Walter travels ...: Kota Belud, Sabah, Malaysia, Borneo

August 10, 2012 - Kota Belud, Sabah, Malaysia, Borneo

This afternoon, I arrived in Kota Belud, a small city of some 70,000 people and about 90 kms from Kota Kinabalu. I came here for tomorrow's Tamu Ahad or Tamu Minggu (a young policeman wrote down these expressions for me while I checked into my hotel here) which is supposed to be a huge open air market held every Sunday.

For some reason I had my own minibus all the way from KK (Kota Kinabalu) for the usual fare of 8 Ringgit + I had to pay another 8 for my luggage. No idea why they wanted me to take that one and not go in the ones which leave when full, but the price was the same. I thought that there might be some scam but to be honest everybody in Borneo has been ectremely friendly and helpful and top honest so far.

There are not many hotels in this town and I have the feeling that they do not get that many foreign visitors, perhaps some come for the day of the market but stay at their hotels in KK. I had not made any reservation but had no problem checking into the Kota Belud Travelers Lodge (http://www.mykbtl.com/) and getting a large double room with private bathroom, aircon, TV and WiFi for 70 Ringgit, and without the usual 6% government tax and 6% service charge add-ons. I'll be a happy camper here for 2 nights.

Right up the street is a fairly large mosque and I get great audio when the muezzin is reciting the call to prayer. Tonight the sound actually reminded me of Jocelyn Pook's soundtrack for the movie "Eyes Wide Shut", it had this mystic and mysterious feeling to it. If I get a chance, I will try to record part of it tomorrow night.

I actually like this small city. There are many small stores, lots of market vendors and people seem quite curious who came to town.

Here are some of the pics of the day ...