Sandakan

Malaysia, Singapore & Brunei Travel Guide

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Overview

Looking out to distant isles across the Bay of Sandakan, where fishing trawlers dot the teal-blue waters, the former colonialist capital of British Borneo is a buzzing little city used by travelers as a gateway to the Sungai Kinabatangan and Sepilok. German merchants, Dutch and Chinese planters, Arab and Indian traders, and pearl divers all had their heads turned by Sabah's second city at some point, until it was razed to the ground by the British during WWII in an attempt to shake off the invading Japanese. Today the compact centre is buoyed by the success of the palm-oil industry and those who linger here will find religious relics, colonial mansions and haunting mementoes of WWII dotted across the city.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

Agnes Newton Keith (July 4, 1901 ? March 30, 1982) was an American author best known for her three autobiographical accounts of life in North Borneo (now Sabah) before, during, and after the Second World War. The second of these, Three Came Home, tells of her time in Japanese POW and civilian internee camps in North Borneo and Sarawak, and was made into a film of the same name in 1950. She published seven books in all.Sabah, Borneo

Agnes Keith House

Sandakan

This atmospheric two-storey colonial villa, Newlands, tells the story of American writer Agnes Keith and her British husband Harry, the Conservator of…

Sandakan Memorial Park

Sandakan

A beautiful rainforest garden marks the site of a Japanese POW camp and the starting point for the infamous WWII 'death marches' to Ranau. Of the 1793…

Chinese Cemetery

Sandakan

Sandakan's Chinese Cemetery is huge. As you wander along the cemetery, you'll notice the graves become older and more decrepit – many have been claimed by…

Sandakan Heritage Museum

Sandakan

This small museum near the beginning of the Heritage Walk is a bit neglected but worth a look for the old photos and memorabilia of Sandakan's tumultuous…

Kampong Buli Sim Sim

Sandakan

This traditional Malay stilt village, located about 3km east of the city centre, is the original settlement Sandakan grew from back in 1879. It's still an…

Japanese Cemetery

Sandakan

A poignant piece of Sandakan's ethnic puzzle, this cemetery was founded in the 1890s by Kinoshita Kuni, known as the successful madam-manager of Sandakan…

Puu Jih Syh Temple

Sandakan

Wrapped in the usual firework display of reds, golds and twining dragons, festooned with lanterns illuminating the grounds like a swarm of fireflies, this…

St Michael's & All Angels Church

Sandakan

One of the very few surviving pre-WWII buildings, this pretty stone church (1893) sits as a relic of colonial times and a monument to Christian worship on…

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