Who wooda thunk that Borneo would look like this? Quest is docked at Sutera Marina in Kota Kinabalu. The marina is part of a golf, swimming, sailing, tennis complex with two large multipool swim areas. There are two large luxury hotels on either side of the marina. It's the most upscale place we've visited - including Los Suenos (in southern Mexico) and The Ritz Carlton.

 

This merlion is the symbol for Singapore. We enjoyed touring the city/state of Singapore - a very clean and orderly society, governed by an autocratic method with NO tolerance for antisocial behavior.

 

Georgetown, Penang is an upscale city in many ways. But, it also has its Chinatown and Little India sections that retain the old buildings and original flavor. Georgetown is located on the west coast of the Malaysian peninsula.

 

Nothing says Thailand more than riding on a Siamese elephant. Phuket is all about tourists and one must NOT leave Thailand without riding on an elephant. These elephants did not seem to be overworked or underfed. There were a lot of elephants at this site and they didn't seem to be underfed as some others we saw.

 

Bangkok is known as the shopping center of Southeast Asia. So, what better photo to place here than a shot of our friend, Jim and me at the big Sunday market in Bangkok.

 

Throughout South East Asia people have a special feeling in their heart for the Buddhist monks. In the airport and in other pubic places there are seats set aside for these monks to sit down, thought the rest of us may stand. We, too were fascinated by them! Here's a shot of three monks on a motor cycle in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

 

These puppets are part of a very old tradition in the Cambodian culture. We enjoyed attending a puppet show that was performed as part of an effort to raise money for needy and homeless children in the Siem Reap area (read: Angkor Wat). It's hard to forget the recent history of the killing fields and the ongoing assault by landmines that can destroy a family's financial support in one horrible event.

 

Many people don't associate living on a boat as being the "countryside," but because there's such a large population that moves around according to the height of the Tonle Sap river I've included photos of the floating villages as part of my Cambodian countryside page. Because  Scott & I live on a boat we have an affinity for others who live on a boat. This beautifully decorated house boat was part of the floating village in the Siem Reap area. Many of these are home stays and a tourist could arrange to stay on a boat. I doubt that there would be air conditioning and clean running drinking and shower water that we're used to!

 

 

 

11/28/2010 17:24                                         Hit Counter