This is The End

As we entered the last few days of our fabulous trip through Indonesia and Malaysia we returned full circle to the starting point, Kuala Lumpur. After all the adventure we decided not to do that much in KL so we can only tell you that the lift to the skybridge on the Petronas Towers was more than quick, that the rain held off for us to see something and that you need to be there around 8.30am maximum in order to get a ticket. Another detail to note is that Joe [our friend in KL] believes that in Riung we had an encounter of the spiritual kind too and he did his best to explain this through other stories and cultural explanations.

Les derniers jours de notre fantastique periple a travers la Malaisie et l'indonesie se sont termines a Kuala Lumpur. Il y avait une seule chose que nous n'avions pas eu le temps de faire lors de notre arrivee, c'etait de monter sur le pont reliant les tours Petronas. C'est chose faite! Il faut s'y prendre assez tot car les tickets sont gratuits et sont servis aux premiers arrives! Le pont est situe au 41eme etage et il faut 41 secondes d'ascenseur pour l'atteindre, rapide! Autre detail, nous avons de nouveau rencontre Joe et en lui racontant notre aventure a Riung, il a immediatement confirme l'hypothese des esprits! Il a tente de nous expliquer les croyances religieuses en Asie du sud-est et ses propres experiences du genre!

So some reflections upon the trip;

Highlights - The Niah Caves and the birds' nest harvesting in Miri! The small island of Sibuan if you really want a lazy day in paradise! Melaka! Komodo National Park for TWO DAYS with an overnight stay on the boat, not just the dragons! Mount Bromo! And finally for the nature lovers, the Kinabatangan River in Sabah! The people of Sabah and Brunei! Brunei!

Meilleurs souvenirs : les grottes de Niah avec ses nids d'hirondelles, l'ile paradisiaque de Sibuan, Malacca, le parc national de Komodo, le mont Bromo et aussi l'impressionnante nature de Sabah que l'on a pu admirer le long de la riviere kinabatangan. Aussi, mention speciale pour la gentillesse des gens rencontres a Sabah et a Brunei!

Us - well this trip has brought a great deal to the both of us and our appartment in Nice seems very much distant now as we each start a new adventure very soon! Travelling for 9 weeks around Indonesia and Malaysia has given us the time and experiences needed to value those next adventures and make some informed decisions. We have certainly been touched by the kindness of the people, especially in Malaysia and particularly Sabah. This has made us feel comfortable and relaxed, the perfect environment for a bit of reflection. Meanwhile, the journey through Indonesia was like a Christmas stocking filled with travel adventures! The differences we found between people, cities, cultures, religions, islands, foods and of course each of their different landscapes is simply incredible! The two countries were a perfect balance for each other and we thoroughly recommend going!!!

Pour finir, on peut dire que ce voyage de 9 semaines s'est deroule comme nous l'avions prevu et sans reelle difficulte. 9 semaines de decouvertes et d'emerveillement! Des souvenirs qui resteront graves pour longtemps dans nos memoires, aussi grace a ce blog. Il a ete enrichissant de rencontrer des gens de divers horizons, d'experimenter la vie locale avec ses differentes religions et cultures, de tester les specialites et d'apprecier les paysages. Nous voulions varier les plaisirs en passant de l'Indonesie a Singapour puis par la Malaisie et enfin Brunei, afin de tenir le rythme. Ce voyage nous aura apporte sur le plan personnel et nous aura beaucoup appris. Nous sommes maintenant prets pour de nouvelles aventures!!

...this is the end!

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia