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	By Sue Shapiro, President Shapiro Travel Resources sue.shapiro@gmail.com www.shapirotravelresources.com

The Road "Rarely" Traveled As travel counselors, we're always looking out for a new destination to recommend to clients before it becomes "hot." I found the next "hot spot". It's Malaysian Borneo. If you're like me, you thought that Borneo was part of Indonesia. It is. But the "top half" of the island of Borneo is a fascinating part of the Malaysian federation. A short flight from Kuala Lumpur takes visitors to Kuching, the capital of the state of Sarawak in Borneo. Get rid of your perception of a primitive village of headhunters. Kuching is a modern city with excellent hotels (even a Hilton), wonderful restaurants, beautiful architecture, quaint shops and very friendly people. Like the rest of Malaysia, the population is a mixture of Malay, Chinese, and Indian and, on Borneo, the indigenous peoples representing many tribes. The "thing" to do in Sarawak is to get out of the city and visit the Orangutan Sanctuary and the native "Long Houses." Kudos to the government for protecting the orangutans but still providing facilities for visitors to watch them eat, climb, groom and play amid their jungle home. Unique to Borneo are "Long Houses", a kind of apartment building for extended families. To get you into the experience, the government built and Hilton manages the Batang Ai Hilton Long House Resort. It's not 5* but it's clean, comfortable, air conditioned with private bath, a good restaurant and bar plus spa facilities all located on a beautiful man made lake within a tropical nature park. But it's the native long houses that are the main attraction. They're only reachable by boat since there are no roads. Half an hour in a motorboat from the hotel we came to the village of Mengkak where 200 extended family members of the Iban tribe live communally. Try to imagine a typical Long House. It's about 300' long, built on stilts with two communal walkways (one outdoor and the other covered by a thatched roof) running the entire length of the long house. The third section is individual apartments for families. The villagers were so gracious as to invite us into their apartments and in one they cooked us a delicious lunch. Each "apartment" consists of two large rooms, one for cooking and eating and the other for living and sleeping. To thank the people we brought bags of cookies, chips, candy and crackers in Costco sized packages. The tribal chief has ritual whereby he distributes the goodies to each family who come away with 50 or 60 small bags of snacks. They're so appreciative that they gave us a demonstration of native dances, how they make their beautiful beadwork and how to use a blow gun (no poison darts used). So the next time someone asks you what's going to be the next "hot" spot, tell them about Malaysian Borneo. Besides it's just next door to Brunei and it would be nice to meet the richest man in the world.
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Auto Europe Car Rental Recommendations Before
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Auto Europe Car Rental Recommendations Before
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Auto Europe, a leader in worldwide car rental services, has compiled a set of recommendations that should be on your checklist for your next trip to Europe. These travel tips cover aspects for before, after and during your car rental experience. Below is the second set of suggestions for being prepared once you have arrived at the car rental location. (continue)

Auto Europe Car Rental Recommendations Before

You Leave For Europe

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"Best of the Best Globe Award"

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"Well-Being & Medica Travel Conference 2012"

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Joel M. Abels • Rusty Pickett • Scott Koepf• Cruising • Airline • Europe • Hotels • Luxury Cruising • Paull Tickner • Mitchel J. Schlesinger • Sherry Laskin • Les-Lee Roland • Mary Brutscher • Sue Shapiro

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This website is dedicated to the memory of Joel M. Abels
"HE CREATED A VOICE, NOT JUST AN ECHO"