Playing Family Travels
A croc goes for the kill at Jong’s Crocodile Farm in Kuching
Sebastian Smith (age 9) embarks on the Batang Ai jungle canopy walk
The kids hang by the pool at the Batang Ai Longhouse Resort
Borneo to Be Wild
Two families get lost in the jungles of Malaysia by Brigitte and Alistair Smith
Travelers: Brigitte and Alistair Smith and their kids Sebastian (age 9) and India (6), both students at Dulwich College Beijing. They traveled with friends Katerina and Petr Pisecky and their kids Magdalena (age 7) and Lukas (5), who attend The British School of Beijing and Eduwings Kindergarten respectively. Destination: Borneo and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Dates: December 22-January 4 Cost: Approximately RMB 34,000 for a family of four. This includes flight tickets for RMB 16,000 (booked at a special rate three months in advance), hotel accommodations for RMB 7,900, and spending money totaling around RMB 10,000. Alistair got
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an employee discount for Hilton Hotels and Resorts, but notes that common rates for the places they stayed at ranged from RMB 500 to 800 per night. Tour company: None. The travelers arranged everything themselves using Malaysia Airlines’ website (www.malaysiaairlines.com) for flights, Hilton Worldwide’s website (www.hilton. com) for accommodations, and TripAdvisor (www.tripadvisor. com) and Malaysia’s official tourism website (www.tourism.gov. my) for information. They stayed at the Hilton Kuching, Batang Ai Longhouse Resort (managed by Hilton), and DoubleTree by Hilton, Kuala Lumpur.
photos: courtesy of the smith and pisecky families
The Smith and Pisecky Families