Sandakan
Sun 9th Nov
I got ready from 05:30. No packing to do apart from my wash bag. A very comfortable sleep; a nice warm shower. At 06:15 l was driven to the airport; I’m glad I decided against walking it. I printed the boarding passes myself..so proud !!..but had to go to the counter for my luggage tag. Rucksack under 8kgs, and total weight with carry on bag is under 10kgs…Wow.
Had a coffee. Boarded a bit late, but only a 50 minute flight to Kota Kinabalu. A 3 hour transit. Supposedly a 45 minute flight to Sandakan, but it was only 30 minutes. My rucksack came along quickly, and with the speedy Grab, I was in Sandakan town centre by 14:30.
I checked Western Htl (quite cheap), then Elopura (expensive), and settled on Malaysia Htl (very cheap)…70RM + 10RM..so £14. Went walkabout to the sea/waters edge. Totally unexpected..compact, small, rundown town. No sign of a beach.
I took pics of murals. Although I was feeling hungry, I went looking for Balin Rooftop Bistro/Bar as recommended by Jinx. I went up to the 7th floor for the view and went a bit crazy and ordered a tower of Tiger. Good view of the ocean and the centre of town. Great atmosphere..even though I was on my own !!
A tower is 8 glasses, I think, a lot but I felt okay. The extra taxes were annoying, and the 138RM tower cost a total of 162RM ..so, getting on for £30 in total. 2 groups of ladies were having great fun. A girl celebrating her 16th birthday, and a ladies’ after work get together. They take so many photos of each other in different poses.
I found somewhere for a plate of fried rice just next to my hotel, and retired to my room. No wifi.
Mon 10th Nov.
I decided to check out of the Malaysia Htl and move to the Oyo Marine Bay Htl. First I found somewhere for a teh tariq. I had until 12:00 to check out so I went walkabout to familiarise myself with Sandakan.
I began to really warm to the town mainly because of the proximity to the sea and its compactness. I walked around the local covered market where noone makes a fuss if you take pics of fish or vegetables.
I stopped for a coffee. Back to the hotel to check out. I walked slowly to Oyo and left my rucksack in reception because checking in was 2pm. I went for another coffee at the tourist information centre and got a lot of useful info from one of the ladies.
I saw my new room and absolutely loved it, so I paid for 3 days up front. As for sea view…well and truly…both windows facing the sea. It was worth paying the extra. Now I’m paying nearly £20 per day.
I was really hungry by now. I ended up at Tawakkal restaurant and had a really tast Mee for 8RM. I went to Balin Roofgarden but was 20 minutes too early…they couldn’t serve me until 16:30. So I went to the Samsung shop in the big shopping centre to talk about my seemingly lack of storage space in my my Google photos. The videos are taking up a huge amount of space. The young lady was very helpful.
I returned to Balin and ordered a pint of Tiger. I was limiting myself to that. I waited in the hope of seeing a sunset, but it was too cloudy.
On the way back to Marine Bay I bought a 4 pack of Tiger. I drank 2 of them in the room whilst talking to Phil. I stayed up later than I had hoped …but a really good day…everything worked out smoothly. The other thing I did was to purchase extra Google memory.
Tues 11th Nov
I woke up a bit earlier than planned. Nice to open curtains and have a lovely view of the sea. I put things away neatly so that I was only left with a wallet, passport and 2 phones to go to the sanctuary with.
By 09:00 I was having a tea and trying to get a Grab connection to book a ride to the Orangutan Rehab Centre in Sepilok. Eventually I got through, and around 09:15 left on the 30 minute ride costing 30RM. I paid my 30RM entrance fee and walked over 5 minutes along a raised walkway through the rainforest to the feeding platform.
What an amazing experience… to see them swinging along the vines in real life. And see how they hold onto food and transfer with either limb. And at the same time carry their babies clinging to their stomachs. That was my bucket list event carried out. That was the only really ‘touristy’ event to accomplish in Borneo, Malaysia. Half an hour was enough. Anyway, the orangutans having eaten their food, were starting to disappear.
Back at the reception area I arranged for a Grab to take me back to Sandakan. I sorted stuff out in my room and went out for a coffee.
Then I had this great idea to walk out of town and along the coast and to look for food along the way. I didn’t realise there would be nothing in the way of restaurants until I got near the end. And that was over an hours walk mainly along the main road.
Am sure Seafood Sim Sim 88 was very good, but a lot of the dishes (prob lobster, crab etc) , started at 35RM for a small portion. The restaurant itself looked very nice, but I gave up on that idea.
I started walking back, all the time getting a bit more hungry and a bit more tired.
After nearly half an hour I noticed a covered food market type of place. I needed food. I got a plate of rice and 2 veg type dishes. There was chilli sauce, a sweet sauce, and I was brought a little bowl of soup to add, so that the meal wasn’t dry. All in all very tasty and only 6RM. So now I had the energy to walk the last half hour.
However, just up the road, a minibus that had the look of public transport came along and I flagged it down. Yes, it was going into town and I jumped in. It cost 1RM and saved me the walk; I was getting tired. It was a ‘matatu’ equivalent!!
I called into the Samsung shop to tell the helpful lady that I thought the purchase of internal storage had been successful. Then I went for a coffee. Back to my room briefly then over to Balin Roofgarden.
Again, too much cloud for a sunset, but a nice place to sit and enjoy a Tiger pint. It was dark when I left and I bought a can from 7/11. I was feeling a bit peckish and bought 4 ‘samosa’ snacks for 2RM from opposite Marine: they came with a slightly spicy sauce.
That made a nice end to the day in my room. Another plus is that I have an excellent TV in my room. However, the only programmes I watch are the News.
Wed 12th Nov
I woke up and watched some Sky news. I checked in reception that there was a room available for the next day. I went out for my tea. I started to walk out of town in opposite direction. It wasn’t particularly interesting so I went more inland and up the hill and around to Agnes Keith house. I didn’t know who she was and the house looke fairly ordinary, so I didn’t bother with paying an entrance fee.
There was a viewing platform for a view of Sandakan. I found out there were 100 steps that took you directly down the hill and into town. I passed through an area of War memorials and monuments. One was particularly interesting as it was the shape of a large rifle pointing upwards, with a big hat on the top.
I wasn’t far from my regular coffee place. I chatted briefly with a Brit couple. I went back to my room and had another quick shower.
I had a bit of a craving for a fish lunch. I walked out of town to where I had lunch the previous day, only to find that the place was closed. So, there and back was a wasted hour in the heat, but at least it was exercise.
Back to my room for yet another shower. I was determined to find a fish restaurant, but failed. The ones along the waterfront would’ve been too expensive. I settled for a chicken and rice at Restaurant Fatimah; very tasty and only 8RM.
It was gone 4:30pm so time to head to the Balin Rooftop terrace for my pint. A quiet evening…only me there. Too much cloud again; no chance of a sunset. On the way back to Marine I bought a 4 pack of lagers and bought 4 ‘samosas’. I had to wander around the street vendors looking for someone selling the samosas. I wanted some chilli sauce which I manage to get from the lady next door. That was it for the day. The other thing I did was to book my airticket to Kota Kinabalu for Friday morning.
Thurs 13th Nov.
I awoke around 07:30. I packed my rucksack as I was moving rooms for my last day. I found out from reception that I would be in 202…the bigger of the 2 rooms available. I went for my morning tea. I returned at 09:30 and my room was ready. It faced the Central market but still had a view of the sea.
I was determined to have fish on my last day. I did a slow 30 minutes + walk to coffee same place as the previous day. Obviously fish was the main thing. But for a set meal of 20RM…you got rice, 3 veggie dishes, a potato/onion deep fried something, a soup, chilli sauce, sweet sauce like a chutney. Brilliant value for £3.50; a good decision on my part.
By 11:00 I’d had my main meal of the day.
100 metres at the main road junction I immediately caught a minibus (matatu!) back into town. After I got off, I went over to my coffee place. It rained for a short time.
I decided to check out my lovely new room.
I caught up on my travel blog…well, for Oct on Langkawi. I sat in the sun for a bit on the rocks at the waterfront…taking in the boat movements.
I got a bit bored because of that early lunch. I had no interest in eating or drinking. I went walkabout and ended up at the war memorials area, where I relaxed on a concrete bench in the shade.
I returned to my room, then after 16:30 wandered over to Balin. Still no sunset, but a slightly interesting arc of light above the clouds. Anyway, a lovely place to relax. The waitress told me that Bistro 88 on the waterfront sold beer, so I went to investigate.
Not nearly such a nice place to sit, but I drank 2 small cans and headed back to Marine. Oh, at least you don’t pay an 8% tax plus 10% service charge to really hike up the cost of a drink.
I bought my snack for the room. Now I know they are called curry puffs, so I can stop calling them samosas. I still had a can of Tiger in my room to wash down the curry puffs. Unfortunately the TV didn’t work in this room.