MINI SERIES: DAY 8 WALKING THE ROUND ISLAND ROUTE

After the high of completing 100 kms on Day 7, I was all charged up for today’s walk but the universe was in a different mood !!

(If you have not read the previous series, I am attempting to walk the 150 kms Singapore Round Island Route. You can read about Day 1 to know about the planning and prep.)

DAY 8

Total Distance Covered so far: 123 kms of 150 kms (13.9 kms on Day 8)

Route: Tuas Crescent MRT to Jalan Buroh – Before the Pandan Reservoir (2 hrs 10 mins)

Route Map: https://goo.gl/maps/8jUqwVR4tem9Xmm28

Things to Note: Carry cap and water, check weather before leaving and if you are walking during the day, then sunscreen is your best friend!

Given the high of Day 7, I made a spur of the moment decision to not follow the Google map route to walk from Tuas to Gul Crescent to Benoi Sector and instead decided to walk straight from Tuas to Pioneer Road which would bring me to Benoi Sector. Great idea!!! but 1 km into the walk, I realised there are no proper pathways – instead there was a wide grassy patch and I had to be constantly on the look-out of hidden tree roots to avoid tripping and my weird imagination was also looking out for snakes. All in all – not too bad to walk and a straight route (pics below for reference) until I reached the Water Reclamation Plant where I had to walk through patch of weird chemical smells which made me nauseus. But I finally joined back on the RIR route at Benoi. So I would not recommend to walk on my spur of the moment route. I have shared the RIR route for the same stretch.

The next obstacle was waiting for me at the roundabout near Jurong checkpoint on Boon Lay road. Google Maps and RIR route said to walk straight ahead but there was no route to walk straight!! John Carver if you are reading this post, I was thinking of your comment about the Google Map going haywire. I first decided to walk on the right side of the roundabout to check if there was a place to crossover and almost reached Jurong Checkpoint but there was no route to crossover. So I backtracked and walked on the left side and finally found an overbridge to cross over and continue on the path. I lost almost 45 mins in locating the route. So I have given an alternate route that you can take rather than struggling like me!! I had planned to walk upto the West Coast Park today but I had to stop just before the Pandan Reservoir as I had to rush back home! Sigh!! Hope tomorrow is a better day!