Route advice needed badly | Malaysia - Lonely Planet Forum

ONLINE

Sat, 04 Jul 2015 19:42:42 +0000

Hello again!
I'm almost done planning. But I still haven't completely figured out the Borneo part.
Hope to get some advice!

My doubt is about the Kota Kinabalu part. Because we really want to go to Sepilok/Kinabatangan it's necessary to go to KK. At first I thought this was a good idea because we can get to relax at some of the Islands near KK.
But then I read a couple of times that KK is really dirty and stinky. And the islands are not great at all.. very busy and full of rubbish everywere. Is KK worth traveling to when you are not climbing the mountain?

Now I'm in doubt. Because at first I also would really like to see Mulu NP. I think this is much nicer than visiting KK.
The only thing that would stop me from going to Mulu NP is that it would take another flight.
In the initerery down below you can see the route that I'm planning. In this route there are 5 (!) domestic flights.
Do you think this is to many? And if I also would go to Mulu NP this will take another flight. Is this to much traveling? What is you opinion? Take the Mulu NP route or the KK route? Or something else ;)

Day 1: Amsterdam - KL
Day 2: KL - flight to Kota Bharu - Perhentian Besar
Day 3: Perhentian Besar
Day 4: Perhentian Besar
Day 5: Perhentian Besar
Day 6: Perhentian Besar
Day 7: Perhentian Besar
Day 8: Perhentian Besar - Kota Bharu - flight to Kuching
Day 9: Kuching
Day 10: Kuching
Day 11: Kuching
Day 12: Kuching
Day 13 Kuching - flight to Kota Kinabalu (or flight to Mulu NP)
Day 14: Kota Kinabalu (Mulu NP)
Day 15: Kota Kinabalu (flight to Kota Kinabalu)
Day 16: Kota Kinabalu - flight to Sandakan - Sepilok
Day 17: Sepilok - Kinabatangan
Day 18: Kinabatangan
Day 19: Kinabatangan - Sandakan - flight to Kuala Lumpur
Day 20: Kuala Lumpur
Day 21: Kuala Lumpur
Day 22: Kuala Lumpur - Home

ONLINE

Sun, 05 Jul 2015 05:27:03 +0000

For sure KK is not "dirty and stinky". It's a quite pleasant city, which has improved a lot in recent years. For instance the new waterfront, which was added a few years ago, is very nice at sunset:
http://www.molon.de/galleries/Malaysia/Sabah/KotaKinabalu/Waterfront/

The islands around KK are ok, but not on the same level as Perhentian:
http://www.molon.de/galleries/Malaysia/Sabah/Tunku/

Having written this, if you have only 22 days, you should use KK as a transit point, because there are much more interesting places in the region. So it makes sense to plan a stop in Mulu NP, instead of spending a couple of days in KK.

Five domestic flights are no problem. I use domestic flights a lot when in Malaysia, because they are a very efficient way to get from A to B. After a whole day of sightseeing/trekking, catch an evening flight and be ready for a new day of sightseeing/trekking.

See here photos of my trips: https://www.molon.de/
Here are detailed reports of my trips: https://www.molon.de/travelogues/

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ONLINE

Mon, 06 Jul 2015 01:48:44 +0000

I dont know what kind of stinky and dirty you're referring. I went to one of the Island last year, I happy with the clean and beautiful beaches, but of course some cannot compared to Perhentian.

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ONLINE

Thu, 16 Jul 2015 00:40:41 +0000

In response to #0

I used this Masenang Tour & Travel before & you may get necessary Malaysia tour information/itinerary from them. WWW.masenangtravel.com.my.

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Sat, 16 Jul 2016 01:00:35 +0000

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