Re: Been to Koh Tao, should I go to PERHENTIANS?

In article <CebEe.12737$5V4.10215@pd7tw3no>, slarson@shaw.canada (chilly)
wrote:

> *From:* "chilly" <slarson@shaw.canada>
> *Date:* Fri, 22 Jul 2005 18:51:14 GMT

> What do you mean? What happened?

I was asked the same question in a local UK scuba conference, this was my
answer,

> Did they explain why? I take it your Indonesian visa was in order?

They did explain, we didn't have a visa on arrival ????????? but my office
manager was there in April and he got his visa by filling out the
immigration card on the flight out there (the flight was on a small
Twin Otter, 18 seats) and getting the actual visa put
in the passport AT immigration on arrival ??????
We arrived there on the 7th !!!!!! (London Bombings) dont know if that was
significant ?
When they confiscated the passports there was a lot of people badgering us
and asking lots of questions, very stressful for my wife who was worried
about me......(two heart attacks the day after arrival at Mabul
last December)......after a while they put us in a car and took us of to
an immigration center/office where we had a dressing down and a question
and answer session, we did not know where we were......after that they put
us in a car and we were driven to a hotel (the Makmur in Tarakan
which was cheap and quite nice) (yes we had to pay for the hotel)where we
were told we would be collected the following morning at 7am, at 7am we
were ....then taken to the
local port (still no sign of our passports) we had to buy tickets for a
local ferry then given our passports and put on the ferry back to
Tawau...not a ferry that you or i visualise though..........the ferry
consisted of old airline seats, two seats on the left, a tiny gangway down
the middle and then another two seats on the right, the boat was quite a
fast boat, very long and slim, the journey back to Tawau took 3hrs, but
getting through the Malaysian immigration at Tawau was going to take
forever, at the dock the ferry could not get to moor properly so we had to
clamber over 5 boats to get onto dry land, this with hand baggage, laptop
bag, camera, photo case and dive bags was not easy.....the story goes on
and on but i wont bore you with that now........



We did dive in the Tunku Abdul Rahmen Park in KK, we were told it was
crap, just sand and not worth the bother but we wanted to get wet so we
tried it, we really enjoyed it, Janet was fing Nudi's that we had never
seen before, (no camera with me as it was supposed to be crap) we were
even
showing the guide little nudi's that he had never seen before......he was
amazed......so the two dives we did there were allthough expensive very
good.

On the way out from the UK we flew to KLIA via Dubai with Emirates, we
wont go with them
again....seats are crap on the Airbus 300's, check in staff very pedantic
and want to charge for excess if you are 1 k over......and at £30.7 per
kilo our excess on the way back would have been close to a thousand
pounds, hence me getting FedEx to take my big dive bag from KK to here for
£200.
I wont go to Sangalaki now , it is remote, even Sangalaki dive lodge
said they could not guarantee to get us there over the weekend even if we
got a visa on the Fri afternoon (which we did) so it would be Mon before
we "might" get there, and coming back on the Thursday gave us no dive
time. We could see problems arrising with ferrys and planes on the way
back........and just thought that enough obsticles had been put in our way
and something was saying "dont go".......it makes getting to the Rig a
picnic.
Sangalaki is guaranteed Manta's......lots of them.........and lots of
macro too.
Its owned by a guy called Ron Holland, he took it over when Borneo Divers
pulled out, he was with Borneo Divers for some years i understand, and he
hails from Manchester in the Uk.


Dave Morgan @ Work in the UK
Take out the "goes diving" bit....
Trip photos on line at www.morg.co.uk

<morgand@cix.compulink.co.uk> wrote in message
news:_J-dnZttAuzxnH_fRVnysw@pipex.net...
> In article <CebEe.12737$5V4.10215@pd7tw3no>, slarson@shaw.canada (chilly)
> wrote:
>
> > *From:* "chilly" <slarson@shaw.canada>
> > *Date:* Fri, 22 Jul 2005 18:51:14 GMT
>
> > What do you mean? What happened?
>
> I was asked the same question in a local UK scuba conference, this was my
> answer,
>
> > Did they explain why? I take it your Indonesian visa was in order?
>
> They did explain, we didn't have a visa on arrival ????????? but my office
> manager was there in April and he got his visa by filling out the
> immigration card on the flight out there (the flight was on a small
> Twin Otter, 18 seats) and getting the actual visa put
> in the passport AT immigration on arrival ??????

Wow, what an experience!

Where did you enter Indonesia? Did you pay for your visa upon entry?

For example, upon arriving in Jakarta, and upon entering the airport from
the causeway, there's a booth set up. You line up and pay for your visa
there and then proceed into the airport to pick up luggage, immigration,
customs, etc.

> We arrived there on the 7th !!!!!! (London Bombings) dont know if that was
> significant ?
> When they confiscated the passports there was a lot of people badgering us
> and asking lots of questions,

Where were you when your passports were confiscated?

>very stressful for my wife who was worried
> about me......(two heart attacks the day after arrival at Mabul
> last December)......

I would think a situation such as this would be stressful for anyone!

>after a while they put us in a car and took us of to
> an immigration center/office where we had a dressing down and a question
> and answer session, we did not know where we were......after that they put
> us in a car and we were driven to a hotel (the Makmur in Tarakan
> which was cheap and quite nice) (yes we had to pay for the hotel)where we
> were told we would be collected the following morning at 7am, at 7am we
> were ....then taken to the
> local port (still no sign of our passports) we had to buy tickets for a
> local ferry then given our passports and put on the ferry back to
> Tawau...

Quite the adventure. I'm sure it will become a most interesting and amusing
anecdote in the years to come.

>not a ferry that you or i visualise though..........the ferry
> consisted of old airline seats, two seats on the left, a tiny gangway down
> the middle and then another two seats on the right, the boat was quite a
> fast boat, very long and slim, the journey back to Tawau took 3hrs, but
> getting through the Malaysian immigration at Tawau was going to take
> forever, at the dock the ferry could not get to moor properly so we had to
> clamber over 5 boats to get onto dry land, this with hand baggage, laptop
> bag, camera, photo case and dive bags was not easy.....the story goes on
> and on but i wont bore you with that now........

Was that the only way back, or the only way they would allow you to go back?
Why couldn't you go back the way you arrived?

> We did dive in the Tunku Abdul Rahmen Park in KK, we were told it was
> crap, just sand and not worth the bother but we wanted to get wet so we
> tried it, we really enjoyed it, Janet was fing Nudi's that we had never
> seen before, (no camera with me as it was supposed to be crap) we were
> even
> showing the guide little nudi's that he had never seen before......he was
> amazed......so the two dives we did there were allthough expensive very
> good.

Sometimes things work out the way they are supposed to. It's just that it
can be hard to see that at the time it appears everything is going to crap
all around you. :^)

>
> On the way out from the UK we flew to KLIA via Dubai with Emirates, we
> wont go with them
> again....seats are crap on the Airbus 300's, check in staff very pedantic
> and want to charge for excess if you are 1 k over......and at £30.7 per
> kilo our excess on the way back would have been close to a thousand
> pounds, hence me getting FedEx to take my big dive bag from KK to here for
> £200.
> I wont go to Sangalaki now , it is remote, even Sangalaki dive lodge
> said they could not guarantee to get us there over the weekend even if we
> got a visa on the Fri afternoon (which we did) so it would be Mon before
> we "might" get there, and coming back on the Thursday gave us no dive
> time. We could see problems arrising with ferrys and planes on the way
> back........and just thought that enough obsticles had been put in our way
> and something was saying "dont go".......it makes getting to the Rig a
> picnic.

I'm more confused now. Do you mean to say that you will *never* go to
Sangalaki? Do you mean to say that it is too difficult for most any of us
coming from halfway across the world? Or are you just saying that on this
trip, your attempt was so much trouble and your experience has tainted the
idea of going there for the time being?

> Sangalaki is guaranteed Manta's......lots of them.........and lots of
> macro too.
> Its owned by a guy called Ron Holland, he took it over when Borneo Divers
> pulled out, he was with Borneo Divers for some years i understand, and he
> hails from Manchester in the Uk.

How long has he been running this place?


>
>
> Dave Morgan @ Work in the UK
> Take out the "goes diving" bit....
> Trip photos on line at www.morg.co.uk

In article <TWnEe.21102$s54.17483@pd7tw2no>, slarson@shaw.canada (chilly)
wrote:

> *From:* "chilly" <slarson@shaw.canada>
> *Date:* Sat, 23 Jul 2005 09:17:39 GMT

> Wow, what an experience!

We have an "experience" on every trip............no one will travel with
us.............

> Where did you enter Indonesia? Did you pay for your visa upon entry?

The whole trip was...........UK to Dubai, Dubai to Kuala Lumpur, Kuala
Lumpur direct to Tawau (Tawau is in Sabah north Borneo) on Air Asia, Air
Asia is VERY cheap, from Tawau we are allways met by Seaventures staff
with a minibus and then driven the 70 or 80 km to Semporna wher we get the
speedboat out to the Rig. 11 nights on the Rig then fly by a Twin Otter
(18 seater) to Tarakan in Kalimantan Indonesia, then connecting flight to
Berau then boat out to Sangalaki for 7 nights.........that is what SHOULD
have happened.

Before we left the UK our agent in KK (Kota Kinabalu) told us there was
some problem with transport back from Sangalaki and we could only do 6
nights there, in other words we would have to come back a day early and
that would have to be by ferry from Tarakan to Tawau.

> For example, upon arriving in Jakarta, and upon entering the airport
> from
> the causeway, there's a booth set up. You line up and pay for your visa
> there and then proceed into the airport to pick up luggage, immigration,
> customs, etc.

I had been to Indonesia before and thats how it was, also my office
manager was in Indo in April and he says it was like that.
The Immigration officer said that it was "NEW" regulations........someone
told me that it was a retalitory measure against the "west".......


> Where were you when your passports were confiscated?

We had just landed in Tarakan........and had expected to hand over the
immigration cards (the ones you fill in usually on the plane) and get our
passports stamped, apparently not so.
This is when all hell broke loose, officials spoke a little English but
not much, (i am never critical of foreigners who cant speak English
because they can usually speak more English than i can speak their
language) there was about half a dozen of them wanting "VISA" "VISA"

The agent who was supposed to meet us finaly turned up and was very little
help as well as being the most miserable sod, at this point i rang my
agent KK who said she had just had a phone call from Sangalaki to tell her
that the connecting flight we should have been on at Tarakan was over
booked and we would have to stay in Tarakan overnight, i then told her
about the "VISA" demands, she said that she was never informed about visa
requirements when she booked Sangalaki for me, and it was the first she
had heard about it.
At this point the immigration officials put us in a car and took us off
into the town to the immigration offices..........

> >very stressful for my wife who was worried
> > about me......(two heart attacks the day after arrival at Mabul
> > last December)......
>
> I would think a situation such as this would be stressful for anyone!

I was ok though, allthough my wife was clearly frightened by all that was
going on.

> Quite the adventure. I'm sure it will become a most interesting and
> amusing
> anecdote in the years to come.

This is what i tell my wife........she says that she can find other
stories to tell our grandchildren of which we have 4.

> Was that the only way back, or the only way they would allow you to go
> back?

It was the only way back, the flights from Tarakan - Tawau only go twice a
week IF they run to schedule.

> Why couldn't you go back the way you arrived?

The plane that dropped us off literaly turned around and took off again,
so it had gone before i knew what was going on otherwise i think i would
have got straight back on it.
This was all happening on a Thursday, so.......we had to stay in the hotel
in Tarakan overnight and get the ferry back on the Friday morn....we
finaly get into Tawau at lunchtime on the Friday, at this point we are
still thinking we are going back to Sangalaki, so, Friday at 2pm we arrive
at the Indonesian consulate to get our visa's, after an hour of waiting
they ask us to fill some forms in and then ask for our
"photograph's"....photos i say......yes two passport photo's each they
say...........by now this is 3pm and they close at 5pm......so offwe
trudge......no taxi's in sight so we have to walk in 30+Centigrade...and
find somewhere that will do our passport photos...........after getting
our photo's done (long story and so funny) and a well deserved "whopper"
at a burger king we arrive back at the consulate at 4.15pm.......we pay
our money and walk back to our hotel with our passports stamped with a
nice looking visa............
As things stand we are do to catch the ferry back to Tarakan on the Sat
morning at 9am......remember it takes 3 hours for this ferry to do the
journey that makes it around 12 when we dock, if its on time ?????
But no, we are told the Sat ferry goes at 12:30pm which makes it 5:30pm
when it arrives in Tarakan......too late to take the next boat to either
Berua or Sangalaki (never got to find out exactly where the boat went
to)as boats dont travel after dark for fear of pirates....yes....pirates.
This meant it was now Sunday..........and nothing moves on a Sunday so it
was going to be Monday before we would get to Sangalaki.......and as we
were due out of there on the Thursday it meant that Wed was the last dive
day....and even then it meant travelling with wet dive gear......not
something you want to do........
At about 6pm on the Friday evening we had a phone call from the offices of
Sangalaki Dive Lodge in KK explaining that they could not guarentee to get
us to Sangalaki Island till late on the Monday........it was there i said
that it was not worth all the effort for two days diving......

So........in a nutshell, thats about what happened on this trip.
Disaster appears to follow us around, or i follow it, we have either just
been to or just left Bali and the bombings there, the hotel bombings in
Manilla, booked flights through the states when 911 happened, the Massacre
at Luxor Egypt 97, while driving in Spain in 97 we had a truck come
through the central reservation and hit us HEAD ON, we were in a little
"tourist" car......my wife spent a deal of time in a spanish hospital
after that.......

> Sometimes things work out the way they are supposed to. It's just that
> it
> can be hard to see that at the time it appears everything is going to
> crap
> all around you. :^)

Shit happens i say...........and there is allways someone worse off, when
these things are happening to us we tell ourselves that at least we are
telling the tale, others are not so fortunate........others dont even get
the chance to experience what we do.

> I'm more confused now. Do you mean to say that you will *never* go to
> Sangalaki?

Yes......my wife says that she wont go.

> Do you mean to say that it is too difficult for most any of
> us
> coming from halfway across the world?

I'm not saying that it is Too difficult to get to, but at our age (I'm 54
and my wife is 51) lugging 70 or 80 kilo's around in difficult
circumstances is not condusive to a great enjoyable trip. No, she just
wants me to organise trips where we can get on......and off a plane and
then dive..........not a lot to ask i guess.
Anyway i care about her so dont want to cause her grief if i dont have to.

> Or are you just saying that on
> this
> trip, your attempt was so much trouble and your experience has tainted
> the
> idea of going there for the time being?

Well i never say never so i think that is a good way of looking at it.

> How long has he been running this place?

I think he was there from the start........

I suppose everyone has now heard the news about Sharm on the Red Sea
?????? thats another of our dive locations, we have been there 7 or 8
times in the last few years and have friends there that run a dive center.

Dave Morgan @ Work in the UK
Take out the "goes diving" bit....
Trip photos on line at www.morg.co.uk