Back to Borneo
Once home to so many Cantonese residents it was known as Little Hong Kong, the town of Sandakan, in eastern Borneo, was also considered one of the region's more exciting and romantic destinations. Appetites were whetted by tropical adventure films such as East of Borneo (1931) and Three Came Home (1950), based on a book of the same name by American writer and long-time Sandakan resident Agnes Newton Keith. (Her house has just been renovated and is one of the town's main tourist attractions while her book about her experiences as a Japanese prisoner of war in Sabah is still in print.) As the capital of British North Borneo, Sandakan was also the largest departure port for tropical timber in the world; it is said that during the early 20th century, the town had more millionaires per capita than any other in the world. Cathay Pacific flew its DC3s there in the early 1950s but with no direct flights today, not many Hong Kong travellers make the journey. It is now possible to do so economically following the recent introduction of cheap flights by Air Asia from Kota Kinabalu (served from Hong Kong by Malaysia Airlines and Dragonair). Air Asia, which established a regional hub at Kota Kinabalu this summer, is selling tickets for the 45-minute flight to Sandakan for as little as 9.99 ringgit (HK$20) for early bookings made through its website,
www.airasia.com. More information on Sandakan, where eco-tourism is the main tourist draw, can be found at www.
sabahtourism.com. The best hotel is the 108-room Sabah Hotel (
www.sabahhotel.com.my). For further inspiration, East of Borneo and Three Came Home are available on DVD on the Alpha Video label (
www.oldies.com) for US$5.95 each.
Pay as you go
Guidebook publishers Lonely Planet and Rough Guides have installed climate-care emissions calculators on their websites so airline passengers can calculate their share of carbon generation. Type in your airports of departure and arrival and up comes a financial figure that will offset your carbon dioxide, next to a list of worthy causes for the contribution of that sum. While both sites claim an interest in becoming involved with environmental protection and putting the world to carbon-neutral rights, cynics might suggest a growing eco-aware trend in Europe, Australasia and America
for avoiding air travel could be hurting both publishers' bottom line, and that this is a way to encourage people back into the skies and the book shops. Published this month, The Rough Guide to Climate Change looks at air travel and tourism, focusing comprehensively on global warming. It is available at Paddyfield.com, priced HK$133.
Last of the Royals
Shanghai's newest luxury hotel, Le Royal Meridien Shanghai (above), opened last month and will reportedly be the last in the world to be so branded. (The lower-tier Le Meridien brand will continue, however, with half a dozen opening around China in the next couple of years.) The 770-room hotel looks something like Hong Kong's Bank of China building, but the owners say the two antennae at the top 'represent greatness' rather than the chopsticks often said to be evoked by those on the bank. Not much stands out in the hotel's publicity material in the way of amenities, although the usual items such as 'hair dryers, coffee/tea making facilities, in-room safe, wireless and broadband internet access' are listed among the things the hotel says will collectively 'redefine the concept of business lifestyle and hospitality'. From now until February 28, an opening rate of 1,880 yuan a night, including breakfast, will comprise the property's Shanghai Surprise package. For further details and reservations, visit
www.starwoodhotels.com/lemeridien.
Island escape
W Hotels Worldwide has opened its first retreat and spa, the W Maldives. Accommodation consist of 46 over-water Ocean Oasis villas, with glass floors for what the resort strangely calls 'underwater voyeurism'; 28 split-level Beach Oasis villas, with unobstructed views; three two-bedroom Seascape Escape villas, with oversized infinity plunge pools; and a two-bedroom Ocean Haven retreat, with an oversized infinity-edge plunge pool and wraparound sundeck. Like all resorts in the Maldives, this one is set on its own island (above), with facilities including six restaurants, a water-sports centre and a 24-hour 'technogym'. Villa rates start at about US$750 a night, but add another US$275 to your budget for round-trip seaplane flights, which provide the only means of reaching the island and don't operate after dark. For more on the W Maldives, see
www.whotels.com.
Point and shout
Published in Hong Kong, Taxi Guides are designed to simplify that most exasperating form of cultural exchange: dealing with cab drivers. The guides feature shopping areas, restaurants, schools, residential districts, tourist sites and a lot more, all written in English and Chinese with phonetics and adhesive 'take me there' arrows for the first three editions, which cover Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing. Forthcoming destinations will include Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City, below, and Hanoi), Bangkok and the Pearl River Delta (Shenzhen and Guangzhou). Priced HK$60 each or HK$150 for a set of three, they can be purchased at
www.thetaxiguide.com.
Deal of the week
Swire Travel is running a full-board, two-night, English-language guided tour of Yangshuo, with the first night in Guilin, priced at HK$2,990 a person, twin-share, or HK$3,590 for solo travellers. Departing on Friday, November 24, the tour begins with an evening arrival in Guilin, followed
by dinner and accommodation at the Lijiang Waterfall Hotel. Day two includes a boat trip down the Li River to Yangshuo, followed by rafting, a cycling tour, dinner and night-market shopping. Accommodation is at the Magnolia Hotel. (These hotels are rated by Swire Travel as being five and three-and-a-half stars, respectively.) Day three consists of caving trips around Yangshuo and a drive back to Guilin for the early-evening flight home (on China Southern Airlines). Call Swire Travel on 3151 8833, or e-mail
[email protected].
