Blogs from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, Asia - page 4

VIDA'S BORNEO BLOG 2 The text for Blog 1 was done on iPad Pages and I could not cut and paste onto this travel blog. It is available on email. I sussed out the airport bus and surprised Carole at arrivals. I went early to find out more about car hire and local air transport for our later travels. It involved eating at KFC which is not to be recommended. I picked up my chicken leg and gnawed away but then noticed all the locals were picking off little bits of chicken with their fingers and eating it very delicately. (The locals don't as a rule use cutlery but eat with chop sticks or their fingers.) It is very easy to make a cultural faux pas. The estimated arrival time of Carole's Royal Brunei flight was ... read more

Geo: 5.97267, 116.071Dnes se probouzím s plánem jet dopoledne obhlednout přilehlé ostrovy a odpoledne se přesunout do Konabalu NP. Snídám v hostelu a vyrážím do přístavu. Cestou si tak přemýšlím nad cenou a jestli to vlastně za to bude stát, když vlastně pak poletím na Filipíny, kde je spousta ostrovů. Koukám tedy do LP a objevuji nedalekou vesničku lovců lebek. Hmm to nezní zle :). Kašlu na ostrovy, vracím se do hostelu a zjišťuji jak se tam dostat. Zní to komplikovaně, ale dobrodružně. Vyrážím na nádraží a chytám místní bus kamsi, kde mám přesednout na minivan. Jak bylo řečeno, tak se děje. Přijíždím na konečnou a pt&#... read more

Second leg of our little trip, and this time, no diving....but as you may guess, some diving coming pretty soon. I've never visited Kota Kinabalu in the past. Interesting enough, there is no direct flight from Thailand to Borneo, so it's never really a priority. We arrived late afternoon on the boat from Labuan. Our base for three nights, the 10 years old Meridien bang in the city center. Nothing much to write about the hotel beside the fact that it is a city hotel, providing us with more space than we need, a nice lounge to feed us, and easy connections for everything there is to see. We spent some time walking around the city. Well, not much to write about KK...there is nothing pretty about this city, it just do the job, but no ... read more

After four days of rustic living in the Kinebatagan Nature Lodge, jungle trekking and warding off leeches, mosquitoes, millipedes, snakes, spiders, and a bunch of other potential stuff that bites, it was quite an indulgence for us to take a ride on the refurbished North Borneo Rail steam engine train. The train ride was a taste of decadence and a flashback in time to the British Colonial era. All staff were costumed in early century era clothing, nostalgic music was playing, and whistles were blown as the conductor yelled out "All Aboard!" when we left the station. Each passenger received a passport for the four hour journey, which was stamped by the train conductor as we approached each of the train's five districts. Throughout the journey passengers were seated in fan-cooled dining cars, and waited on ... read more

An early start today to catch a plane to Kota Kinabalu, Northern Borneo, for some needed relaxation. Rainy and humid on arrival and a speed boat transfer to Gaya Island gave us a taste of what was to come. Every where we go Alice gets called Alex!... read more