Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ten, overcrowding on woefully smoky, dilapidated buses. Bring with you patience, an in-
flatable neck cushion, an iPod and anything else to ease the journey.
The only official land crossing between Kalimantan and Malaysian Borneo is at
Tebedu-Entikong, in western Sarawak between Kuching and Pontianak. Long-haul buses
link Pontianak with Kuching, the cities of Sarawak's central coast and Brunei.
Car & Motorcycle
Driving is on the left in all three countries that share Borneo. The (generally) nicely paved
Pan Borneo Hwy runs all along Borneo's northern coast, from Sematan in Sarawak's far
west via Brunei (and its many border crossings) to Tawau in the southeast corner of Sa-
bah. Kalimantan's road network is limited, with lots of sections yet to be paved and fre-
quent washouts and flash floods.
Road signage is often haphazard, with many junctions, including T-junctions, lacking
any indication of where to go. Yogi Berra may have advised, 'when you get to a fork in
the road, take it', but that's easier said than done.
Car Rental
Driving a rental car gives you maximum flexibility but can involve major hassles - in
Borneo, these are likely to include poor or nonexistent road signage, a dearth of proper
road maps, dilapidated vehicles, and small rental companies that may try to foist repair
charges onto you. In Kalimantan you may have trouble asking for directions unless you
speak Bahasa Indonesia. On the brighter side, in Malaysia petrol costs only about
US$0.60 per litre (US$2.30 per US gallon).
Car-hire companies have desks in the arrivals halls of larger airports; in city centres,
hotels and guesthouses can help find an agency. We've heard reports that small local com-
panies sometimes try to rent out 10-year-old cars with bald tyres and leaky boots (trunks).
Before you sign anything or hand over any cash, check over your vehicle very carefully
(eg for seatbelts in back), especially if it's an older Malaysian-made model such as a tiny
Perodua Kancil or Proton Wira.
In Sabah and Sarawak, prices for a very used 660cc Kancil start at an absolute minim-
um of RM90/500 per day/week at the cheapest outfits; a Perodua Viva or Proton Saga will
cost a bit more. Renting a Hyundai Matrix through an international company such as
Hertz
(
www.hertz.com
)
costs about double that, but your vehicle is likely to be newer,
safer and better maintained. As always, verify the insurance excess/deductible, whose de-
fault may be RM2000 or more; reducing this to RM500 can cost as little as RM15 a day.
