The Google Map of my travels.

Maps and Itineraries

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  Between Two Journeys

Dear English-speaking readers, this page is an automatic translation made from a post originally written in French. My apologies for any strange sentences and funny mistakes that may have been generated during the process. If you are reading French, click on the French flag below to access the original and correct text: 


fr_FR Français

fr_FR Français

To travel before leaving, nothing better than a map! Here is a Google Map to navigate to my different articles around the world.

All my articles on a Google Map

[Geo_mashup_map]
[novo-map id = 1]

I add below some of my hand-drawn itineraries in Southeast Asia...

July 2009 - Borneo : from Malaysia to Indonesia

→ Read all articles on this trip

One month itinerary in Malaysia and Indonesia: Perhentian islands, then Sipadan and Mabul, Derawan archipelago.
One month itinerary in Malaysia and Indonesia: Perhentian islands, then Sipadan and Mabul, Derawan archipelago.

July 2008 - A month in Bali

→ Read all articles on this trip

Itinerary of one month in Bali: Kuta-Legian-Seminyak > Lovina > Pemuteran > Amed > Nusa Lembongan.
One month itinerary in Bali: Kuta-Legian-Seminyak -> Lovina -> Pemuteran -> Amed -> Nusa Lembongan.

January 2008 - Three weeks in the Philippines

→ Read all articles on this trip

Three weeks in the Visayas archipelago, in the Philippines: Cebu-Leyte-Bohol/Panglao-Siquijor-Negros.
Three weeks in the Visayas archipelago in the Philippines: Cebu-Leyte-Bohol/Panglao-Siquijor-Negros.

July 2007 - One month in Sulawesi

→ Read all articles on this trip

My one-month itinerary to Sulawesi: Manado-Bunaken-Lembeh-Tomohon-Makassar-Rantepao-Poso-Ampana-Bomba-Luwuk-Manado Lake.
My one month itinerary in Sulawesi: Manado-Bunaken-Lembeh-Tomohon-Makassar-Rantepao-lake Poso-Ampana-Bomba-Luwuk-Manado.

July 2006 - One month itinerary in Malaysia

→ Read all articles on this trip

One-month itinerary in Malaysia.
One month itinerary in Malaysia.

  Between Two Journeys

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19 Comments

  3. Hehe a bit yes... the excitement before planning a trip.

    Or the satisfaction coming back to see the path traveled ...

    Thank you for your support of a world map 🙂

    Reply

  4. Hello Corinne,

    Great blog! A great example for the solo traveler and blogger that I am 😀

    I'm planning Vietnam and was hoping to find some good plans there, maybe later... ❓

    Celine.

    Reply

  5. @Celineuh: Delighted that you like it here! Welcome !
    I went twice to Vietnam, but a long time ago. These two trips were before the creation of this blog, that's why I don't talk about them here. But you can find some pictures on my other website:
    -> Vietnam 1997: http://www.southeastasia.fr/01_vietnam_1997/index.php
    -> Vietnam 2001: http://www.southeastasia.fr/03_vietnam_laos_cambodge_2001/01_vietnam2001/index.php

    As for the "good plans", everything changes so fast in Asia, that my information of 1997 and 2001 would be fatally very very outdated...

    Good preparations!
    🙄

    Reply

  6. Hello!
    I follow your blog since some time, and Asia is tempting me more and more ! A small question : which part of Indonesia for a semi-débutante diver ? (I am a level 1 diver).

    Reply

    1. @Vanessa: you can aim Bali (Amed-Tulamben, Pemuteran) or North-Sulawesi (Bunaken, Lembeh). Anyway, wherever you dive, the supervisors generally adapt the exit to the level of the divers ...
      Good bubbles !!!
      8)

  7. Hi Corinne,
    Top your photos! Thank you for sharing all this.

    Your itinerary in Sulawesi makes me dream... Was it easy to cross the island? I dream about it. Maybe in two years...
    In the meantime we wanted to move our level II to South East Asia in August. The pedestrian and road world frightens us as (small) divers ...
    You will have a reco for us? A place, a site, a country, an area, a dive center, what do I know!
    We don't have our gear.

    Thanks to you !

    Reply

    1. @Yannick: "Simple", yes and no... I shared a car with driver, with a family of very nice Dutch people. But the road, there, is quite a poem. The posts for this 2007 trip to Sulawesi are at the end of this link :
      -> http://petitesbullesdailleurs.fr/voyage-sulawesi-indonesie-2007/

      The Manado-Makassar flight, then the Makassar-Rantepao bus ride are told here:
      -> https://petitesbullesdailleurs.fr/de-lefficacite-des-prieres-sur-lion-air-20070710/

      The car ride from Rantepao to Lake Poso is here:
      -> https://petitesbullesdailleurs.fr/du-pays-toraja-au-lac-poso-20080518/

      And there is a word from the day's drive from Lake Poso to Ampana, from where we then take the boat to the Togian Islands here:
      -> https://petitesbullesdailleurs.fr/togian-islands-sulawesi-20080603/

      And finally, for the return trip Togian-Ampana-Luwuk followed by the flight Luwuk-Manado, I'll leave it at that:
      -> https://petitesbullesdailleurs.fr/manado-retour-a-la-civilisation-20070725/

      The trips take a little time, in Sulawesi ...
      🙄

      I returned to Sulawesi in 2010, all items for this second trip are here:
      -> http://petitesbullesdailleurs.fr/voyage-sulawesi-indonesie-2010

  8. Hello Corinne!
    This blog is great! We learn a lot, thank you!
    I am preparing a 3 week trip to Indonesia and Malaysia with a friend. Basically, we would like to go around Bali, enjoy the beach of Lombok then the hotspots of Malaysia (peninsular) and end with 2 or 3 days on Redang Island for example, all for July 2013. Do you know any agencies on place to dive (semi-beginner) to see manta rays and dolphins?
    Thank you very much! 😀

    Reply

    1. @Nora: Thanks for the compliments on the blog !!! 🙂

      No, I don't know any "agency" on the spot. Just find the places that interest you the most, then search for the local dive centers (Google is your friend) for each place. Contact them to ask for information if needed. All of them will be happy to take you for a bubble dive, the centers are adapted to all levels.

      Otherwise, you can find a lot of information and ideas by searching in the "Asia" section of the Diver.com forum:
      – http://www.plongeur.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=18

      Finally, for Bali, if you prefer something that is "organized", without having to worry about anything, you can book a "safari" that allows you to visit the island and dive, with one of these two structures (I have not tested them, but they have good comments from many divers):
      – http://www.safaribali.com (Skubaskool)
      – http://www.ikandive.com (IkanDive - Balimoon)
      They will also surely suggest you tracks in Malaysia.

      In Malaysia, in the Perhentian Islands, not far from Redang, I really appreciated the Watercolours center on Perhentian Besar :
      – http://www.watercoloursworld.com
      But they won't organize you a "tour" in Malaysia, I think. They can only make you dive.

      But frankly, in Bali-Lombok as in Malaysia, everything is very easy to organize by yourself, even to improvise on the spot. There is no real need for an "agency" or a tour operator, in my humble opinion. But it can also be nice not to have to take care of anything, of course.

      In any case, that's what I can suggest. Good preparations!
      🙄

  9. Good evening,
    an idea of itinerary for 15 days in malaysia with a 7 years old child ? and level 3 & 1 divers ????
    Life is expensive for singapore trips, islands to the Thai border, or kuala lumpur ... .. complicated?
    In terms of climate, August is rainy like Thailand?
    Thank you for your help !

    Reply

    1. @Bertrand: with a child of 7, I do not know (I do not travel with children so I can not give you any particular recommendation about it), but rest assured, children are everywhere welcomed in Asia !

      In 15 days, you can choose to go along the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia quietly, or couple the peninsula with a stay in the Malaysian part of northern Borneo. I can hardly decide on an itinerary for you... You will easily find useful information on interesting places to see in Malaysia, according to your tastes (tea plantations, rice fields, natural parks, cities, islands, etc.) in any travel guidebook like Routard or Lonely Planet.

      For diving, the sites I would recommend in Malaysia are: the Perhentian Islands, very nice, and Tioman in Peninsular Malaysia. In North Malaysia-Borneo, a must: Mabul / Sipadan. But it is less easy to take a child there, once on the island of Mabul, there is not much to do, except the tour of the village and some snorkeling, the place is really for divers.

      No, life is not expensive there, but it all depends on your standing and the way you travel.

      The islands towards the Thai border, I suppose you are talking about Langkawi: I don't know it... Otherwise, nothing is very complicated in Malaysia, which is a rather modern country, as far as transportation and infrastructures are concerned.

      Finally, the climate is not like Thailand. In July-August, it is very nice and hot on the east coast of the Malay Peninsula. For the west coast, I don't know. But you should also find this kind of information in any travel guide. For the Malaysian part of Borneo, the weather is OK too, there can be showers from time to time.

  11. Good evening Corinne
    A big thank you for your site that we consult regularly for a few months now.

    Beginners divers, we leave 2 months in Malaysia and Indonesia in July next August, with an arrival in Kuala Lumpur and must validate the two remaining dives for a PADI OWD, after training in France and Japan (Yaeyama).
    But the stay is not the easiest to organize, without having ever been there.

    For the moment we hesitate - for the necessary validation - between a jump to Pulau Weh (very divided opinions, difficult to make an idea) and a center on the Gili Islands (going directly from KL to Lombok).
    We left aside the Tioman islands because the visibility is not extraordinary in July and August according to our readings.

    After that we plan to continue and dive to Komodo /Flores, and if possible to pass by Sulawesi before coming back to Borneo - first on the Indonesian side and then on the Malaysian side (with Sipadan?), and to return to Kuala Lumpur.

    Do you think it is possible to combine Gili / Flores / Komodo / Sulawesi and Borneo on a two-month loop?
    As for Mabul / Sipadan, is it accessible for beginner divers?

    Thanks again

    Benoit

    Reply

    1. Benoît: so glad my Little Bubbles of Elsewhere are an inspiration!!! 🙂

      To answer your questions :

      - I think so, the loop is possible in two months. Stay flexible, however, so that you can adapt / modify your itinerary or stay along the way.

      - Yes, Sipadan/Mabul is accessible to beginners. The guides adapt the dives and make groups according to the level of the divers. I highly recommend Sipadan/Mabul, but as you probably know if you have already done some research, it is a place where it is better to organize things in advance, because there is a limited number of permits per day to dive in Sipadan itself, so you have to book your permit days to be sure to take advantage of them. On the other hand, the dives in Komodo, as you mentioned, seem to me much more difficult if you are very young Open Water divers. It is better to have 50-100 dives of experience, as the currents there are quite formidable.

      - Choice between Gili Islands and Pulau Weh: I really like Pulau Weh, from which I just came back. The sites are, in my humble opinion, more interesting than in the Gili Islands, and the atmosphere is nicer. But the sites are deeper, overall, and if you want to finish your level, it might be more pleasant to be in Gili. But you can complete your level anywhere. Maybe it would be worthwhile to do it somewhere else than in the Gili Islands, which are not so great as far as dive sites are concerned and are very touristy...

      Good preparations!
      8)

    2. Good evening Corinne, and thank you very much for this answer!

      This is very encouraging and helps us a lot to see things a bit more clearly.

      I think we will probably start with a little tour north of Sumatra and complete the level at Pulau Weh.
      We will then avoid the Gili Islands for the moment, staying on land in Komodo / Flores to dive again in Sulawesi and then in Mabul / Sipadan.

      Thanks again for your tips and this exciting blog!

      Benoit

    3. @ Benoît: it's hard to know what will be the best, in your place...

      Many people have enjoyed their stay in Gilis, which are very small, with beautiful white sand beaches, and a nice relaxing atmosphere under the coconut trees. It seems that you can still see a lot of turtles there (but there are also plenty of turtles on Derawan and Sipadan)... I think you have to choose your Gili island carefully (a quick Google should help you to find which one of the three would best suit your needs, there is one where there are more backpackers than on the others, from memory). For my part, I only went there once, a long time ago, but I didn't keep an unforgettable memory of it. This is a very subjective assessment, and it goes back to a long time ago, so it is not necessarily very reliable either... But it is true that I was not tempted to go back there for diving.

      As for the beach and coconut trees, there is no lack of them in Indonesia or Malaysia... I would recommend Bangka Island, in North Sulawesi, as a very nice, very beautiful and very quiet place to complete your training.

      Finally, I know that there are also mixed opinions about Pulau Weh. Personally, I really like the place (I just spent a week there). But you have to be aware that as Open Water divers limited to 18 meters, you will not be able to enjoy all the sites of Pulau Weh, especially the most beautiful ones, which are in the 30-35 meters. But if it's just to finish a course and discover also the other land aspects of an Indonesian island, why not! The island is large and allows many walks.
      8)

  12. Hello Corinne, and thank you for these clarifications!
    I can see that we will only see a very small part of what the region has to offer and I'm pretty sure this is the beginning of a series of trips.

    After a lot of procrastination, we are going to take our inspiration from your itineraries and tighten the ballad on Sulawesi, which looks very interesting and a bit quieter in high season, with a first dive on the Togian islands.

    Something like KL - Flores / Komodo (without diving) - then Makassar.
    A month in Sulawesi, Level and diving and a pinch of beach in the Togian Islands, national parks (Tana Toraja, Tomohon highland), then replouf in Bunaken.

    Then for the other month, we went to Borneo, back to the Malaysian side, diving again in Mabul /Sipadan then national park and other jungles in Sabah before coming back to KL.
    😀
    Benoit

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