Our trip is coming along although at times it seems like it is stumbling along. First I had problems with Yahoo mail blocking some of the replies from the hotels. I’ve switched to google mail which has been very good so far.

Now I’m trying to book airline tickets on line from Malaysian air but I haven’t had good luck getting Capital One to approve the charges since it is an international online charge. The savings by booking on line is considerable otherwise I would try to get the tickets through a Seattle agent. I got one leg of our trip booked today but no luck for the other leg. I’ll try again tomorrow. Wish me luck.

Here are the plans.

– Arrive in Kota Kinabalu in the Sabah state of Malaysia on Borneo island and spend two nights. We choose the King Park Hotel.

– Pick up car and drive toward Mt. Kinabalu to Magic Mountain Country Home near Kundasang. The owners have been great to work with and we are really looking forward to staying there for three nights. We plan to do some hiking near Mesilau Trail. We will also spend some time exploring around the headquarter, Poring and the Rafflesia center.

– Return to Kota Kinabalu overnight and catch an early morning flight to Lahad Datu where we will be picked up and transported into the inland to the Borneo Rainforest Lodge. We will spend two nights at the lodge.

– Kuching: We hope to transfer on to Kuching which is in the Sawarak state. We can’t seem to book through from Lahad Datu but there is 1hour 20 minutes between flights and we think we can make it.

– We’re not certain where we will be staying. Here are a few of the places we are looking at Singgahsana Lodge, Village House or Hilton.

– We are splitting our trip into 4 night and then one night in Bako National Park . This is going to an adventure. We will have to take a small boat over to the headquarters. The accommodations are very rustic but the hiking and animals are great.

– We’ll return to Kuching for two more nights before our long trek home. Our flight does not leave until midnight from Kota Kinabalu so we’ll have all day to explore before catching a late flight to KK. We will also have a killer 12 hour layover in Seoul on the trip home. We’ll try to either do a bus trip of Seoul or a day hotel.

This is going to be a wild adventure. It is a bit different from what we have done recently. We have been to Belize and Costa Rica but it was over 20 years ago. The heat, the tropics, the food and the people – all will be so different. But I am very excited.