mozzies today.) According to the info provided it has been 'sympathetically' restored, and these days has static information displays about the area for the tourists.   

The next few photos are of mini mud volcanoes, not unlike termite mounds but with clearly larger life forms than termites.

These are the workings of mud lobsters (puts moles in perspective). The tiny one by my foot below came up through the road.

About this size..

Nipa Palm - sweet juice can be fermented for alcohol.

Looping back and north takes you to abandoned granite quarries, now lakes, and some walking trails.

One of the few remaining significant buildings is a Buddhist Temple, where I stopped for a while and communed with the turtles.  An oasis of calm and peace.  Sounds of nature.  I have encountered turtles at Buddhist temples before so did the search engine thing and learned that in Buddhism turtles point to the idea of eternity and continuation of life. 

 I lingered a while, turning the prayer wheels before going off in search of.....

By the time I arrived back at the pier I had enjoyed another otter encounter (a local looked disbelieving when I told him. We were discussing kayak hire for when Mr B comes here, and I asked how likely it would be to see otters. His reply was that you'd need to be very lucky.  It's unlikely he said, so I told him about my otter - the one that ambled across the track from one swamp to another, then swam around, sticking its head up to look at me about a dozen times.)

I had also spent time sitting with macaques that had settled on a small causeway. They are sneaky blighters. I'd propped the bike against the armco; a cloth bag in the basket had my water bottle in it. As I walked away from the bike a large male sauntered purposefully in the direction of the bike. Oops. I went back and took the bag.  He feigned disinterest, but I could see I had foiled a bag snatch. You can't help but love them.

Pulau Ubin kampong houses are like a place from another age. It is hard to believe that 5 and a half million people jammed into concrete boxes live a 5 minute boat journey away and this island isn't a day trippers mecca. The seafood restaurant on the only beach should be packed instead of empty. Tables outside the small homebased eateries, bars and cafes should come at a premium, but honestly you can pick your place, sit anywhere; they will even let you have the big standing fan all to yourself.

If you ever visit Singapore put Pulau Ubin on your visit list.