It was a memorable trip undertaken by 3 friends covering Sabah, Sarawk and Brunei in a 4 wheel jeep. The trip took 8 days covering a distance of 2500 kilometers, crossing borders during which our passports were stamped for 16 times.
We started in Kota Kinabalu and travelled towards south to Sarawak.On the first day we came over many towns in Sabah such as Papar, Beaufort, Sepitang,Lawas and Limbang where we stopped for the night.I had been to these towns before, nearly 30 years ago, but these towns had changed very much with better roads, more buildings , increased population and more traffic.Take Beaufort for example, when I stopped at this town in 1972 on my train journey from Tenom to Kota Kinabalu, Beaufort was a one street small town with shop houses on stilt.Now Beaufort is sprawling with a new township on the opposite side of the river, which was before a small plantation. Indeed all other towns like Papar and Sepitang had grown in size and had become very busy.
Limbang and Lawas in Sarawak are riverside towns that have grown to become important commercial centres serving its riverine hinterland.Despite their remoteness these towns look very clean and very organised with good roads, well tendered landscaped gardens and clean restaurants. The people are homogeneous lots making up the Malays, Chinese ,Limbawang,Ibans,Murut and many more, but they are friendly and easy to engage them in casual conversation.We spent a quiet night in Limbang, and the next morning I headed for the wharf where life started early in the morning.Boats were plying to and fro on both banks of Sungai Limbang cvarrying goods and passengers.There was a hive of activities in the market selling agricutural produces and husehold iten and clotings.Limbang is an active commercial town serving the riverine.
After 6 hours on the road we reached Brunei.Being a petroleum producing country Brunei is wealthy.This is evident from the good infrstuture, good houses and good life the Bruneian are experiencing.The towns that we passed through looked like they were well managed with good roads, clean restaurants and good housings.Hospitals, playgrounds, townhalls,stadium , public park and playground were visible facilities in the town.Brunei beng the capital city is adorened with office complexa band mosques. The landmark is Sultan Omar mosquie which is situated in the centre of Brunei city.
After crossing Brunei, we travelled to Miri which is an example of a booming Sarawak oil town .It is a town which is easy to live with amenities for modern lifestyle set in rural setting.Around Miri there are many things to see and enjoy such as Niah Cave and Forest Reserve, and Miri is an embarkation point to Mulu National Park and Upper Baram
Two days to the end of our 8 days foray, we travelled north to Kota Belud and Kudat to meet some old friends.The road to Kudat was good, and Kudat waterfront has extended into the sea.I met a few friends who had been staying in Kudat for the last 40 years and never intend to move, for life is easy, seafood is fresh and friends are plentiful in Kudat.
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