I left my heart in Sandakan,Borneo

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

p/s-I felt guilty and little bit sinful for not writing about my previous trip to Sandakan,Borneo.

Salam
Blame my lazy ass for literally being late writing this post.Technically,I am a good,eh,a great procrastinator.

Day 1.
Again we took Malaysia Airlines flight to Sabah.The reason for that-I was completely phobia about taking Air Asia as I once had missed my flight my flight to Kuching,years ago =____=.The flight was okay. The food was okay.everything is so-so.So,about 2 hours and 30 minutes journey,we finally reached this Sandakan Airport. It was the first time I stepped in an airport which I regard as "antique". It feels like 70's airport. Then,we took our rented car at the airport. We rented a automatic Waja car and off we went to Sandakan town. It took about 20 minutes far from airport to Sandakan Town. Sandakan is a tiny town located on the northern tip of Sabah. Sandakan Town is a small and hectic town. The buildings are old and there ain't skyscrapers at this town. But,still I think I like the town :p After sight-seeing at the town via car,we went to our hotel-2 in 1 Hotel located at Batu Sapi area-10 minutes from the town centre. The hotel is beautiful and the room is simple yet awesome. In the afternoon,we went to Sandakan's Heritage Trail which includes the Agnes Keith House ( an American's writer's house) and English Tea House (where we had some tea and scones).Then,we had dinner at a local pasar malam (night market) and we had delicious yet cheap food.

Our tickets

Up in the air

Sandakan Airport
.
Town centre of Sandakan

2 in1 hotel

English Tea House

Tangga Seribu = One Hundred Steps? (typing error LOL)

Agnes Keith House

Roundabouts in Sandakan are pretty unique

Day 2

We started our journey as early as 6 a.m. We straight went to Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary located at Labuk Bay town. It took us about 45 minutes to reach there from our hotel. As we arrived at the sanctuary,we waited like half an hour before  the feeding time.For those who are interested to go there,you must be there at feeding hour time as the monkeys(lots of monkeys) will only come out at the jungle during those hours. During the feeding time,we saw a lot of Proboscis monkeys.Proboscis monkeys are totally a cute creature esp.their nose parts.They were divided into 2 groups 
  • Family group-where there is 1 male monkey( the big-sized one) with its wives (they practiced polygamy!LOL) with their small babies
  • Playboy group-all males,ain't female monkeys

We managed to watched them as near as we can and even touch them! I was totally eccentric and happy at that time :) After 2 hours at the sanctuary,we went to Sandakan Memorial Park where the old refugee camp for British troops during Sandakan-Ranau Death March.We managed to talk to the owner of the park and he told us many histories and even freaky tales ( he saw some ghosts at the camp). Then,we went to Ocean King restaurant for lunch. This restaurant is a must to go as it provides mouth watering Halal Chinese seafood cuisine which is really yummy. After that,we went to Batu Sapi where there is a stone statue that the locals resemble it to a cow. At night,we went to night market again and had some rest.


A gang of Proboscis monkeys


Unique Proboscis monkey penis :p


Sandakan Memorial Park



Batu Sapi area


At night market

We ordered this yummy fish at Ocean King

Day 3

We started our journey to Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre.At Sepilok,there are many foreign tourists there. We saw 3 Orang Utan's there as they were having their so-called breakfast.Then,we went to Rainforest Discovery Center which located near Sepilok.There were many old and ancient trees and we went to one of the highest canopy walk I ever walked in my entire life. But the scenery was totally breath taking. After that,we went to Sandakan Crocodile Farm. Tell you the truth,the farm is much better than some of crocodile farms in the peninsular. The farm offers more than 3000 crocodiles and the crocodiles are super duper big in sized and all types of crocodiles.Not only they offer crocodiles for visitors to watch,they also offers other animals like tortoises, beavers, fishes etc.

At Sepilok

Tourists waiting at the platform to watch the Orang Utan

The Orang Utan

At the entrance of RDC (Rainforest Discovery Centre)

At the canopy walk at RDC

Crocodile show

Eeeeks,crocodiles :$

Wanna buy one? :p
Day 4

We checked out from our hotel and we plan to stay at Kinabatangan river tonight. Kinabatangan river is the longest river in Sabah and 2nd longest in Malaysia. Before we reached Kinabatangan,we went to Gomantong Cave,a cave where it is a place for bird nesting. The cave was huge and smelly ( of bat's and sparrow's bahan buangan) After that we went to Kinabatangan. We actually had booked Osman,a local living in Kinabatangan who provides homestay programme.At first we were terrified as we thought how's the house will look like :p At Kinabatangan,Osman fetched us and took us to his house via his boat. Alhamdulillah,the house was pleasant enough,very clean yet simple.The room is super clean and the price is cheap. 1 person or RM 50 per night. Its is a surprise that we were told by Osman that we were the first Malay Malaysians to stay at his house(he always receive foreign visitors).Wow.About 3 p.m Osman brought us for boat ride at the river. The river was huge and there are many crocodiles in it too! There was so much wildlife roaming around freely in their natural habitat.There were no chains,no cages. It was nature like I've never seen before.Theres one thing that I like Sandakan a lot: Sandakan is very different compared to any other places in Malaysia  because wildlife and nature are  so extremely well-preserved. We went cruising down mangrove forests in a wooden boat. But it was not just any boat trip-It was a safari,Malaysian style. After nearly 4 hours of cruising we had dinner and took some rest.

Inside the Gomantong Cave

Cockroaches. Ewww :/




Osman's house
Foreign tourists at the river

Osman managed to catch us a fish

Wild monkeys

Sunset at Kinabatangan river

Day 5

We went for boat ride again and we had breakfast on the boat. We also gave the wild fishes there some biscuits. Then,we went inside the jungle and had jungle trekking. We saw various types of creatures inside it including leeches etc. I saw a gibbon swinging at the trees. After that, we went back to Osman's house and packed our stuff and heading back to Sandakan.*tsk tsk* After saying goodbye to Osman and his family, we started our journey to Sandakan Town. We arrived at the town in evening and we checked in at Nak Hotel (located at the heart of Sandakan Town) 

Foggy morning at Kinabatangan

Feeding the fish with cookies


Leeches

Wild fruits


With Osman's family

Day 6

We woke up early and packed our stuff and ready to leave Sandakan.It was a bit sad to me as I realized I love Sabah! At 12 p.m we checked out at the hotel and took our flight back to Kuala Lumpur.Indeed this trip is memorable to me as Sandakan offers me joy and happiness :)

A must-visit place in Sandakan and few tips :

1. Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary
-Do check the feeding time.Google it!

2.Ocean King restaurant
-the price is reasonable and the food is Yummy!

3.Local pasar malam(night market) at Sandakan
-Cheap local delicacies

4.Sandakan Memorial Park
-Good for your history knowledge

5. Kinabatangan river cruise
-I highly recommend Osman as it is extremely cheap compared to other resorts which provides the same package as he offers. His phone number : 019-8415259
and do bring rain coat for the river cruise

6.Sandakan Crocodile Farm
-You're gonna love it :)

7. Gomantong Cave
-Simply WOW

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