Bandar Seri Begawan & Pulau Labuan - Day 158
Trip Start
Jan 31, 2008
1
110
251
Trip End
Ongoing
Pulau Labuan,
Malaysia
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Walked around the charming floating village this morning. You get a real sense of community as you walk round, kids playing, people talking and doing their daily chore's. There's a matrix of raised wooden walkways connecting all the houses so I strolled along these paths observing daily life. Just like yesterday, people are so friendly, most people say "Hi" and kids seem fascinated by some strange westerner walking through their village.
Returned back to the Hostel for an hour of air conditioning to cool down before hauling by heavy rucksack to the bus station. I caught a bus to the docks in Muara, around 25km away. I boarded the boat to the tax free island of Pulau Labuan in Sabah, Malaysia. More stamps in my rather tatty looking passport.
Pulau Labuan is the main transit point from Brunei to Kota Kinabalu in Sabah. Staying on this seedy island tonight before catching another boat to Kota Kinabalu (KK) early in the morning.
Met a Philippino guy after disembarking the boat. We met up in the evening for a few drinks. Went to a few bars which were packed with prostitutes, all the bars on the island are the same. Drunk Malaysian and Bruneian men, with large groups of prostitutes. Quite surprised the Malaysian government allow this being a relatively strict predominately Muslim country. I was approached by a "Madam" in one bar who said to me "I have a beautiful girl for you tonight". I replied by saying, "No thank you, I don't pay for sex". Seriously weird place! Glad I'm only on the island for 14 hours.
