Day 1.

Flight out o Portland, Maine left 2 hours late.

Missed connecting flight out of Chicago to Japan and onwards to Bangkok.

After only 4 hours standing in line at the customer service desk, we got a new flight out leaving Sunday around 11AM, traveling via Shanghai, and onwards to Kuala Lumpur, arriving 11:30 Monday night in Kuala Lumpur.

We've mised our 1/2 dy birding tour of outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, and also missed the initial flight out of Kuala Lumpur to Medan. E-mailed Air Asia, with little hope of getting assistance rebooking/changing anything of that portion of our trip. Mom insists we go to Sumatra even if it's only for 1/2 day, though, so will purchase another ticket to Medan...maybe the return portion of our stay in Medan can be used still....any thoughts?

On a bright note...met another Mainer who lives in Vientianne part time...has a house there, apparently, so we hung out in the airport line, staying at the same hotel here, etc...pleasant guy full of info.

Next report...Shanghai and the 4 hour stopover at the airport there...if I can get a connection...

Mark-

Mark - thats bad luck - hope the rest of the trip goes smoothly.

I guess this means that there will be no penalty and the Panda Preservation Society will go wanting. Bad luck with the flights.

Absolutely oh Great Panda..

Here on day 2, we arrived at the ticket counter to be told they CANNOT route us through Shanghai to Kuala Lumpur. Instead, we are taking a 12:06 flight out to Bangkok to arrive in Bangkok the night of march 26th. So, scratch the Shanghai report. Instead....

Next report: Tokyo, time permitting.


Mark-

all of your wonderful planning and now this....the trials of flying in the winter (albeit spring in NE)...

why was there a 2 hours delay at portland?? not weather or was it weather in chicago...

next time try boston....better options perhaps...

where are you?? moscow? istambul??

Tokyo Update....

Met up with the Mainer we met in Chicago. He flew via All Nippon...we flew via United...back seat...but not too uncomfortable

Here we are...waiting for our flight to BKK.

Managed to salvage some of the first days of our trip. Unfortunately, none of the original first 3 days is refundable...none of the flights, none of the hotels, none of the tours....but that's life.

The delay in Portland was supposedly due to air traffic control issues in Chicago...which begs the question: if there were issues in Chicago shouldn't the departures have been delayed out of Chicago also? It turns out the flight to Tokyo left withing 15 minutes of schedule. Odd.

So Panda...how bout them Speedos?????

Next report...maybe Kuala Lumpur...birding tour.

Mark-

mark..international flights often have priority so that may be why...

Mark,
One experience like yours and I probably would stop traveling. I guess that's why I go on escorted trips. Do you ever get travel insurence?

Will contact the FCPA Malaysian Support Group to see if they can provide assistance.

And remember, adversity gives you material for a more interesting trip report.

Flight insurance wasn't available for the legs of the trip we lost because my mother is over 75. Still, we're taking it in stride, have managed to book a new Air Asia flight with no problems and are sitting in the Suvarnapoomi (sp) airport as I type. Free wireless is nice...yippee!

We stayed at the Avana last night...no problems, just a few $$ more than internet rates. Taxi was also just a little more than the prices I've seen people mention...$250 baht from hotel to airport, $320 from airport to hotel (it was less, but I just gave the driver $10)

Everything went pretty smoothly once we got to the airport, tho we got a little lost on the way to the taxi stand.

Now we're just waiting for our flight to Kuala Lumpur and the REAL start of our holiday.

Crosscheck...I need to review the FCPA records...I forgot there was even a branch in Malaysia!!!

Air Asi, BTW, had no problems giving us priority boarding since mom is over 75, so that is a plus (the leg she broke in October is swollen around her ankle, but she says it's been doing that when she flies lately)

I expected a arge city like Bangkok to be smoggy, but it seems reasonably clear sky here.

At last! It looks like you are on track. I hope all the rest goes smoothly!

keep the info coming

I have to say...this first Air Asia flight was mooth and uneventful. The planes are actualy quite comfortable!!

Mark-

2 days in Kuala Lumpur

We arranged to have a birding guide escort us to the better bird watching sights. Endemic tours was also flexible enough to arrange a hotel for us last minute AND the guide we had rearranged his schedule so that he could take us both days we were available.

Day 1 we spent nearly 10 hours with him. . He took us to the Selangor Wildlife Reserve, where we saw a number of brd species as well as both the Long Tailed Macaque and the Silver Leaf Monkey.

We stopped several places on the way to Selangor, and several places on the way back. We then continued through Kuala Lumpur to see the Petronis Towers as that was ONE thing I wanted to have the opportunity to see. It's quite pretty lit up at night.

Day 2 we went to Ampang early in the morning, continuing to Birkit Tinggi Hill resort area. Lovely Japanese garden, some nice birds sighted, though mom didn't see the ones she most hoped to see. Also, a very nice Botanical garden there. The hotel we ate lunch at was interesting...1 kilometer from the gardens is Berjaya Hill Resort, it has a design hearkening to French castles and villages from the 17th or 18th century. Nicely done and quite a surprise.

As we were ending our visit to Kuala Lumpur, I stopped by an electronics store and picked up a 1 gig thumbdrive for $12. Guide said could probably have bought it for less than $10 at another store he knows of....still...$10 compared to $20 US is an OK deal to me.

A few interesting tidbits:

The national car brand is called the Proton. Cars in Malaysia are expensive. ...about 20-25% more expensive than in the US.

Homes in Malaysia are relatively inexpensive.....about 1/4 the average in the US.

One major political issue in Malaysia is companies owned by people of Malay descent get preferential treatment over companies owned by people of other national backgrounds...even if they have been residents for several generations. Quite a few people of non Malay descent are leaving the country because of it.

Overall a very nice stay in Kuala Lumpur. Mom wants to come back and do some birding in Frasiers Hill area as that is the primo area for bird watching...unfortunately, we didn't have time to go there due to the long commute.

Now on to Miri.

Mark-

Great! I'm glad you were able to do your birding near KL! I look forward to more.

Day 1 Borneo---Niah Caves Park

Lots of walking here, folks. If you aren't up for 2.5 mile walk to and 2.5 mile walk from the caves, PLUS a lot of up and down walking within the caves themselves(1-1.5 miles) this particular trip won't be for you. I am utterly exhausted, but overall, I enjoyed the visit to the caves. While apparently not as expansive or extensive as the caves in Mulu, I found the caves to be impressive all the same. The painted cave was a bit of a disappointment, though.

Nearly the entire walk is made on plankways and stairs, so you get your stairmaster exercise for about a week...or two.

The firstcave is called the Trader's Cave. It's here the Chinese traders would come to buy the ness pulled from the roof of the caves. The traders setup basic sleeping places for themselves in this cave, and later on the nest harvesters would play games in this cave when not on the roof of the cave harvesting. Even today the birds nests command a high price, about $300 US for 2 pounds, which entices the bird nest harvesters to do the dangerous work. They climb long poles, I guess you could call them, to the roof of the cave, sometimes 100 feet above the floor ad stay there scraping the nests off the roof. Other people in the harvesting *team* pick them off the floor and place them in bags. reat cave sees it's share of harvesting, but the Moon cave and Wind Caves also get harvested several times each year.

The Great Cave is the next cave we come to in this complex. This is where a majority of archaeological work was done years ago, uncovering remains of human civilization dating back around 20,000 years.

This is the easy part of the cave exploration. From the mouth of the Great Cave we walk in the dark (using flashlights)up and down stairs, moist with water and bird droppings..and probably not a few bat droppings.. for about 20 minutes to the Moon Cave. This cave gets it's name from of all things the light from the full moon which can help light the cave during harvesting season if the moon is in the right position overhead, since there are several natural shafts through the roof of the cave.

Onwards and downwards...and up..and down..through the Black Hole Cave. Pich black darkness walking for around 20 minutes, stopping a couple times to get a close up of the bats and swallows living in harmony in the caves.

At last! we walk up a hundred or so steps to the light of the Wind Cave...and a slight breeze to help cool us down. This cave, is like a miniature version of the Great Cave, right to the half moon shape of the opening of the cave.

To reach the ainted Cave we walked out the entrance to the Wind Cave, down some steps to another plankway. This walk only took about 10 minutes, then back up 30 or 40 steps and into the Painted Cave!

Unfortunately, the cave paintings are very faded, and difficult to see. Still, it was interesting to see them and the prehistoric period they represent.

By this point we were totally exhausted AND we had to retrace nearly the entire route we had taken. The one change in route was an alternate flight of around 100 steps up and over, instead of down and under, between the Moon Cave and the Great Cave. Of course, we had 100 or so steps down and then the slope of the Great Cave to walk up in order to reach the entrance of the cave again.

Hopefully, you have the idea of the caves...lots n lots of walking and stair climbing....but all in all, I think it was worth it.


We didn't get to climb Lambir Hill as it was raining when we got there, and, by that time, mom and I were exhausted, so we weren't too disappointed by that. (oops!! a runon sentence!!)

The Imperil Hotel, where we are staying is very nice. It's less than a year old so everything is in very good condition and the breakfast was great, with omelettes made to order, pancakes, toast, potato wedges, cereal, assorted juices, fruits, pastries, and, of course, the various local dishes we are coming to expect. I recommend it if you plan to visit Miri.

Tomorrow we are going to drive into Brunei for a city tour, and, hopefully, a little birding for mom.

thanks for visiting the caves....now i don't have to do it...haha

i now remember why i long ago crossed birds nest soup off my dining experiences....

Brunei Darussalam

On our 2nd and last day in Borneo we took a day trip to Brunei. The ride takes about 2 hours, including going through the border. If all you want to do is spend a quick day in Brunei, I think you will find that going from Miri is the most economical option.

We took a quick tour of BSB (bandar Seri Begawan) and had lunch, then we did a 2 hour river trip of the villages and the Mangroves where we saw some Proboscis monkeys, lizards and just enjoyed the jungle scenery.

There is more to do in Brunei than we experienced, of course. Ulu Temburong national Park looks to be absolutely breathtaking in its' large tract of pristine jungle. Then, for the kids, there is the Theme Park, the name of which escapes me right now. Also, there are more things to see in BSB; we just did a quick driving tour. For the executives, there is at least one 1st rate 18 hole golf course.

The Bruneians? get many benefits from the Sultan gives all Bruneians land AND homes...and not shacks, either, but modern homes. They also get subsidized education anywhere around the world, or free in Brunei itself. The people really revere their Sultan, like Thais revere their king.

The ride back took longer because of traffic, so we cut the departure close...arrived at Miri Airport around 6PM, with a 7PM departure. We had no problems, though.

I had booked a hotel stay at the Concorde KLIA for last night before our departure this AM for our week in Cambodia. This was by far the most expensive place we have stayed at and we were summarily unimpressed with it. The room was run down feeling, with old cracked tile in the bathroom..shower only, no bathtub. Only one bottle of bath foam for both of us...no shampoo or bath soap. The breakfast was equally unimpressive; most of the hot food was cold, no eggs were to be had. They did have a good selection of cereal though, so had cereal in lieu of the eggs I've had everywhere else. As far as lodging goes, I'd rate this *Inn* a basic 2* rating, with the Awana in Bangkok being a step above this for about 1/2 the price.

There are a few things to beware of, or make note of about the airport. The LCCT, which is the Air Asia terminal is a 10-15 minute bus ride from the main KLIA international airport. This is yet another reason to NOT bother staying at Concorde, since you must take the bus @ MYR 1.50 each way. There are reasonably priced buses that take you to many of the hotels downtown, and, while it might add 15-30 minutes to your hotel/airport transfer, even taking into account the cost of the buses, the quality and price of the downtown hotels more than offsets the close proximity of Concorde Inn to KLIA.

All in all, aside from our unsatisfactory experience at Concorde Inn we had a nice visit to Borneo and Kuala Lumpur, and, if time had permitted, would have probably stayed a few days more in each place.

One other thing..taxis tried to charge us MYR 5 for taxi fare to the Concorde Inn. The Concorde Inn only charge MYR 40 to take people to LCCT, or pick them up from LCCT. I was singularly unimpressed with the *Budget Taxi* trying to gouge us like that.

Another positive about Air Asia. You whisk right through security, customs, etc when on Air Asia. It took us about 5 minutes to get our boarding passes and get through security to our gate. This is the quickest and easiest security check I've been through in my travels so far. Flights have all been comfortable so far, though they seemed to have problems closing the door on our 737-300 last night,which for a moment, had me a little worried we might not make it to KL in one piece! But things went smoothly once they got the door shut properly.

Hope my reports aren't too boring everyone!

Mark-

Keep the report coming, Mark, I'm not bored!