To kill time while waiting for the big departure, I test the posting of a blog. Takeoff Friday, June 23, 2006: J-89 ... It's not so far!
I have time to make plans, at D-87... It will be mostly a "diving and relaxing" trip. Hence my choice...
Info found on Plongeur.com. Read the full description here on Wetpixel. To summarize, a barge loaded with materials...
I revised my Malaysia itinerary for July 2006. It is necessary to make choices... Here is a new map of the route that I will take...
Should we say Malay or Malaysian? Both ! In fact, everything depends on the context, because the two terms do not have exactly the same meaning.
Malaysia: peninsula and Borneo - July 2006 The famous night train has finally arrived in Songai ...
The train that never arrives has finally arrived, the taxi drivers rushed to the handful of farangs who came down with their backpacks.
Despite my not very favorable first impression of Kota Bahru (Malaysia), it's starting to please me. The city is ugly but the people are cool like anything.
I leave Kota Bahru, his stuffed women and his concrete for the Perhentian Islands. Perhentian Besar the Great, and Perhentian Kecil the Small, renowned for their crystal clear waters and coral reefs ...
Here I am at Perhentian Kecil, in the south of Peninsular Malaysia. I explore the island, rather touristy, but very friendly ...
I take you under the surface, discover the underwater world of the Perhentian Islands, Peninsular Malaysia ...
I had a very nice dive expedition to Redang, about an hour and a half from the Perhentian boat. There, the visibility is exceptional and the three dives that we chained in real decors of postcards are a treat.
I was wrong when I arrived in Perhentian Kecil (Malaysia) to underestimate the attraction and seductive power of this tiny island ...
Night bus ride to Mersing without history, even if my neighbor has a tendency to overflow from his seat and spread over mine ...
At the approach of Tioman Island, I feel that the place will please me. It's big, huge! In the maritime haze of the early morning, a steep profile, covered with a dense and humid vegetation, arises, still clinging with shreds of clouds.
Nudibranchs are the sea cousins of land slugs. Their gills are exposed, naked, hence their name ...
Maz and Alex are a couple of English eco-lovers and diving enthusiasts, whom I had the pleasure to meet again in Tioman. They are on a humanitarian trip (18 months, 65,000 km and 26 countries) for the Care organization.
The Tioman jungle in southeastern Peninsular Malaysia is a protected nature park. Dense, almost impenetrable, it covers most of the island.
The way to Tekek, on the island of Tioman, is punctuated by small houses, which range from the rickety hut to the dapper chalet. Cafés-restaurants-grocery stores sell bags of instant noodles, fishing line and laundry packs, serve plates of fried rice and coffee ...
Last day of diving in Tioman, peninsular Malaysia side. A day dedicated to the dreaded acanthaster, coral starfish ...
The coral-eating acanthaster starfish is called "crown of thorns" in English ... or COT. This Sunday, it's COT's party!
Johor Bahru is a borderless city without any charm. Its asset: to be the gateway to Malaysia, just in front of Singapore.
The plane lands in Sandakan. Here I am in Borneo! The airport is tiny. I quickly get my bag, buy a coupon at the taxi counter at the exit and go directly to Sepilok, a few kilometers away, where is the Orangutan rehabilitation center.
In Borneo, Malaysia, the Sepilok Orangutan Centre is trying to reintroduce these endangered great apes into the jungle. A short visit...
Diving to Sipadan and the bottoms of nearby islands (Mabul, Kapalai, Sibuan), you have to travel to Semporna, the southeastern port of Malaysian territory in Borneo.
I am finally arrived at Semporna, the gateway to Sipadan in Borneo, with my companions Helena and Paul, a couple from Guernsey.
The islands around Sipadan are unknown and yet they are worth seeing. I dive there almost every day until the end of the week, waiting for my turn to go to Sipadan.
The big day is here. Today, finally, I plunge to Sipadan. The site does not usurp its reputation. It's spectacular. Sharks and turtles galore. Fish everywhere. All along a vertiginous "wall" where the corals abound, which sinks into the blue.
Everyone is scared of sharks. It's silly. There is more danger for divers: the olive ballista, also called titan ballista.
One hour in the dark to save the planet... This is the Earth Hour operation, organized on Saturday evening in several thousand...
I will leave again. At the end of June, I fly again towards the Orient. It was enough for me to receive the e-ticket on my mail to feel wings.
I'm leaving for Malaysia in July, and I still do not know what my route will be. Only certainty: I go back to Borneo, dive to Sipadan.
I finally decided the stages for my Malaysian-Indonesian trip of July: Perhentian, Mabul (Sipadan), Derawan. Nothing but islands! These holidays will be insular and aquatic.
Here is Learning Indonesian: podcasts to learn the basics of bahasa indonesia, the Indonesian language, close to bahasa melayu, spoken in Malaysia.
And here I am, on my island in Malaysia! Perhentian Besar, "the big one". Which faces Perhentian Kecil,...
Excellent choice, the Perhentian, for a gentle "return to fins". Shallow dives, generally without too much current. And...
Last evening on Perhentian Besar. I am not the only "geekette" to take a computer... Around me, some...
The Perhentian, it's over. Heading for Sipadan! I take two flights on Air Asia, this Monday, to reach Borneo. Finally !
I had a dazzling memory of my dives in Sipadan three years ago. Today's ones amaze me just as much. Turtles, sharks and barracudas are still there. It's spectacular!
When I'm not posing with the sharks of Sipadan, I stay in Mabul, the neighboring island. I live in a "longhouse",...
I released my last bubbles in Sipadan, this Monday. Ultimate and intense underwater emotions in the middle of sharks, turtles and...
I belong to this category of divers who can stay for long minutes to be ecstatic on a nudibranch. These...
Do you dream of tropical beaches? Do not go to Tawau! People are nice, but this Malaysian city in northeastern Borneo is a mochissime. Its only attraction is to be the entry point to Indonesia ...
A day to lose in Kuala Lumpur, before flying home? All the better. Because KL, there are lots of things too cool to do ...
Flashback. July 13, 2009. My stay in Mabul is coming to an end. Ultimate and fabulous dives, again, in Sipadan. On the way back, between the two islands, a school of dolphins accompanies for a moment the race of our speedboat ... Ultimate happiness.
In July, during my stay in Sipadan (Borneo, Malaysia), I had prepared two short underwater videos. Here they are !
It's probably the company I've taken most often, with all my travels in Southeast Asia! In this month of October 2009, AirAsia, the Malaysian lowcost airline, has just submitted a request for authorization to operate in France.
Am I still a backpacker? Serious question. I just put away my good old backpack and invest in a wheeled luggage.
Usually, I'm not too buggy on the plane. But here I had the opportunity to have a big fright on a flight Phuket - Kuala Lumpur ...
Since the time I speak (Air Asia here, Air Asia by that), this time, that's it! I finally tested the brand new Air Asia X line from Paris to Kuala Lumpur. The link was launched by the Malaysian lowcost company in February 2011.
I'm coming back from Borneo! Highlight of the trip: the dives in Sipadan, Malaysia ... Yes, for me, Borneo has more the color of the sea than the jungle.
Derawan is a tiny Indonesian girl on the east coast of Borneo. I had already been there in 2009. But for this 2013 trip, I have revised my itinerary.
Hop, we go to Malaysia to dive to Sipadan ... As a mouthing, I made it simple: a video, a shark, a minute.
Sipadan. Three mythical syllables for divers in Asia! Sharks, turtles, barracudas and trevallies ...
Sipadan. An island of dreams, explored by Cousteau. But under military surveillance, for the safety of divers and the preservation of the reef.
Hop! Back to Borneo. Here is my little video shot in July 2013, at the entrance of the famous Sipadan underwater cave called "Turtle Tomb".
