Trip preparations

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In three weeks’ time we shall be heading back to Malaysia. We haven't been there since 2009, on our round the world trip (2008/9) when we started the "Pensiongapper" blogs. Now, nine years and 147 blogs on, we are heading back, not to the Malay Peninsular this time but to Eastern Malaysia, to the island of Borneo. Borneo, the third largest island in the world, is shared by the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, the Sultanate of Brunei and Indonesian Kalimantan. We are heading to Sabah in north eastern Borneo first off, then plan to travel through Brunei down to Sarawak in the south west. We probably will not be able to fit in Kalimantan as well; it is a huge island and we have just six weeks there.



We have once again visited the tropical diseases department at the Vega Baja hospital in Orihuela here in Spain. Our little orange booklets (World Health Organisation Certificate of vaccinations) are packed in with the passports. We only needed the Cholera vaccine, taken orally, since we were covered for just about everything else. We have had lots of jabs in recent years, like Yellow fever, Rabies, Typhoid, Japanese encephalitis, Hepatitis, Tetanus, Diphtheria and Polio for previous trips, so no jabs for us this time. Happy days! We also have malaria tablets and a well-stocked medical kit to take with us, so shouldn't have any health problems.



The well-worn and well-travelled rucksacks have found their way out of the cupboard and sit awaiting packing. Orangutans, pygmy elephants, crocodiles and tropical birds await us, as does biodiverse ancient rainforest and tropical beaches. It's a hard life!



Our itinerary is as follows:-



Firstly, we shall fly BA from Murcia, Spain to Heathrow, London on 10th April to spend five days in England with family. Our next flight with Malaysian Airways on 15th April will take us from Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur. After a few days in Kuala Lumpur we fly to Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, then a few days later we are heading down to Sandakan and the Kinabatangan River. Thereafter we have nothing planned whatsoever until we fly back to Kuala Lumpur from Kuching in Sarawak on 26th May. We like to take things as they come when travelling and leave our itinerary as flexible as possible. We shall have a full month to travel down to Kuching, by bus and boat mainly, but maybe some flights as well. Finally, we fly back to London on 27th May to spend six further days with family in England then return home to Spain on 2nd June.



Domestic flights in Malaysia, by Air Asia, are remarkably economical. For example, from Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan in Sabah costs just £18 return. Sometimes it is the only way to traverse parts of this vast forested island. However, we want to travel by local transport overland and overwater as much as possible, to fully experience travelling the country and waterways of this enticing island.



So, twenty days and counting; then our Bornean adventure begins!



<em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"Semoga hari anda indah" ("have a nice day" in Malay)

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Comments

[ALAN AND MARGARET]

WE SHALL LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR BLOGS AS ALWAYS...
HOPE YOU GOT OUR FIRST COMMENT...

[ALAN AND MARGARET]

YOU TWO ARE JUST.....AWESOME,AMAZING,ASTOUNDING AND ASTONISHING....
DON'T THINK MY FIRST REPLY GOT THROUGH,HOPE THIS DOES....

[Pensiongapper]

Hi Margaret and Allan
Thanks for comments. Hope you are well. Xx

[Doreen Draper]

Your Trip
Dear Viv and John, , What a trip you've planned! I look forward to following, an atlas at the ready. Much love, Doreen