medium Archives - Page 4 of 7

01
Feb 23
0

If It’s Tuesday 🤡 This Must Be Belgium

Funnily enough, it was a Tuesday when we arrived in Belgium. We knew this must be Belgium because of the bicycles and the scary clowns…

For those of you (especially Americans) who aren’t familiar with the movie, If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium is a 1969 romantic comedy film made on location throughout Europe.

The title was taken from an American cartoon depicting a young woman near a tour bus frustratedly exclaiming “But if it’s Tuesday, it has to be Sienna”, thereby humorously illustrating the whirlwind nature of European tour schedules.

This concept formed the premise of the film’s plot.

Belgium would be the prelude to our trip to Malaysia. This started with an early morning flight with Ryanair, the low-cost carrier, to the small airport near Eindhoven in the Netherlands. From here we took a shuttle bus to Eindhoven train station.

In Eindhoven we had a little time to wander round the bicycle park, which boasted an impressive number of bicycles belonging to the daily commuters.

This Must be Belgium – Bicycle park in front of Eindhoven train station

What we didn’t realize was that this week was carnival time in Holland. We saw some pretty weird and wonderful costumes, and there must definitely have been some Stephen King convention to which everyone seemed to be heading.

If I’d known in advance, I would have donned my own scary clown outfit.

This Must be Belgium – Early March and it’s Carnival!

From Eindhoven, we took a train to Antwerp central station in Belgium.

Built between 1895 and 1905, this is is one of the world’s most impressive railway stations. Dubbed the ‘Railway Cathedral‘, it is a major landmark in Antwerp.

The rich interior is lavishly decorated with more than twenty different kinds of marble and stone. Not a single square meter either inside or outside the building is not decorated.

This Must be Belgium – The Splendour that is Antwerp Central Station

It was from a small ticket office in the station that we actually received our KLM airline tickets and boarding passes – which we had ordered online three weeks earlier.

With an hour or so to spare, we enjoyed coffee and cakes at a small cafe, before taking the high-speed Thalys train directly to Schiphol airport, near Amsterdam.

The prelude to our trip to Malaysia was drawing to a close, and we were looking forward to exchanging the cold of Europe for the heat of the tropics.

Our next stop would be Kuala Lumpur.

If you enjoyed If it’s Tuesday, this must be Belgium, check out our East Malaysia & Borneo adventures. You may also like:

Rome Hotels & Guesthouses
A destination in itself, Rome is also a launching pad for flights to the tropics - provided you find inexpensive and well-located lodgings

Amsterdam Layover Hotel & Activities — Amsterdam Layover
Beyond smoking dope, stealing bikes & visiting the Red Light area, there's much to do - especially if you pick the right Amsterdam layover hotel.

27
Jan 23
0

Sepilok Borneo – Where to Stay & Eat

Tags : medium short

Sepilok was our final destination in Borneo, following a 21-day journey through Malaysia. After spending 4 days in Kuala Penyu, we organized a taxi to take us to the airport at Kota Kinabalu. Our next destination was Sandakan, from where we would head out to Sepilok.

We had a late morning flight booked with Malaysia Airlines (RM99 per person, 1-way Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan). This is a short 40-minute hop – the best option for us, since the trip by road goes through mountainous country and takes considerably longer.

If you want to visit mount Kinabalu, however, you’ll need to travel overland.

Where to Stay – The Sepilok Jungle Resort

We had booked 3 nights at the Sepilok Jungle Resort (€37 per night, including breakfast). I had also prearranged a transfer from the airport to the hotel for RM20 per person. All went smoothly, and we arrived at our destination in the early afternoon.

The Sepilok Jungle Resort was not our first choice. When we were making our bookings 3 weeks earlier, we wanted to stay at the Borneo Nature Lodge, just across the road from the Jungle Resort. However, the Nature Lodge was already fully booked.

If you have the choice, book early and stay at the Borneo Nature Lodge – it’s a little more expensive but much nicer, with wooden chalets.

Sepilok Borneo

The accommodation blocks at the Jungle Lodge are old and uninviting from the outside, but functional enough on the inside – some with balconies overlooking the swimming pool (make sure you book one of these in advance).

The beds are comfortable, but there are no mosquito nets or other insect deterrents, so you’re advised to take your own protection (dengue fever is no joke).

They clean the rooms and provide fresh towels, water and tea every day, unlike most other places we stayed for a few days. They also have a very pleasant swimming pool you can use at a small charge.

Breakfast is a major letdown – the worst we had on our trip (does cold beans on uncooked toast float your boat?). The buffer breakfast is served in their restaurant, called the Banana Restaurant: a dark, dingy place which we avoided as much as possible.

Although the staff are friendly and helpful, the reception area is only open from 9 am to 5 pm, so you need to get any business sorted out within this time frame. The main reason for staying here is the proximity to the Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre and the Nature Reserve.

Sepilok Borneo – Where to stay and eat close to the Reserves

Where to Stay – The Borneo Nature Lodge

Although we couldn’t book a room at the Nature Lodge, we did use their restaurant every day. It’s a much nicer place to eat than the only other option – the Banana restaurant in the Jungle Lodge just across the road.

The restaurant is not cheap. In fact, at RM98 for a meal for two (with beer), this was the most we paid for a single meal anywhere in Malaysia. The food is ok but not great, with too few Malaysian dishes and too many dubious western options.

The best food we had there was the Renget chicken and the Curry chicken – the only slightly spicy choices on the menu. They also have a limited and uninspired selection of fruit juices.

Beer is not cheap, and wine is astronomically expensive – RM160 per bottle. However, in Sepilok your eating venues are severely limited, so we just took this one on the chin.

The Borneo Nature Lodge is beautifully situated around a lake, and is well managed and maintained. Guests have individual chalets, and can easily walk to the Nature Reserve and Orangutan Sanctuary.

This place seems to attract older, mainly western foreigners. The young budget backpackers are all at the Sepilok Jungle Resort.

After Borneo, the final leg of our journey through Malaysia would be a return to Kuala Lumpur, with 2 days to discover the capital city.

Hotel Deals in Sandakan