rowdyr

We are heading for Kota Kinabalu in mid October. I haven't found anything yet as to whether this is monsoon or not??

We are looking for comments on the Tanjung Aru and Nexus Karambanai hotels - service, facilities, can you walk across the road to a food stall etc.

Can anyone also comment on tours out of Sandakan - quite keen to do a 2-3 day looking to see Sepilak, Goromtang, maybe turtle island etc. Anyone done any good tours and how did you find them - web, when you arrived?

Is it easy enough to get around KK - are there local buses etc?

How easy is it to get out to the islands off KK?

We've always found in the past you get a better deal and trip by not buying tours through the hotels but ther's not too many sites on Borneo yet.

Thanks for any comments.

Alfredm .

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] says...
    > We are heading for Kota Kinabalu in mid October. I haven't found anything yet as to
    > whether this is monsoon or not??

I don't know, but I would dare to go. The monsoon starts in November, lasts until
February and is heaviest on peninsular Malaysia's east coast. I've been twice in
Sabah in January and the weather was passable, in spite of the monsoon on peninsular
Malaysia's east coast.

    > We are looking for comments on the Tanjung Aru and Nexus Karambanai hotels -
    > service, facilities, can you walk across the road to a food stall etc.
    > Can anyone also comment on tours out of Sandakan - quite keen to do a 2-3 day
    > looking to see Sepilak, Goromtang, maybe turtle island etc. Anyone done any good
    > tours and how did you find them - web, when you arrived?

Sepilok is excellent, a great opportunity to see Orang Utans. Haven't seen the caves
near Sandakan (the ones where bird's nest are harvested), but have seen those near
Niah and they were not too interesting. I would consider a tour to the Kinabatangan
river to see some wildlife, although if it rains it's no fun to be in the jungle.

    > Is it easy enough to get around KK - are there local buses etc?

Minibuses, buses and taxis. But KK itself is not too interesting. Not much to
see there.

    > How easy is it to get out to the islands off KK?

It's easy, but they are only moderately interesting. What you should do, is visit the
Mount Kinabalu National Park (and climb the mountain if you have the stamina).
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Jacqueline Leiter

Try http://www.borneoadventure.com. We
used them when we visited Borneo and their guides were excellent. They have short,
1-day tours just north of Kota Kinabalu. I didn't take any of those so I can't
comment. We did the Orangutan Sanctuary. It was okay, nothing to go out of your way
for. You see 2 or 3 orangutans being fed. You can see as much in a zoo.

Ann Thomas

"rowdyr" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
    > > We are looking for comments on the Tanjung Aru and Nexus Karambanai
    > hotels - service, facilities, can you walk across the road to a food stall etc.
Tanjung Aru has shuttle bus to KK but there are plenty of taxis available. No local
foodstalls. Nexus is wonderful but completely 'cut off from the outside world'.
    > Can anyone also comment on tours out of Sandakan - quite keen to do a 2-3 day
    > looking to see Sepilak, Goromtang, maybe turtle island etc. Anyone done any good
    > tours and how did you find them - web, when you arrived?
    > Is it easy enough to get around KK - are there local buses etc? Yes
    > How easy is it to get out to the islands off KK? Ferry boats leave from
near Tanjung Aru.
    > We've always found in the past you get a better deal and trip by not buying tours
    > through the hotels but ther's not too many sites on Borneo yet.

Try Borneo Wildlife for tours.>
    > Thanks for any comments.
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

rowdyr

Thanks Alfred

Would love to climb Mt K as have done various similar climbs in Nepal, Indonesia, New Zealand etc.

Unfortunately this time we are travelling with an 18mth old and the thought of carrying her and gear plus our gear makes me think it may not be such a good idea this time.

Can you tell me anymore about the National Park and things to do without climbing too high?

Also, do I take it from your comments about the islands that the snorkelling is not so great?

Edwin Lau

"rowdyr" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
    > We are heading for Kota Kinabalu in mid October. I haven't found anything yet as to
    > whether this is monsoon or not??

I am heading to KK myself mid Oct to Beginning Nov. It is the monsson season but the
weather has been quite erradict lately so it is hard to say what the weather would be
doing that time.

The last time I was there (about 2 yrs ago) at the same time, the weather seems
alright. I usually travel to KK about twice a year in June/July and Dec/Jan.

But currently, there are reports that Taiwan and Japan are either experience or
bracing the impact of the monsoon.


    > We are looking for comments on the Tanjung Aru and Nexus Karambanai hotels -
    > service, facilities, can you walk across the road to a food stall etc.

Both Shangri-la Tanjung Aru resort and the Nexus Karambanai resorts are amongst the
better resorts in the state. Both have their own private beach and resorts and thus
isolated from most part of Sabah or Kota Kinabalu itself.

But I would really recommend a hotel in the town area itself. Then you would get to
see more and do more and experience Sabah as it should be. Resorts tend to shield you
from the country proper itself.

Yes, the Tanjung Aru Shangri-la Resort has a bus which travels on a regular basis to
town. But as mentioned earlier, Nexus is a world of its own and does not give you the
same benefit of seeing the local state.

If you are at Tanjung Aru, you could probably take a 20 to 30 minutes walk to the
Tanjung Aru beach 1 which has a food centre which is next to the beach. You could get
the local satay, drink coconuts and sample some of the local food.

    > Can anyone also comment on tours out of Sandakan - quite keen to do a 2-3 day
    > looking to see Sepilak, Goromtang, maybe turtle island etc. Anyone done any good
    > tours and how did you find them - web, when you arrived?

The last time I was at Sandakan a couple of years ago, I use Sabah Travel Services
[url="http://www.jaring.my/sts/welcome.html"]http://www.jaring.my/sts/welcome.html[/-
url] . You could write to them about customizing your tour if what they offer does
not support what you need. But you would have to book your air travel from KK to
Sandakan and the rest is all covered.

    > Is it easy enough to get around KK - are there local buses etc?

Yes, there are local buses. But most are long distance buses which brings you from
village to village. You might want to try the taxi service instead. They are not
terribly expensive.

But if you are saying KK town itself. You should be able to walk around on foot. It
is not really that huge.

    > How easy is it to get out to the islands off KK?

I believe that Tanjung Aru Resort has ferry service which brings to the islands.

However, if you get to Jalan Tun Fuad Stephens next to Hyatt Regency, you will have
more than sufficient offer to bring you to the islands. The going rate is RM10 per
person but you could always bargin. This is usually on sampan boats.

There are also ferries operated by Hyatt Regency too.

    > We've always found in the past you get a better deal and trip by not buying tours
    > through the hotels but ther's not too many sites on Borneo yet.

Well, Hotels themselves do not actually organize tours, they usually hook on to the
local tour agencies and earn a commission from them.

However, you might want to visit the Sabah Tourism website and contact them if you
require any other queries. They are a very helpful bunch.

Try : http://www.sabahtourism.com . They do
have a list of local hotels and tour agencies. When you are there, do pop by at the
Tourism board.

By the way, what are your interest ? Sabah has a lot to offer .

A trip to the Sunday Market at Gaya street is a worthwhile trip. The musuem is also a
great place to be. Not too much the musuem proper but the outside long houses.

The Mosopiad Cultural Village
http://www1.jaring.my/blegend/ is a great
place to be too. It is run by the actual descedance of Mosopiad, one of the local
warrior chief.

Have fun in Sabah, the land beneath the winds

Edwin


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Edwin Lau

Well, I guess it depends. Although the time I spent at the Orang Utan Sanctuary was
short and it is isolated mostly to the feeding time, it is a nice way to see them in
their nature habitat. Most importantly the tourist dollar helps to sustain the place
and thereby the future of the Orang Utans and their other counterparts.

The Probocius Monkey is another species which is definitely a great part of Borneo
Island. There is a new reserver at Labuk Bay, I have not been to it before but it
looks nice http://www.proboscis.cc/ .

Edwin


"Jacqueline Leiter" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
    > Try http://www.borneoadventure.com.
    > We used them when we visited Borneo and their guides were excellent. They have
    > short, 1-day tours just north of Kota Kinabalu. I didn't take any of those so I
    > can't comment. We did the Orangutan Sanctuary. It was okay, nothing to go out of
    > your way for. You see 2 or 3 orangutans being fed. You can see as much in a zoo.


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rowdyr

Thanks Jacqueline

Their tours look quite comprehensive.

Was the Orangutan sanctuary you visited north of KK or out of Sandakan on the East Coast?

Edwin Lau

"rowdyr" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
    > Can you tell me anymore about the National Park and things to do without climbing
    > too high?

The Kinabalu Park is located some 2,000 feet above sea-level and about a two hour
drive from KK city itself. There is a local express bus service which brings you to
the park or alternatively you could have a tour agency arrange the trip for you.

The view from the park is breath-taking and as expected, the weather is pretty cool.
If you want to be able to view see the Mt Kinabalu peak in all its glory, it would be
best to get to the park before 9am. There are several short trails at the park which
is quite low impact, two gardens, one boasting several rare flora found only on Mt
Kinabalu itself.

For additional information : http://www.infosabah.com.my/sabah/kpark/introduction.htm

There are several chalets and huts at the park which you could rent from the Kinabalu
Nature resorts. ht-
tp://www.kinabalunatureresorts.com/new/kinabalu_park.htm . They have an office
in town at Jalan Dun Fuad Stephens at the corner near Hyatt Regency.

If you have the time, travel down to Poring Hot Springs and have a soak at the
natural hot springs. They have individual tubs and enclosed ones. There are several
trails leading to a waterfall, up the trees through the canopy walks and even a
butterfly garden.

These are rather low to medium impact activities.

Edwin


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Alfredm .

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] says...
    > Would love to climb Mt K as have done various similar climbs in Nepal, Indonesia,
    > New Zealand etc.
    > Unfortunately this time we are travelling with an 18mth old and the thought of
    > carrying her and gear plus our gear makes me think it may not be such a good idea
    > this time.
    > Can you tell me anymore about the National Park and things to do without climbing
    > too high?

The national park is at about 2000 m (not 2000 feet as Edwin wrote). Lots of
interesting walks are possible. Poring hot springs are definitely worthwile visiting.

    > Also, do I take it from your comments about the islands that the snorkelling is not
    > so great?

See my Sabah photo gallery (in the Malaysia section of the photo galleries, link
below). In the Rest of Sabah gallery you'll find a few pictures of the islands. The
water is not too clear (although it might still be nice to snorkel there).
--

Alfred Molon Remove the obvious to email
------------------------------
Olympus C4040 online resource at
http://www.molon.de/4040.html Photo
galleries at
http://www.molon.de/Galleries.htm

Jacqueline Leiter

The orangutan sanctuary was in Sandakan. We flew there early in the morning. The
sanctuary itself is very pretty. After we felt that we saw enough of the orangutans,
our guide took us into town where we toured the central market. I always find it
fascinating to go through these markets. We had lunch at the Sandakan Hotel and then
did a river cruise that was very good. We saw hornbills and monkeys. It was a one
day trip. We flew there and back to KK.

Edwin Lau

"rowdyr" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
    > We are heading for Kota Kinabalu in mid October. I haven't found anything yet as to
    > whether this is monsoon or not??

As for the weather, it is the usual haze period of the year. Seems like this year is
no exception with the haze coming from the blaming forest in the Kalimantan region. A
couple of weeks ago, it was pretty bad but now with the occasional showers, the
condition is improving. Sabah is not as badly hit as compared to Kalimantan and the
Sarawak region. Of course, the wind direction might change towards the east and that
would affect Sabah to some extend.

Overall, the condition is definitely looking on the better side and you should not
quite worry too much about it.


Edwin


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