This was done on Feb 27th, 2014
Thanks to Qantas Frequent Flyer Points I ended up in Singapore last week. I then nabbed an epic deal from KL to Chiang Mai with Air Asia a couple days later. Leaving me needing to get from Singapore to KL where some site-seeing could be done. The easy option would have been to take the hour flight, but doing things the easy way isn’t my styles. Overlanding Singapore to KL was a way better idea.
I haven’t seen much of mainland Malaysia outside KL (update: checkout my Asia page as I’ve now spent more time in Malaysia) so it would be a good chance to see some of the scenery too.
The option to get from Singapore to KL by bus is the popular option. Meh, too easy. I planned to walk over the border and ideally hitchhike to KL.
Step by step instructions with a map are at the bottom
Here’s How We Went (crossing made Feb 27th 2015):
Starting from Singapore Airport the MRT sky train is easy to get to Marsiling Station, the closest station to the border (I stopped in at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve) but you can get a ticket straight there for less than three SGD. It will take roughly an hour 20, with 2 train changes (Singapore’s Sky train is piss easy to understand).
Getting off the Sky Train I walked 15 mins to the border area before border roads started going in all sorts of directions so plenty of backtracking was going on. According to Wiki Travel you cannot cross walk across the Singapore/Malaysia border at all.
Wiki Travel is wrong
Eventually I started getting pretty close until two roads merged on me. I had run out of footpath. There were some pretty purple flowers though.
Pretty flowers so pretty
I could see a copper who was looking at the trucks passing through wbho had seen me. He didn’t seem angry and eventually he asked what I was doing. It was hard to hear over the trucks but eventually he stopped them,allowing me run across the road and shuffled me closer to the border.
I was now hugging the road with my life possessions on me.
This happened a couple more times, the officers were yapping on their walkie talkies for sure. As they saw me coming they’d smile as they yapped back into their walkie talkies confirming I was no villain.
Eventually I hit customs/immigration. Flew through there no questions asked.
Getting closer!
Now to navigate the Singapore to Malaysia bridge connecting the two countries. I saw the buses but kept walking straight towards what I guessed was the way. Another officer stopped me. I got the confident voice on and said I was walking across to meet my friend (bluffing). He said its a long walk but yea if you want go for it, confirming my previous guess was correct. Winning.
winning face
The walkway was narrow, you wouldn’t wanna have a couple beers in ya that’s for sure. Eventually I found a spot where cars can possibly pull over and stuck the thumb out. I got no bites, trying to be the smiley charming lad. 15 minutes went by and I called it quits, you need a sign to have any luck I reckon.
The walk was cool, then hairy as all paths disappeared and I was again hugging the side of the road. Thankfully the left lane was a motorbike lane so they didn’t get to close. I was getting near customs and someone actually stopped and I jumped on the back for last few hundred meters or so. Winning.
bit scary!
Turns out I wasn’t quite in the right place but the officers helped me again and I was through Malaysian immigration in a flash and came out into downtown Johor Bahru.
I was lost sweaty with my life possessions in me, having already done some hiking earlier ad the heat not giving away nothing. But Wikipedia was wrong. Oh shit, wonder how many “facts” I put in Uni assignments turned out to be false back in the day.
I decided to flag the hitching from JB to KL and booked a train from JB Sentral to KL Sentral leaving at 4.20pm (twas on time!). Couldn’t bring myself to put myself in someones car as possibly the smelliest backpacker at that very moment, nobel right.
Step by step instructions to walk across border from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur:
- Get MRT from anywhere in Singapore to Marsiling station.
- Walk 15 mins north to immigration (the route I took is detailed below, including sides of the road I walked on)
- Keep walking north to Malaysia (ignore buses) and walk down the staircase when you hit it).
- Walk across the bridge to Malaysia customs. hug the left hand side the whole way (you will get told where to go at the other end but it’s a 2 minute correction, hard for me to explain).
- Walk through to JB Sentral and book a train ticket (it’s well signed).
Here is the map of crossing the Singapore side. Not what side of the road I walked on, that’s crucial.
Total cost:
- 2.80 SGD Sky Train from Changi Airport (2.05 USD)
- 33 RMB train from JB Sentral to KL Sentral (9.10 USD)
- = Sweet fuck all!
- = 11.15 USD
Tips:
- I’ve heard Malacca is cool, you may want to stop there enroute to KL
- If you exit JB Sentral the main road could be a good spot to hitch hike from (pretty sure it’s illegal)
- If you want to get a bus to KL, jump on a local bus for 4 RMB to Larkin Terminal from here.
Have you taken the trip overland before? How did you do it? If not what border crossing has been craziest for you.
If you have done this route and have different info, let us all know in the comments!
Thanks for the writeup. I have just googled about my last night’s unfortunate incident on my way to Malaysia from Singapore via the “Johor–Singapore Causeway” and found your writeup. Actually i wanted to catch the train to KL sentral from JB Sentral. but because of the hiccup i couldn’t make it. I really felt bad because i was told to take this “5/10 mins **shortcut** by the malaysian security officers” but unfortunately because it was night 10PM and i couldn’t pass the hitchhiking area of the road because it is fucking dangerous!! — (its a highway and vehicles including bikes seems to be racing around 100Kmph – if one of them hit you while you are walking you are bang dead!!) I really think those malaysian customs officers have intensionally put me on trouble because of some reason. (i am a south asian, may be racism?!) wish no one will face this situation again. its so tiresome to travel this causeway back and forth (1Km x 2 carrying a huge backup!) so no matter what, please always use the bus instead choose to walk.
Hi Harsha,
Thanks for sharing your experience. I would definitely not recommend doing this at night. It certainly makes sense to use the bus in 98% of cases, but if you are looking for a random adventure it certainly is one.
I really hope no one is silly when the are on the causeway, otherwise like you say…there will not be a good ending.
I don’t understand. You didn’t walk across the whole causeway. You hitchhiked. And if you had hitchhiked the whole way then there’s nothing to get excited about anyway, but you walked it most of the way but couldn’t last the final few hundred metres which would have made it a story? That’s not “wining” that’s LOSING.
And B. When you made it across you cleared KL customs? What’s KL customs? Customs specifically for Kuala Lumpur based in Johor??
Hey Bob,
Thanks for the comment. You’d be right, I didn’t walk along the whole way but easily could have 😀 In my book it was winning, was one heck of a sweat fest lol. And my bad, KL customs isn’t the right term, thanks for pointing it out.
Have the best day ever 🙂
Cheers, Jub
I walked back from Malaysia when I was working in Singapore back in 2009, hoofed it the entire way across the causeway. One of the coolest border crossings ever. The Singaporeans were sort of impressed that we walked across, sure was better than waiting in the bus line!
Hey John,
I think you’ve just inspired me to do it again this week when I head back to Singapore lol.
Cheers for the inspo 😉
Jub
I easily walked from singapore to malaysia but many are saying that is much easier than Malaysia to singapore. Any experience walking from M to S? I’d be hitchhiking from melaca. I’ve already hitched in Malaysia and only good experiences
Hey Aviva,
Jeff just talked about his experience in the comments below from M to S!
Cheers, Jub
How’s this for Irony or whatever you’d like to call it? I found your blog and read about your crossing because I was on my way to Singapore but staying in JB. I had no idea the grief involved with daily crossings. I chose JB because condos on AirBnb were dirt cheap. Anyway, I arrive at Woodlands around 9:00pm on a Saturday so it’s not too bad. I meet a Malay fella on the bus who lives and works in JB and he say’s he hates waiting in line for the connection across so he wants to walk the causeway. He says he likes to stay in motion. I tell him i read it could be done (on this blog) so I say I’m in. I’m thinking pretty cool I’m going to see now for myself and I’ve had a tutorial……lol. Arriving at the JB side of the causeway the sidewalk ends and you are literally on the roadway. There was a cop parked back at the pullout at the halfway point so my friend ran back to ask if there was a route that we were not seeing. He told him to walk up the roadway but to stay on the one that the cars and trucks do as they go slower climbing the hill reducing the potential to get hit….haha. Thanks. But thats what we did. Dont think I would do it again but it was a cool experience to share.
Hey Jeff,
That actually sounds like an awesome experience. Stoked as you managed to find a new friend to do it with! Not sure if I’d like to do it at night time, seems to add quite a bit more risk ?
Thanks for sharing!