Borneo is the third-largest island in the world so when traveling there you have to pick your battle concerning your travel plans. We decided on Sabah, the northern part of Malaysian Borneo because it offers a little bit of everything. Amazing wildlife, high mountains, primary jungle and beautiful diving spots.On our first day in Kota Kinabalu, we met two Deutch guys that just came back from a 2 weeks roadtrip on motorbikes around Sabah and loved it. Their enthusiasm was so contagious that after only few hours in Borneo we were on our way to renting motorbikes. We rented a Daking EX90 each from gogosabah, one of the 2 rental companies in KK. Not sure about how long we were gonna be gone for, they offered us to pay for two weeks upfront and just give them a call to extend if needed.
The next day we were ready to start our road trip around Sabah. We rode 2000km in three weeks. Under a burning sun and heavy tropical rain, speeding along highways through plam tree plantations, deep jungle and windy mountains, we explored every corner of Sabah upon our loyal steeds.
Borneo can be expensive to travel and having your own transportation can cut costs considerably as you don’t have to book tours in big cities and can just go directly in the villages.So here is a suggested itineray where you will explore almost everything Sabah has to offer on a budget.
KK to the tip of Borneo
We stayed at the Secret Place for 3 nights. Secret Place is a camping hostel right on the beach run by Roby, his wife and his 7 children. The place is absolutely amazing. A beautiful beach with no one except us and the kids running around. We slept in our hammocks for 25RM but Roby can also set up a tent for you for the same price. From secret place, you can hike to the tip of Borneo in about 2,5 hours along the beach.
Tip of borneo to Kinabalu National Park
The ride through the mountains is incredible. The windy roads are a lot of fun to ride and every corner offered spectacular views. Unfortunately, we didn’t climb Mt. Kinabalu for budget reasons but had a lovely day hiking in the Kinabalu NP.
Kinabalu National Park to Poring
Poring is famous for its hot springs but don’t get your hopes high, they are pretty gross and crowded. The 3.5km jungle trek to Langanan waterfall on the other hand is well worth the visit.
Poring to Sandakan
Sandakan to Sukau
Sukau is a small village on the Kinabatangan river, home to amazing wildlife. There are plenty of homestays that offer guided cruises on the river to spot Borneo’s unique fauna such as orangutans, pygmee elephants, probiscis monkeys etc..
Sukau to Semporna
Semporna is the gateway to diving in world-renowned island paradises like Sipadan, Mabul, Kapalai, Mantabuan and Pom Pom among others. We’ve never dove before and decided to take our PADI Open Water course on Mabul Island before heading to Sipadan. We went through the agency Billabong located in Semporna and had an amazing experience. Someone told us that doing our first dives in Sipadan Island Park was like losing your virginity to a super model.
Semporna to Tawau
Tawau isn’t the most photogenic city but Tawau Hills Park, located only 20km from the city is a great cheap alternative to trekking in the Maliau Basin. It is a mix of primary lowland and hill dipterocarp rainforest where you can see a lot of wildlife and mix up jungle and mountain trekking.
Tawau to Tenom
Tenom region is famous for its coffee plantations. But what brought us there is the promise of the best white water rafting in Borneo. As per usual in Sabah the activity cost quite a bit of money (around 260 RM for 2 hours on the river) and has to be booked througn a tour in KK. Having our motorbikes, we headed straight to the closest town to Pangi, the village where you throw your raft in the water. We met Andry, a water rafting guide from Pangi, by pure chance at the train station just after arriving in Tenom and he took us the next day rafting on the Pandas river. You can contact him via whatsapp (+60178309102) to organise a white water rafting session with him for cheaper than with a tour.
From Tenom, we took the train to Pangi village at 7:30 am (make sure to be there at 7am) for about 30 minutes. The old train goes along the river through beautiful jungly mountains. Once in Pangi, we waited for the organised tours to arrive to start with them but we had our own little private raft. We started around 10:30am
Rapids are class 3 and 4 and we drank a lot of water! But no worries, according to Andry, it is really good for your youth and looks.
After 2 hours of intense battle with the river, we finished in Rayoh around 12:30pm, where we had lunch (included) and waited for the train back to Tenom at 3:30 pm.
Tenom to Gunung Alab
Mt Alab is one of the Crocker Range substation. Famous for its highest peak Mount Kinabalu, climbed by more than 20000 people every year, the Crocker Range have plenty of other treks to offer that don’t cost an arm and a leg. We walked the Minduk Sirung trail, 12km in the primary jungle, and absolutely loved it.
Gunung Alab to Kota Kinabalu
End of our adventure.
Want to explore more? Take a side trip to…
Opposite side of the main beach we found a shelter (labled point B) to hang our hammocks for the night. After lighting a fire to keep the boars away, we enjoyed our dinner (bought at the restaurant on the main beach at 3h30pm, closing time) and watched a gorgeous sunset feeling like we were cast aways.
- 4X4 and trucks will overtake you no matter if there is a car coming in front or not so be prepared for some heart stopping moments and keep your wits about you.
- The ride from Tawau to Tenom is long and exhausting. 370 km on a road half built, half made of gravel. We stoped in Sapulut where there is nowhere to sleep so we had to knock at people’s door to find a place to hang our hammocks for the night. We heard later that there is a homestay in Batu Punggul village. (TBC)
- There aren’t any petrol stations between Tawau and Keningau (the town just before Tenom) so fill up 1 or 2 bottles of petrol for the road.
We split the ride from Poring to Sandakan in 2 and stop a night in Telupid. There was a petrol shack in Telupid but it took some serious searching to find, so again make sure you carry spare petrol.
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