Most Inspirational Moment
The River cruises and seeing Proboscis Monkeys. It was pouring with rain and I was sat in a puddle but seeing many different troops high in the trees on the jungle edge was amazing. Plus many hornbills and birds of prey, pygmy elephants and a crocodile.
The whole trip was fantastic.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Awang was our guide in Borneo & he was always available to assist. When we couldn't do the jungle hike as there was a male elephant in the area he organised a walk to the village. He was knowledgeable & well organised. He also kept us entertained on the coach journeys with some funny stories.
Chee was our guide on the peninsular and he had his work cut out with looking after a group of 16. As there was free time in each city, he gave suggestions and helped us get to our chosen excursions. He also suggested restaurants that would be suitable for vegans, plus where we could buy a Guinness!
He helped to find a bar to watch the England game during the Euros, which were on late. On the visit to the Petronus Towers due to the logistics those not going up just waited in a Sky bar or did some shopping, so that was a shame.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Take long sleeved cotton shirts & trousers, the sun is hot & the mosquitoes seem to bite even when you haven't seen any and you have put on anti mosquito cream. You only need walking shoes or trainers plus some sandals. Everywhere is casual.
Take a mix of cash & card as some small shops only took cash. Beer and soft drinks are cheap on the peninsula whereas drinks on Borneo were like UK prices. The cocktails are good & reasonable. There is an app called "Grab" which is easy to install on your phone and is which is great for taxis & and they are very cheap.
I found it was easy to be vegan here. I took a small carton of oat milk for the first day to have in tea/coffee and was able to pick up cartons of soya milk along the way at Mini marts/service stations. Although they were very sweet. There was also small chocolate oat drinks. No hotels offered non dairy milk. Breakfasts were mainly toast with beans & potatoes, or peanut butter. There was always a fruit selection (melon). In Borneo where food was provided there was a buffet & all vegetarians/vegans were given an extra plate with Tofu/tempeh, plus veg curry. When eating out there were vegan/vegetarian restaurants in KL & Georgetown. Otherwise there were usually a couple of options on the menu. There was always fried veg rice or spaghetti. You need to specify no cheese, even if not listed as an ingredient. The included meals on the peninsula were good with a lot of variety. The final meal on Langkawi was delicious. There was generally a lack of cake/desert, but you can buy biscuits & chocolate. I always take some vegan bars. I enjoyed the food here. On the street food tour in K.L. the things we tried were vegan (all deserts).
