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day. Click on most small pictures for a larger picture
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Malaysia: East and West
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Across the Causeway to
Johor Bahru (West Malaysia)
We left home at 9:15 am, using
the headquarters van to run us the one-mile journey to Bukit Timah Road and
the 170 bus stop. The bus came fairly quickly. It was quite
empty and the driver didn't seem bothered by our mass of luggage. It
cost us S$1.40 each for the journey to Malaysia (for British readers:
that’s less than 50p!).
We had an uneventful ride
to the Causeway. At the Singapore side, we quickly did Singapore
immigration and then got on another 170 bus (a different one, but still
covered by our S$1.40) for the ride across the Causeway.
On the other side of the
Causeway, we got off again for Malaysia immigration. After
immigration, it was not clear where to wait for the 170 bus. Those
sitting around were keener to sell us alternative transportation than to
help us. It turned out that the bus stop was just to the left as we
came out of immigration, on the other side of a small slip road. Not
very far, but not very organized. [Tip: We realized that not all 170s
go to Larkin bus station from here, some go into Johor Bahru. Those
that go to Larkin don’t stop again before they get to Larkin].
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Sabah, East Malaysia
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The bus took us to Larkin
bus station several miles to the North of Johor Bahru. Larkin is a
bit of zoo and, as we were white, we got lots of attention from rogue taxi drivers.
We were planning to wait for the 207 (which we later learned is usually
red), but it wasn’t clear where to wait and when the bus would come.
So, after some bargaining, we took a car for RM 25. The car was
small, so it was a squeeze to get all five us and all of the luggage in,
but we managed.
The drive to the airport
was uneventful, except that when we actually came to the final approach to
the airport, the driver obviously hadn't been there before and wasn't quite
sure how to get to the passenger terminal.
Senai Airport and
AirAsia
Senai Airport is a small
simple attractive airport. We were flying with AirAsia, Asia's first
and (at that time) only budget airline, which had only just introduced
flights from Senai to Kota Kinabalu the previous month (December
2003). It had cost us RM1,477.40 for five of us to fly return from
Johor Bahru to Kota Kinabalu. Check-in started two hours ahead.
Our Boarding Passes were a simple thermal receipt. They hardly seemed
real.
The airport had a nice
straightforward restaurant with food for RM 5-8 per plate. It cost
the five of us RM 50 with drinks. There was a three-computer cyber
café and Peter went on the Internet for half an hour for RM 3.
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Kota Kinabalu from the air
and the mountains beyond
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Like EasyJet, we were
allowed to board first because of Rebecca (our token child). It was
raining lightly, but we were handed umbrellas as we left the terminal and
these were taken off us as we entered the plane. Air Asia service is
simple, bright and smiling.
The AirAsia website
advised us to sit on the right hand side of the plane, which we did.
We were rewarded with views of the coast leading up to Kota Kinabalu as
well as panoramas inland toward the distant cloudy mountains.
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Welcome to
Kota Kinabalu Terminal 2
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Kota
Kinabalu (KK)
We arrived at Kota
Kinabalu 15 minutes early. We taxied to Terminal 2 (which is a small Domestic
Terminal on the opposite side of the airstrip to the main International/MAS
terminal). There was a very rudimentary "immigration" in
which our passports were briefly examined (remember, we had only flown from
West Malaysia to East Malaysia, so I am not sure why there was an
immigration at all). Then we waited for our bags.
Once they arrived, we went
outside to meet the man from Kinabalu Rent-A-Car. The car (a Proton
Saga Automatic) just fitted the five of us and our luggage. However,
the suspension had felt better days. We left the airport about 4:30
pm.
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A mosque we drove past on the North of Kota Kinabalu
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Driving to Kinabalu
Park
Driving out of the
airport, there was a complete absence of signs. We turned right at
the main road and the presence of mountains in the distance on our right
and the sea on our left confirmed that we were going the right way (towards
Kota Kinabalu). We managed to bypass the centre of KK on the seaward
side, so our progress North was quite quick.
Signs were few but
anything that mentioned Ranau or Sandakan was taken as a good omen.
Once we got onto the road to Ranau, we found it to be a high quality road
that wound quickly upwards (but without the hairpin bends that we were used
to in the Cameron Highlands and the Nilgiris).
Kinabalu Park
We arrived at Kinabalu
Park (very clearly signposted on the left-hand side of the road) a little
after 6:30 pm (a distance of 95 km). Entrance is RM15 for adults,
RM10 for under-18s -- even though you are there several days, you only pay
it once. [TIP: If you are staying outside the Park hang-on to your
entrance tickets, so you don't have to pay each day]. The Park
Reception area had no toilet (much to the consternation of the ladies in
our party), so we checked in as quickly as we could and drove on to our
cabin (at another time, we could probably have used the toilets at the Kinabalu
Balsam restaurant in front of reception, but it closes at 6pm, except at
weekends -- and Sunday evening is apparently not a weekend!).
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Single Story Cabin
Kinabalu Park
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We had booked the Single
Storey Cabin for RM230 night (there is only one -- though there are a variety
of other cabins, lodges and dormitory accommodation). It turned out
to be large and spacious (2 bedrooms: 2S + 3S). We ate at the Liwaga
Restaurant at the Visitor Centre. Our meal cost about RM 77. We
bought a few bits in the shop: Balaclavas for Anne-Marie and Peter at RM 5
each, gloves for Michael for RM 12, and some sachets of 3-in-1 coffee and
Milo.
That evening, we played Rummikub before turning in.
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