BootsnAll Travel Network
Add this blog to: MyYahoo, Google, Bloglines, RSS


Articles Tagged ‘Kota Kinabalu’

More articles about ‘Kota Kinabalu’
« Home

Brunei

Monday, June 5th, 2006

I tried to think of a craftier title for this entry about Brunei but i guess just the name of the country is all i really need. I really didn’t have much interest in going down to Brunei but thought what could it hurt. There was a group of four of us who took the 4 hour ferry ride from Kota Kinabalu to Brunei. I’ll say that my expectations were pretty low and i’d say that all in all they were pretty much not exceeded. The country itself is very modern in some ways. They have been benefiting from the oil that was discovered offshore. The Sultan of Brunei was at one time the richest man in the world with his riches estimated at over 30 Billion dollars. The residents of the country live tax free. They get subsidized for houses and cars by the sultan as well. It is an islamic country which also makes it conservative. There is no alcohol allowed in the country although you can find it for a pretty steep fee if you want. Gasoline prices are ridiculously low. They pay about 53 cents per litre. I believe there is about 4.5 liters per gallon. So if you convert the currency i believe it works out to a pretty cheap gallon of gas. We took a boat ride through the water village one day and was able to get a look inside one of the houses. I guess some say the village is similar to what you would find in Venice although i highly doubt that it would really compare seeing as it was pretty dirty. All in all Brunei lacks flavor and character. There isn’t much to do. They don’t really have any tourist infrastructure because it’s such a small country and it’s hard to get to. I’ve definitely been there for the last time but it was fun to see and definitely part of the adventure.

Posted in Brunei | No Comments »

Sandakhan & Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary

Wednesday, May 31st, 2006

Let me first just say that i have alot to update you on. So on Sunday I caught a bus to Sandakhan. It’s about a 6 hour ride through the center of the state of Sabah. I swear the Bus drivers in Malaysia are absolutely insane. I couldn’t begin to tell you the number of times that I braced for impact only to open my eyes and realize i was still alive. They pass other coach buses on blind corners at over 60mph while beeping their horn to warn oncoming traffic.

So I arrived in Sandakhan in the afternoon. I was traveling with a brother and sister, both from Sweden. We arrived at Uncle Tan’s adventure Lodge then headed into the city to get some cash. What you need to understand is that people here have neve really seen westerners or white folks. We walked through some of the markets and shocks and just got some of the craziest looks. The swedish guy i was with was very tall and had very blonde hair so they were just looking at him with their jaws to the ground. We had little girls following us around. Anytime you made eye contact with them they laughed and looked away. It was very very strange. I’d have to say that I felt very out of place. I can only think of a few instances where one would feel so out of place. Here are a few:

-Shopping in Wal-Mart without a mullet and not beating your kids.

-Walking down the strip in Hampton Beach and NOT having a mullet, and not wearing denim jeans and a tanktop and not holding a brown bag with a keystone light in it and most importantly not wearing high top velcrows. For those of you who don’t know Hampton Beach…i’m sorry!

-Perhaps walking into McDonalds and ordering food and not supersizing would also get you similar looks.

-Maybe a skinny kid walking into an arcade while eating an apple would also get the same result.

So the next day I went to the Orangutan Sanctuary. The Sanctuary basically takes orphaned orangutans and tries to rehabilitate them so they can go back in the wild. I’d have to say it is very tourist but still pretty amazing to see them. You walk through the jungle to the feeding platform and just before feeding time the Orangutans come out of the forest. They are given bananas and milk. They are basically wild as they do live in the forest and have the option of wether to feed or not. I figure it’s probably the closest thing i’ll ever come to a wild orangutan so I should be appreciative, and i am.

Posted in Malaysia | No Comments »