Tourism has been allowed to touch rather than trample this northernmost state of Borneo, letting nature and tradition flourish while smoothly extracting their sting. Headhunting has been confined to history and the blowpipes of more than 30 tribes shelved in a welcome spirit of religious plurality, economic equality and multi-cultural harmony.
Sabah offers an eye-popping blend of contemporary comforts and unfettered tropical wilderness.
At the same time their distinctly different lifestyles remain and most of
the surrounding natural wonders have been jealously preserved, with more than
half of the state still swathed in 125 million year old rainforest, mountains,
jungle-clad and rivers coasts and isalnds teeming with unique plants animals
and marine life. adventure, eco-friendly aestivation whose diversity el; raw
and rugged yet suitable for tourists of all ages. A destination for adventure
lovers,
Nature buffs, cultures, golfers and drivers or just for those who want to
combine a little of everything with a holiday on the beach.
Imagine enjoying a one-to-one with a red-haired orangutan or spotting the rare long-nosed monkey in the wild. Picture lofty mountain peaks, giant flowers and fields of orchids fringing dense primeval rainforest, rushing rivers, powder beaches and aquamarine seas. Spice with sulphur hot springs, secret valleys, jungle lodges and tribal longhouses. Add colourful cultures, open-air markets plus a myriad of different peoples. Embellish your dreams with sophisticated resorts, great golf and some of the world’s best diving.
Think pure, perfect nature, the exotic outdoors, great sports plus lots more besides and you are thinking Sabah.
Kota Kinabalu is affectionately known as KK. The former British trading outpost of Jesselton is today the state capital and thriving centre for Sabah’s timber, palm oil, copra, prawn, cocoa and tourism industries. Modern skycrapers and shopping complexes – some of them spectacular–rub shoulders with ancient Chinese shop houses and traditional street markets–together producing an atmosphere that is at once contemporary, congenial and tropically laid-back.
With Mt. Kinabalu as a distant backdrop, KK enjoys magnificent sunsets. The city is best viewed from Signal Hill in the suburbs. Sights en route include the Sabah Foundation, a 72-sided polygon rising some 30 storeys; the imposing World Trade. Centre; the Poh Toh Tse Buddhist Temple; the monumental State Mosque and modernistic State Museum housing historical and tribal treasures.
Kampung Ayer is a traditional stilted village on the city’s waterfront, also site of the daily Central Market selling the fresh fish, fruits and vegetables that assure a splendid choice of dining at an array of restaurants and coffee shops peppered around the city. There is a water theme park for family outings and, for later, a good selection of bars and nightclubs. Excellent shopping is available at a variety of modern malls and there are night markets where you can bargain for clothes and curios. Local handicrafts, including tribal artefacts and trinkets, are best found at the popular Jolon Gaya Fair on Sundays.
Eight kilometres offshore are the coral Island of Tunku Abdul Rahman Park. Gaya site of the city), Manukan, Mamutik, Sapi and Sulug offer clean, clear waters, beautiful beaches, nature walks and exotic marine, animal, bird and plant life. Day or longer trips (20 minutes each way by boat with chalet or camping accommodation) are available for snorkelling, sailing, barbecues, breakfast or dinner cruises. There is a dive centre on Mamutik catering to both pleasure diving and training.
In addition to a good choice of in-town hotels, there are multi-purpose resorts on the outskirts of KK.
To the immediate south of the city, these include Shangri-La’s popular Tanjung Aru Resort with adjacent golf course and yacht club. Also close to the airport (10/15mins) is the giant shorefront Sutera Harbour complex, boasting two five-star hotels (Pan Pacific and Magellan) plus a marina and 27-hole international golf and country club. Additional championship golf is available across town at the Sabah Golf & Country Club.
Additional championship golf is available across town of the Sabah Golf &
Country Club.
On the coast to the north of KK in the Tuaran area more international beach
resorts and golf courses, including Shangri-La’s Rasa Ria Resort and
Dalit Bay Golf & Country Club.
Mt. Kinabalu lies in designated national parkland. It is Southeast Asia’s highest peak (4,101 m or 13,454ft) and wreathed in mist and local legend. Its jungle-clad foothills and park entrance are about 90 minutes’ drive from KK by regularly departing public mini-buses and tour buses. Formed by the last Ice Age, about 9,000 years ago, the mountain is said to be still growing at about half a centimetre a year and, although the summit is below the snow line, the rock pool at its base sometimes freezes over and snowflakes can fall in August.
Any reasonably fit visitor can walk to the summit. Regular guided treks depart from Timpohon Gate (1830m or 6000 ft) and usually comprise two stages a five to seven hour trek to the well equipped Laban Rota Resthouse followed by an early morning three hour climb to greet the down at the summit, offering magnificent views across the whole of Sabah on clear days.
Along with a mountain garden exhibition centre and resort golf a good choice of international standard accommodation is available near the park entrance and if not already pre booked, can be arranged through the Sabah parks Office in KK. Apart from the Laban Rata Resthouse of Panar laban, there are also basic huts and hostels at higher levels along with guides and porters for hire. Not for distant and also part of the park are the open air Japanese style natural sulphur baths of Poring named ater the local bamboo features a 140m long canopy walkway strung between giant dipterocarp trees high above the jungle floor.
Kinabalu Park, recently nominated by UNESCO as Malaysia’s first World
Heritage Site, is a botanist’s dream, containing 1,500 different species
of orchid, 26 kinds of rhododendron, 60 types of oak and chestnut, 80 species
of fig trees and nine different Pitcher Plants as well as the rare Rafflesia,
the largest flower in the world.