Before we came to Singapore and were researching it to see what to look forward to, we read about the Green Corridor or the Greenway. It is a railroad track no longer in use that runs through the island. It was the original train line going into Malaysia and is about 16 miles long.
We made two short walks on it just to get a feel for it. Then in October we met several women on a cemetery tour who also mentioned wanting to walk the Corridor. So Gwenn and I started emailing each other until we set up a date and she got other friends (professors at National University of Singapore) to join us.
Yesterday was our planned hike. It thundered and rained all night so there was a flurry of emails and calls before our planned 8am meetup time to see if everyone was still game for the hike.The rains stopped just as Ray and I walked out of our apartment building and our bus pulled up 1 minute after getting to the bus stop. Two really good signs.
The weather was perfect for a hike – overcast and breezy. Definitely not a normal S’pore day. Most of the old train tracks have been pulled out but there is one nice depot building and two trestle bridges with the tracks left in place.
After we stopped for lunch the sun came out and alas the humidity caused me to bow out about 1/2 hour from the ending point at the Malaysian border. Ray and I plan on finishing it – hopefully next weekend.
Things I learned from this hike:
1. Take more water than you think you need.
2. Once you step into the huge puddle the rest of the walk is easy. It’s the first squishy step that is weird.
3. Walking with a bunch of people makes the time and the miles go past quickly.
4. Don’t sweat the sweat marks on your shirt, everyone has them. It’s part of hiking in Singapore.
5. I never thought I’d hear bull frogs that sound like cows.