Since we decided to stay in town for the Singapore Cup Horse Race, we decided to visit Pulau Ubin (Pulau means island in Malay) – a small island off the coast of Singapore that is considered part of Singapore. There is a population there still of about 100 people, and the island is reminiscent of how Singapore was in the 1950’s. To get there, we had to take a bus to the coast and then board what we were told was a ferry. The “ferry” was actually a bumboat – a small wooden boat that can only hold 12 people and also doubles as a home for the owner! We saw one that was particularly decrepit and said to ourselves “as long as we don’t ride in THAT one”. Spoken too soon.
After we boarded the bumboat, we took a quick 20 min ride out to Pulau Ubin. The main pastime of visitors to the island is bike riding, since the roads are not paved and most of the island is old granite quarries and campgrounds. As we looked out of the windows of the boat towards the shore, we saw we were headed into a storm. On the ocean though, you can see for miles, so we hoped to ourselves we would escape the rain and enjoy ourselves nonetheless. Well, we enjoyed ourselves, but did NOT escape the rain. =)
When we got to the island, the place was packed with bike rental salesmen. After picking some very high quality bikes to rent for $8 each, we headed off to the left side of the island. We started to hear thunder and headed for a nearby shelter for cover. We were soon joined by 3 older men who also needed shelter, so we made room. The rain poured pretty heavily for a bit, and then died down; the silence occasionally broken by loud claps of thunder. After a long period of silence, Kevin decided it was time to go. I told him he should go out from under the shelter and look at the clouds to see if the storm had truly passed. He walked about 5 steps from the shelter towards the water, and no sooner had he gotten to the middle of the clearing, lightning struck the water in front of him and we heard the loudest clap of thunder we have ever heard! He RAN back into the shelter, covering his ears from the deafening noise, and the 3 old men in the shelter proceeded to chuckle at him. We then waited for them to leave and make it out of the clearing before we committed to leaving!
We continued to head to the left side of the island, but quickly noticed that every biker passing us from that direction was completely soaked and most were completely muddy as well. Easy choice – head away from the left! We then headed to the right side of the island, and saw some of the older homes in the area. It was amazing to see the architecture and serenity of the homes as they sat situated in clearings between the jungle and brush. As we were stopped on the trail to take a picture, 2 wild boars ran across our trail 50 ft in front of us! We froze. Those things can kill you! Our plan was to go medium speed past the clearing they ran through, and then speed up if more were on their way. After mounting up our courage, we passed safely through the clearing, and headed on our way. We made it to the part of the island where you then are only allowed to hike – the paths are too steep and unlevel to bike. We walked up to a large observatory tower (very smart after the storm had just passed!) and on our way back down, we saw a wild boar! We followed him and took some pictures, as we noticed from other observers, he was pretty unalarmed by humans.
After that, we continued walking towards the Mangrove forest. It was awesome to see how large and magnificent those trees are. They have adapted to their environment in such a unique way, and it was mesmerizing to see. We continued walking through the rainforest and it started to drizzle. We waited under a large tree for about 10 minutes, and the storm seemed to have passed, so we continued walking. After walking around the whole right coast of the island, the trail took us back through the rainforest. As we were under the shade of the trees, the heavens opened up and the rain was unstoppable! Of course, neither of us had brought umbrellas! We clung to each other by a large tree trunk and waited about 10 minutes for the rain to subside. We actually were quite dry because of the heavy leaves blocking the rain. After about 10 minutes though, the leaves got weighed down by the weight of the rain and we started to get sprinkled on. I didn’t realize how close we were to the shelter (about 100 feet, up around a blind curve) but the rain was so heavy that even in a sprint, we would have gotten completely soaked. While we were waiting, two ladies walked by under their umbrellas. They offered to let us borrow one as they shared one and let us walk back to the shelter. What a lifesaver! We were so grateful and thankful as we walked together up the muddy hill to the park shelter, and waited for another 30 min with a group of about 40 people as the storm finally subsided.
After that, we walked back to our bikes, brushed off our seats, and finished riding back to the dock to return our bikes. It was so amazing to really experience why a rain forest is so aptly named! We had a wonderful time, and will definitely not journey out on our own in the future without taking an umbrella.
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