Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Periplus
(
www.periplus.com
)
Publishes 1:1,000,000-scale maps of Sabah and Sarawak
that include city and town maps.
Globetrotter
(
www.newhollandpublishers.com
)
Has a 1:1,300,000-scale map covering
both Sabah and Sarawak.
Nelles Verlag
(
www.nelles-verlag.de
)
Based in Munich. Produces a 1:500,000-scale map
of the entire island entitled
Indonesia: Kalimantan, East Malaysia & Brunei
.
Reise Know-How
(
www.reise-know-how.de
)
Publishes a 1:200,000-scale map of the en-
tire island (2011).
» Getting hold of accurate, up-to-date topographical maps of Borneo is nearly impossible.
Malaysia still keeps most hi-res maps classified, partly as a holdover from the Konfrontasi
with Indonesia (way back in the 1960s), and partly to make it difficult for indigenous
groups to pursue land claims against logging companies. Brunei doesn't officially release
any of its maps to non-Bruneians, and accurate maps of Kalimantan are simply impossible
to get.
» The most user-friendly map of Brunei is the tourist office's free
Official Map of Brunei
Darussalam
.
»
Google Earth
(
www.google.com/earth
)
is a very useful resource, providing a fairly
clear overview of river and road networks, particularly along the northern coast. For those
planning a trek into the sticks, it offers the best way to check the extent of remaining
jungle cover. Google Earth has especially clear images of many of urban areas. For
Brunei, it's easily the best supplement to the maps in this topic.
» The coverage of Borneo by
Google Maps
(
http://maps.google.com
)
is spotty at best.
Money
Tipping is not practised much in Borneo.
Sabah & Sarawak
» Malaysia's currency is the ringgit (RM, for Ringgit Malaysia, or MYR), which is di-
vided into 100 sen. Banknote denominations are RM1, RM5, RM10, RM50 and RM100.
» The ringgit used to be known as the Malaysian dollar (M$) and Malaysians sometimes
still refer to a ringgit as a
dolar
. To further confuse things, in Bahasa Malaysia, Singapore
and Brunei dollars are known as
ringgit
.