Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia Travel Blogs

Leaving Borneo
Jul 5, 2003

Leaving Borneo tomorrow and going back to the capital Kuala Lumpur on Peninsular Malaysia. It's been a fantastic month on this huge island (third largest in the world after Austrailia and Greenland) and the highlight for me has got to be climbing Mount ...

White Water Rafting
Sep 4, 2006 (29 photos)

Ok today is Monday and today we are going white water rafting; bring it on. We have to get up at 6.30am so we have enough time for breakfast (which I forgot to say is included in the price of the room too; self service) and my morning coffee so I can ...

Arrived on Sabah shores
Jun 26, 2003 (3 photos)

... for most of the ferry journey. After a short wait on Labuan island it was onto the next ferry (RM31.50) out to Kota Kinabalu - the state capital for Sabah. First impressions of KK are not as positive as other cities I have visited in Borneo. Perhaps ...

The binge begins...
Aug 28, 2005

... of my liver were not being duly punished, the latter being something I dealt with as soon as I arrived in KK. Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah, is a beachside backpacker Mecca, servicing divers, trekkers and general alcoholics with equal enthusiasm, ...

Going to Bangkok
Jan 8, 2004 (12 photos)

Time to leave Malaysia and move to Thailand. People lately keep asking me "are you excited?", but I must say "no", I don't feel excited, just happy to be going to Thailand. At least that is the case until I board Thai Airways flight 418. I am greeted ...

The Wilds of Borneo
Jul 31, 2005 (2 photos)

Kota Kinabalu is really just a stopover point for me to be able to climb Mount Kinabalu. Its not big place, you could walk from one end to the other in about a half hour. Its full of new but crappy buildings, mainly because the city was leveled by ...

Happy Birthday dear Benjamin happy birthday to you
Sep 5, 2006 (49 photos)

Today is Ben's birthday and we have arranged to go diving with Sophie and Averil plus a few others near the small island called Mamutik (I think) about 20 minutes away by speed boat. We meet at the dive shop at 8.30am, make sure we have all our gear ...

Not so WILD Borneo
Jan 29, 2007

... to have realized this by now, but this continues to amaze me.  Since I've had a couple days to take in the city of Kota Kinabalu, I've been wandering around a lot.  Today, my wild and crazy Borneo adventure landed me in a mall.  There are ...

Kota Kinabalu
Sep 20, 2004

Tues Sep 14th - Day 132 The overnight arrival of several gallons of lactic acid to our limbs lead to a day of restricted movement. We swapped the Daya Hotel for the cheaper Pantai Inn, and explored a little of downtown KK in a kind of constipated ...

Return to Kinabalu
Oct 9, 2004 (1 photos)

Saturday 9th October 2004 Was well prepared for the ferry back - and was wrapped up warm. Met "Danny Baldhead" at BSB's bus station, who is keen to show me the latest Lonely Planet he is apparently featured in (as well as stamps he has produced with ...

Kota Kinabalu (Sabah) - Day 162-163
Aug 3, 2008

Day 162 - 02/08/08 This is going to be my briefest blog entry ever! Did nothing today, did some shopping, picked up my laundry and walked around town for a while, that's about it. Went for a few drinks at the Hyatt bar in the evening to watch a live ...

Kota Kinabalu: market down as a nice town!
Jun 8, 2008 (44 photos)

... a bad way and had the most disgusting after taste - basically it was harder to finish than the mountain itself! Our final night in Kota Kinabula also saw us meet up with Kate and Darren for the last time :( we had some farewell drinks and said our last ...

Kota Kinabalu (Sabah) - Day 159
Jul 31, 2008 (3 photos)

Caught the boat early this morning to Kota Kinabalu, the provincial capital of Sabah. Only a short 3 hour crossing to mainland Borneo. Decided to stay in a plush hotel tonight, haven't treated myself for quite a while, so I thought why not. Checked in and ...

Take Me Higher...
Sep 28, 2004

Tuesday 28th September 2004 6.30am my alarm was set for, to catch my 9.50 flight from KL international airport, 45 miles away. I awoke to the alarm, well, an alarm - somebody else's alarm to be precise, in another room, at 8.00am - I now have 65 minutes ...

Into Borneo
Sep 10, 2005 (1 photos)

... know what to do next. It was at this point that the stewardess woke me up and asked me to prepare for landing. In reality Kota Kinabalu is a modern town that could be anywhere in the world. The Colonial and The Clown have already been busy in the town ...

Arriving in Borneo
Oct 11, 2005

... . It passed very quickly with our favourite past-time - talking!! It was a fairly short flight and we touched down in Kota Kinabalu just after 9pm. After a quick wander around town we fell into bed. We spent all day Monday wandering round town and ...

You dont know what your missing
Sep 11, 2006 (46 photos)

... confusing though when the map and guide books refer to it as Brunei which is only tiny while Borneo is split into two parts; Malaysia and Indonesia. You can base your self here in KK and travel in all directions there's so much to do you get an automatic ...

Sheer Terror on the River
Oct 24, 2005 (5 photos)

DAY 1 Well, we'd done diving. Well Claire had, I'd made an attempt but my sinuses were still not playing so we decided to give Sipadan (fantastic diving place) a miss and head out on a nearby river for some white water kayaking. Not quite sure what ...

Happy New Year from Borneo
Feb 9, 2005 (7 photos)

... so over-the-top. I would guess that it's probably just as big, if not bigger, than Christmas in America. While walking around Kota Kinabalu on the back streets we came across a very exciting "Dragon Dance" that half the town seemed to be attending. We ...

Day stopover on way to Malaysian Borneo
Oct 23, 2007

Spent day in Kota Kinabalu, nothing to report, just waiting for plane to Sandakan.  Smelly sewers!

Invasion of the Palm Trees
Feb 4, 2006 (4 photos)

... we also saw a big monitor lizard so it was a good day for seeing the wildlife. The day after we took a 6hour bus to Kota Kinabalu the provincial capital (lots more Palm Tree plantations to see along the way) and we are staying here for a few days in the ...

Borneo
May 16, 2008

Our decision to come to Borneo was based on 4 photos we saw in a book on Malaysia. We had come to see Pulau Sipadan, a pinnacle of land Jacques Cousteau described as the second most beautiful in the world. It lived up to expectation. Sipadan is a tiny ...

Kanjana and Paul go to Borneo
Oct 13, 2005 (10 photos)

... get back home next month. OK, well Kanjana has never been outside of Thailand before, so I organised for us to go to Kota Kinabalu to visit Sue and David in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Kanjana got her passport and I organised the tickets (at a time when ...

Touching God
Feb 20, 2007 (34 photos)

Today I completed my greatest achievement of my trip so far, climbing Mount Kinabalu...the highest mountain in SE Asia at a whopping 4101m high. I started of the first day meeting my guide (Jomus), with not so early start of 8am....buy the time we got ...

Dirty Dancing
Mar 27, 2006 (3 photos)

The Iban Longhouse was one of the most interesting visits of the whole trip. We were privileged to stay in the Chief's house. Things got off moderately well - after introductions we were offered rice wine in his kitchen, but Jo suddenly spotted a leech ...

Off to Borneo
Jan 27, 2006 (5 photos)

... while. Our taxi turned up and the 4 of us (minus Julia) jumped in and sped off to the airport. We were flying to Kota Kinabalu in Borneo! First flight in a while and quite a bargain on Air Asia. I had phoned Dave in the Cameron Highlands whilst booking ...

Executive Backpackers - Revisited!
Aug 25, 2005

Borneo - Mt Kinabalu
Aug 16, 2006 (21 photos)

4,101 Meters above sea level and growing. So, I figure I'd climb it now before it gets any higher and I get shorter.

Wild and magnificient Sabah
Apr 14, 2006 (25 photos)

... at Kinabalu National Park is booked, we sat down and looked alternative solutions. We all had one purpose - climb Mt. Kinabalu, the highest mountain between Irian Jaya and the Himalayas. Tour operators were selling 2 day Kinabalu trips from between 380RM ...

Sandakan to Kota Kinabalu
Oct 27, 2007

Stayed overnight in Hyatt executive floor, got upgraded, went to markets.