road trip in sabah – primer
Recently, I was in Sabah, (east) Malaysia. The trip was long coming and the initial objective that we had (about a year back) was not met. However the trip was wonderful and well worth the time and effort.
The initial plan (about a year ago) was to climb Mt. Kinabalu. At that time, everything I knew about Malaysian Borneo was Mt. Kinabalu. I was not very aware of the geography nor did I know that Malaysia had two states in Borneo. General knowledge aside, I was not planning on doing anything other than climbing. The trip did not materialize and I setup another trip in November hoping to climb Mt. K again. But being me, I do not plan things until push comes shove and when shove came to kick me in the arse, I decided to check out the details for the climb.
To cut the story short, I needed to have booked a place in Laban Rata about mid way in the mountain and the vacancy is small and in high demand. I did not secure any place and the only other option I had (though very adventurous) was a bit too expensive. So the decision was made instead to fly in and bum around in Kota Kinabalu. KK is a nice little town with pretty friendly people and lots of human traffic in the main street. I stayed at a back packers lodge and went around town on day 1. But by the end of the day, we figured it might be better if we could explore outside town – primarily we were excited by the lush rain forest bordering the town.
A little bit of snooping around and chit chat with locals resulted in us renting a car and taking a nice 4 day road trip across the state.
If anyone is interested, the green portion from KK to Telupid is hilly and chilly 
The roads are good and the drive is very enjoyable. The Blue stretch to Sandakan is reasonably flat and warm. The yellow road to Sukau is pretty bad once you turn off the highway. the roads are gravel and the scenery is nothing but palm plantations. The red portion is pretty special. It is a lovely river ride that we were very lucky to enjoy. I shall document some of the experiences here. Keep watching.
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May 11th, 2009 10:31
You are full of surprises Nat. How well travelled you are indeed. Thanks for your posting. It is very informative and useful to me. I do hope the 16″ wheels of the tikit can handle the terrain. Just like me to always like a challenge…
Any hotels you can recommend along the towns?
May 11th, 2009 12:10
KK has numerous hostels / guest houses. I think I stayed in on of the places on the main street. Fairly cheap (25 SGD per night) but lacked character. There are a number of upscale resorts near the airport, may be a good option to recuperate after the tour and relax before the flight.
I was personally attracted to this cozy little place “Borneo Backpackers”. They served some good coffee and nice toast. Got a couple of pictures. Was chatting with the caretaker and some of the residents and they seemed to like the place much.
There is a nice guest house at the Foothills of Mt. Kinabalu. The weather is really nice and the pricing is not awful. Sutera Sanctuary Lodges run the place. You can check with them on the latest details.
Sandakan was a funny experience. I happily walked into one of the hotels and booked a room. Lots of small hotels that are reasonably priced. Supposed to be a “pirate” town but I did not meet any shady characters. It is a pretty sleepy town with flea markets near the jetty. I vaguely recall the food being ok. Ppl recommended me to go to Sepilok and I ended up going there. I wasn’t particularly impressed. But I was lucky to meet a gentleman at Sendakan who kindly invited me to his house in Sukau and I had a really wonderful experience there.
Sukau is literally a hamlet and getting there was a bit tricky with bad roads and heavy logging / road works going on. But once in Sukau, the place was absolutely amazing. There are a few places to stay there and the place I was in was in the absolute end of the road. After my guest house, it was leading to the forest, Road stopped there. I don’t recall the name, but the accommodation was very cheap. They have slightly pricey but well maintained accommodation in the middle of the village.
If you wish to be more adventurous, you can take a boat from Sandakan or Sukau and head to Abai. There are home-stay options there and the people are friendly. They have a resort across the river (forget the name) which you can book from Sandakan.
A totally different alternate is to head to Lahad Datu or Kota Kinabatangan. Kota Kinabatangan and the nearby Danau valley, I hear is being logged heavily but still there are places untouched by tourist presence and you might have to get some permits to be able to go and hike in these parts.