During the one- week September school holiday , we thought of exploring the west part of Johor state. Previously we have made a number of visits to DESARU for the beautiful beaches and water theme park, KOTA TINGGI for the firefly sanctuary and is there any interesting places in the west of Johor State …..
Located about 60 km to the west from central Johor Bahru, Pontian and Pontian Kecil is known for fresh daily fish capture. On the way there , we will have to pass through PEKAN NANAS which from its name tells you its famous for NANAS which is Malay for pineapples. We reach Pontian at about late afternoon and just in time for enjoying the sunset before our fresh seafood dinner.
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Pontian really has one of the most beautiful sunsets | The seafood here and simple meal is just as good here |
We stayed a night at one of the simple hotel in PONTIAN. When we told our friends we are going over to this part of the world, many enquiring mind ask us what is there in this part of the world other than seafood. About 30 km south of this small , laid back but interesting town is the TAMAN NEGARA TANJUNG PIAI , known for being the Southmost tip of Mainland Asia. This is where we head to the next morning after breakfast at the hotel.
At the entrance , you have to buy ticket which is not exorbitant. Then you will be ushered to take a family / group photo before making your way either to the observation tower or the globe indicating you are at the southernmost tip of mainland Asia. Honestly this is also very educational in understanding the benefits of mangroves. Do you know that mangrove is a very important element of the ecosystem . In Malaysia these wetlands mangrove areas are dedicated as RAMSAR sites. The RAMSAR Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of RAMSAR sites (wetlands).

After this we went to KUKUP , another fishermen village for lunch . It was very crowded as this is quite popular with tourist and that particular week was the school holiday in Singapore and Malaysia. We didn’t have much time to explore KUKUP or its mangrove forest island located just across the town which is accessible via ferry. Maybe we will keep it for our next trip .
Happy holidays. and remember YOU WILL NEVER WALK ALONE