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 Sabah, Malaysia travel tales
Our customers share their travelling experiences in Sabah, Malaysia.
Read about first hand stories on travel tips and guides, events, entertainment,shopping, food, business and transportation.
Also, you might want to read our
Kuala Lumpur city guide,
Langkawi city guide,
Melaka city guide,
and Penang city guide.
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| P Chapman |
23 June 2002 |
Stayed at Jesselton Hotel, The - Sabah, Malaysia.
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All the tour guides say that Kota Kinabalu is a pleasant city useful mostly as a jumping-off point for other area attractions, and I found that to be the case. There's little to do in KK, although it is worth a walk around (which won't take too long). Also the Mosopiad culture village is definitely worth a visit, though it is probably not as well known as it should be. Tunku Abdul Raman national park, just off the coast at KK is beautiful and easy to reach; it can be done in a day, but revisited any number of times! Apart from that, most interesting things are really a couple of days away, so I found that 3 days was an awkward amount of time to spend there. This time I would have prefered to stay only 2 days, but next time I'll want to go for at least a week!
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| D Kino |
01 May 2002 |
Stayed at Sutera Harbour Resort & Spa, The - Sabah, Malaysia.
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Restaraunts were good and very extensive in the number of different locations, however the food was only average. I would suggest focussing on quality rather than quanitity, espeacially at the buffets.
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| D Crwys-williams |
12 November 2001 |
Stayed at Jesselton Hotel, The - Sabah, Malaysia.
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Do not expect too much of Kota Kinabalu outside the resorts. The town itself is a pleasant mixture of modern trash and interesting local crafts and everyday markets. As nothing is older than 50 years due to WW II there is little of any architectural interest, and thus little charm. The surrounding vilages are both welcoming and unspoilt and well worth a taxi excursion.
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| J Chapman |
27 July 2001 |
Stayed at Jesselton Hotel, The - Sabah, Malaysia.
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Only in Sabah for two days to visit rain forest - KK was not very interesting - we took a boat to one of the islands which was fun until we got soaked returning but sheltered in boatman's hut with his family until worst of downpour was over. The proboscis monkeys were brilliant and the lodge in the rain forest excellent - good food! Visited orang-utang sanctuary - a bit like a safari park, too limited area to visit, didn't feel as real as when we were on the river looking for monkeys.
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| M De rosa |
23 July 2001 |
Stayed at Jesselton Hotel, The - Sabah, Malaysia.
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KK is interesting for a couple of days. A lot of interesting day trips are availble for longer stays. Internal Borneo is breathtaking! We stayed in the forest for a couple of weeks living with Dayaks in their homes and hiking with them. A wonderful experience. If you are interested feel free to e-mail me.
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| P Achleitner |
09 July 2001 |
Stayed at Jesselton Hotel, The - Sabah, Malaysia.
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To visit Mt. Kinabalu National Park by private car from Kota Kinabalu, take Jalan Pantai to the new four-lane highway past the 32 storey Sabah Foundation Building and turn right at the next traffic light. The new highway is not shown on even the most recent maps.
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| A Wetzel |
09 June 2001 |
Stayed at Sutera Harbour Resort & Spa, The - Sabah, Malaysia.
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snorkeling on Mermati is even better than on Sapi (more corals).
the rooms 6538 to 6542 ave a splendid view of the sunset.
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| T Ione yerburgh |
11 February 2001 |
Stayed at Jesselton Hotel, The - Sabah, Malaysia.
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KK an interesting town for a couple of days as find feet in Sabah. Excellent restaurant for fish called Port View not far from The Jesselton. Also visited Sukau/Sepilok/Sandakan and Mabul/ Sipadan . Very good diving but glad we saw a little bit more of the country than just the sea.
Malaysian Airlines was slightly unpredictable for scheduled internal flights and if making your own arrangements you should leave plenty of time to connect to international flights (we made ours by about 10 minutes having given ourselves 3 hours). Out of 6 internal flights 1 one was cancelled one delayed by 1 1/2 hour and one could not land for 45 minutes because of adverse weather (a bit scary !). Also stayed at Sipidan Water Villas Mabul which was fantastic and Sukau River Lodge which was fairly basic but well run. The journey to Sukau is quite an adventure. (10 hours from KK by plane and 3 local minibus' .last 42 km appears impossible as road is appalling but somehow the bus only got stuck in the mud once.)Be warned there are no direct minibus' to Sukau from Sandakan (Rough guide says that there are) also almost impossible to get back from Sukau by public transport. (we took lodges' taxi at cost of US$60 cf cost of minibus' $5).
If going to sukau take a tour as cheaper than doing it on own. Special internet rate at River lodge was higher than lodge's normal rate and once cot of boat trips included total cost for 2 was about £100 higher than tour cost even taking into account fact we had got ourselves there (they agreed to reduce price when I pointed this out to them ).
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| R Perata |
29 January 2001 |
Stayed at Jesselton Hotel, The - Sabah, Malaysia.
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Stayed here before and after going to Sandkan area to see Orang rehab center, Kenbatagan River and Danum Valley rain forest. It was so pleasant returning here after "roughing it" for a few days. And just a few minutes by boat to get to the nearby islands for sunbathing and snorkeling.
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| S Ferguson |
04 January 2001 |
Stayed at Jesselton Hotel, The - Sabah, Malaysia.
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The highlight was definitely the climb to the top of the hill behind Poring Hot Springs for the canopy walk far above the tree-tops. The views of the forest below, and the sounds of running water and birds were enchanting. Walking along the platforms was an experience in itself - the widely-angled rope side supports proving a challenge for all but the long-armed! And the slight swaying of the wooden platforms was a little scary at times, but gave the whole expedition an air of adventure.
Poring Hot Springs itself was a huge disappointment - dirty-looking tiled 'baths' outdoors and the jacuzzi with bathroom in a private cabin, for which we paid extra, also dirty with a faulty toilet. This could be such a wonderful attraction - instead it made me wish I'd brought some disinfectant and a scrubbing brush.
On our trip we also managed to see the Rafflesia flower - the largest in the world. Apparently there are only a couple of places where they appear in the vicinity of Kota Kinabalu and we were lucky enough to be there while one was 'out'. It was on private property - where the owner puts out a sign to say it's in bloom, then the money raised (60RM a time) is divided amongst those who live in the area. We were taken down a steep path behind a house, to a wooded area with much plant debris on the ground, and there it was! Protected by a crude barrier to prevent the bad-mannered clambering all over nearby Rafflesia buds in their quest for a photograph with the mammoth flower. And it was worth the money! Just to gaze on such an awe-inspiring giant of the plant world was amazing. As it appears on so many postcards - seeing the real thing gave us a buzz.
We took almost all of our meals at the Jesselton Hotel's restaurants, including a very nice candlelit dinner in its Gardenia Room. We did also have a meal in the bar at the Hyatt Hotel - we recommend the food and service there too.
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