Sabah Borneo......

leveller2911

Family of 4 (2 adults 2 children 15yr & 9yr ) looking to go to Borneo (Sabah) for a cultural/eco holiday ,looking to see Orangutans, monkeys,Pygmy Elephants etc.

Anyone been to Borneo and can share their experiences we would be very grateful.

We have found a tour on a site called responsibletravel.com so has anyone used this company before and if so what was your experience. The tour we are interested in is called "Borneo tailor made tour on a shoestring".....

Any thoughts and advice would be appreciated.

TIA Leveller........

PompeyPete

Me and the missus went 4 years ago, and did it all DIY, which was straightforward.

Flew with Royal Brunei to Brunei (Bandar Seri Begawan), and spent a couple of interesting nights in the Kingdom. Brunei is like Saudi Arabia with a smile!

Then we took the hydrofoil from Brunei to Sabah (Kota Kinabalu via Labuan).
Spent a few nights in Kota Kinabalu, and then flew down to Kuching in Sarawak for a week. Stayed at the Tune Hotel (cheap as chips).

Then back to Kota Kinabalu for the last few nights, and back to Brunei by ferry and flight home.

We did lots of planning, hired a car for a few days, also got around by public bus.

It's very easy to organise your own trips to see the orangutans, the cultural shows, Mount Kinabalu and all that stuff. Everyone wants to see the same things so there's plenty of places to book trips if you don't fancy DIY.

leveller2911

Thanks PP, Brunei sounds like a good place to visit whilst we are out there . We like the idea of a DIY trip but have reservations with regards to the children so would probably prefer an organised trip.

What time of year did you go? from a little research it seems its best to travel between May and September but even so in the rainy season they say it tends to rain in the late afternoons for a couple of hours. Is this what you experienced? .

Regarding Kota Kinabalu, are there plenty of things to see or is it best to just travel through?.
Did you visit Lankayan Island at all ? which looks like paradise .We are hoping to stay there for about 3 days if we can.

My dad served in Borneo in the 60,s and was stationed around Tawau and he didn't realise it had changed so much and even has an airport.

Many thanks PP Leveller......... PS: Any places to visit we shouldn't miss?.

Leanne1812

Hi there, we went to Kota Kinabalu about 4 years ago. We stayed 7 nights in Le Meridien which is a good location right in the centre of town. There's a large Filipino market that springs up every day and gets dismantled again every night. It's quite fascinating to watch it being erected as you can at Le Meridien as its just at the other side of the road. It's worth a visit for cheap dining,it's mostly locals who shop for food here but there are a few souvenirs and some interesting stalls to wander round. It's full of life, you'll see lots of tourists eating and shopping here. Besides the market, there's a choice of restaurants along the seafront but not much happens entertainment wise in the town.

There's no beach unless you stay at Tanjung Aru or Rasa Ria. There are a few gorgeous islands that you can take a short boat trip to. We enjoyed that, lovely beaches with clear waters & a couple of restaurants to have lunch at.

We went predominantly to see the orangutans but didn't want to fly or do a long trip to sepilok so we did the tour at Rasa Ria. It was amazing, probably those who do bother to go to sepilok might pooh pooh this as its probably not in the same league but you do get to see the orangutans at feeding time. There was also a baby that was brought out and it was so cute. We felt there was good work being done and it appeared the animals were well cared for. I have travelled a fair bit in Asia and normally boycott any animals for entertainment shows. This definitely wasn't that, the animals were in the trees and came down as it was the regular feeding time.

We also went to a cultural village show one night and it was very informative and interactive. I'm sure kids would love it too. I can't remember what it was called but you'd easily get info over at the tripadvisor forum.

All in all we really enjoyed Kota Kinabalu, it was a chill week for us before sightseeing in Cambodia as well as visiting the orangutans.

Hope this helps.

danandjens_worldtravels

I went to Borneo a few years ago and it is really easy to arrange things yourself. Malaysia is English speaking and even the writing is phonetic English so its very easy to get around and get help/info if you need it. Malaysians are also very friendly and helpful I would not hesitate to take the elements from the trip you want to do and go it alone.

Book your accommodation in advance from the UK or just book the first one or two nights accommodation until you find your feet. There will always be a backpackers hostel to sleep in and mostly they were very clean and cheap, for us this was our main accommodation, but if you like things more hotel like, its not bad emergency fall back accommodation if things don't go according to plan. Food is everywhere so you won't go hungry.

Flights, check out Air Asia for cheap flights, remember they will go through the Air Asia terminal (LCCT - Low Cost Carrier Terminal) at KL and not KLIA (Kualar Lumpur International Terminal) the main terminal - you will need to allow some transfer time when you fly in or out. Tune hotels are good, really cheap and in handy places (like at the LCCT a 5 minute walk). All the airports were served by buses into the towns, Wikitravel is a great resource to find out how to get to and from the airports.

Buses are frequent, on time and easy to get around even if they do take longer than the car.

The Kundasang War Memorial was a really good memorial/museum if your Dad served in Borneo you may find it interesting. I don't think it was that far from the mountain.

If you do walk up Kinabau plan for the day after to be resting - maybe go off to the beaches a short boat ride away from Kota Kinabalu.

Before you book, buy a Lonely Planet and see if you can do it yourself, all it takes is confidence and you will save loads compared to the package.

danandjens_worldtravels

OH, and Malaysian's LOVE abbreviating everything - you will soon discover they refer to most things by initial

Leanne1812

We are DIY travellers too. We flew with Emirates to KL and then on to KK with air asia. They are very cheap if you book well in advance. Like the previous poster says it is a different terminal so bear that in mind for connection times if you do go via KL. Also go through quidco when booking hotels, we got 10% cashback with hotels.com or lastminute. Can't remember as it was so long ago.

danandjens_worldtravels

Can't believe I nearly forgot about this

Bako National Park - you get a bus from Kuching and then a boat over to the national park. You can stay at the park in the dorm rooms (4 in ours shared bathroom all clean) and there are loads of short and longer walks to do. You may see monkeys, loads of great flowers and waterfalls, beaches. I can't remember if you needed your own bedding, but we always travelled with sleeping bag liners so I recommend you take these if you are in budget accommodation. There was a cafe that served food pretty much all day.

Depending on the ages of your children they may really enjoy two days here.

Leanne1812

danandjens_worldtravels wrote: »

OH, and Malaysian's LOVE abbreviating everything - you will soon discover they refer to most things by initial

My sister lives in KL and loves how the Malays add "lah" at the end of everything. We say ok, they say ok lah. Tact is not a strong point for some Malaysians. Once at a ball my sis was told her dress & figure were very good but the face was not so good!! We had a good giggle about that one. And a rather large friend had been advised of a new shop selling kaftans. When she entered the assistant told her and I quote " Today King Kong size not have!" ....... Still laugh at that one.

graspandsave

Leanne1812 wrote: »

My sister lives in KL and loves how the Malays add "lah" at the end of everything. We say ok, they say ok lah. Tact is not a strong point for some Malaysians. Once at a ball my sis was told her dress & figure were very good but the face was not so good!! We had a good giggle about that one. And a rather large friend had been advised of a new shop selling kaftans. When she entered the assistant told her and I quote " Today King Kong size not have!" ....... Still laugh at that one.

we went to Sarawak years ago, loved it, your story reminded me of what I was told when we went shopping.
I'm a size 12 and d cup- not exactly massive by our standards.
I was shooed out of a shop when asked for a dress in my size-
"no! no! no! too much! too much!, ( with wild gesticulating at around my top half) no! no! no! too much! too much!" and practically manhandled out of there.


Yes it did bother me a bit at the time, but now I just have a little giggle if the experience ever crosses my mind.

Mr_Wang

Malaysia reckons it is truly Asia, but it's not. Of all the SE countries with a forest it is probably the most snide of them all.

Sack off Borneo and hit up Indonesia. For an eco trip head to Sulawesi and Sumatra. Actually head to anywhere outside Western java. In fact even Western Java has got trees and stuff with things hanging out of them.

Northern Borneo (Malaysia) is beautiful, but is full of scamsters, overpriced things and a little bit tame tbh. And really, in terms of Sabah other than Ranau it is a bit boring tbh.

Certainly not worth flying half way around the world for.

Still, my blog if you are interested still: http://thesummerholidayofalifetime.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/kota-kinabalu-to-sandakan-with-sepilok.html