The only way back to Malaysia

It’s been a while since blogging and another post about COVID seemed unnecessary.

We've just spent the past 2 years in the US waiting for Malaysia to open back up and allow us return to the boat.  It was a good break and we got a lot of house projects done that have been deferred since our pre-boat times.

But, time’s a wasting and we need to get back to the business of boat refitting and Cruising.

For foreigners, there has been only one way to get into Malaysia.  We tried twice since last summer to obtain this coveted Travel Pass Visa but were denied both times.

Due to the economic loss to the tourism sector, an agreement was reached on November 15^th which allowed the Island of Langkawi to serve as a quarantine station.  This Langkawi Travel Bubble is not dependent on any government approval and when the one week quarantine is over, free travel throughout Malaysia is permitted.

To comply with The Bubble requirements, we had to book a hotel for a week, have round trip tickets, and perform daily COVID testing.  Additionally, like the entire population of Malaysia, we had to have and use the MySejahtera tracking App. 

Even if we had been approved for the regular "Travel Pass Visa", we still would have had to quarantine for 5 days in a restricted COVID hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

So, a one week vacation in Langkawi versus 5 days locked in a hotel room in KL.  Seems like a no brainer, so off we go.