Trekking Pulau Ubin

Boats at Changi ferry point awaiting passengers
Boats at Changi ferry point awaiting passengers
A pleasant 15 min boat ride to the island of Pulau Ubin
A pleasant 15 min boat ride to the island of Pulau Ubin
Trekker friends: Michael, Y.K., Nellie, Jane
Trekker friends: Michael, Y.K., Nellie, Jane, Judith

The last time I went to Pulau Ubin, I was a teenager. With a few friends we took a boat across to the island and walked across the small holding farms and orchards and forest to a small beach front. We swam an hour or two and then made our way back. All I remembered was feeling weary from the long hours of walking and taking the public bus from Bukit Timah to Changi.

Now it is so much easier. We drove to the car park next to the Changi Village hawker center. The ferry point is just in front of the car park with electronic meter so there was no need to worry about the number of coupons to use.

When there was a load of 12 people, the boatman brought us aboard a boat and brought us across to the island. The boat ride took about 15 minutes and we paid $2.50 each directly to the boatman. Soon we were on Pulau Ubin and walking on bitumen roads.

On bitumen roads
On bitumen roads
Pitstop with a beach view
Pitstop with a beach view
We came across many Muslim tombstones and this is one of them
We came across many Muslim tombstones and this is one of them
Can we really call it a "wild" boar?
Can we really call it a "wild" boar?
Standing in front of what was once a chief surveyor's colonial house
Standing in front of what was once a chief surveyor's colonial house
The Chek Jawa boardwalk
The Chek Jawa boardwalk
On the boardwalk
On the boardwalk
Atapchee - sea palm
Atapchee - sea palm
Looking down at friends from the tower at Chek Jawa
Looking down at friends from the tower at Chek Jawa
At the herbal garden
At the herbal garden

We walked from 9am to about 1pm. At the ferry point on Pulau Ubin was a small village where we had a seafood lunch at one of the restaurants. The highlight of the walk was an encounter with “wild” boars that seem very used to human encounters, and the boardwalk through Chek Jawa, one of Singapore’s conserved ecosystems, a coastal walk, “a unique natural area where six major habitats meet and mix”. It was more an enjoyable excursion than a trek. Cycling would be more fun, and there were many shops with all kinds of bikes for hire. Maybe the next time, that is what I will do.

Pulau Ubin circled
Pulau Ubin circled


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