I am off to Malaysia next week with my family. We are tight for time and have just 3 days in Sandakan. I have already booked hotels and put some sightseeing into place. Just hoping for some feedback / words of advice / comments... from those who have been. Please don't tell me that my itin is rushed... as I already know that. What shall we do with extra time in Sandakan? Do I need leech socks for a night walk? Can leech socks be obtained when we get there?
Here is what we are doing:
DAY 1 - Morning arrival in Sandakan from KL. Lunch. Afternoon visit to Sepilok Orang Utan feeding. Late afternoon jungle guided night walk.
Overnight at nearby resort.
DAY 2 - Optional morning visit to Sepilok... depending on how the day prior goes. lunch. Boat journey to Sukau along Kinabatangan. Afternoon river cruise
Overnight at Sukau Lodge.
DAY 3 - Breakfast. Return to Sandakan by boat journey at 8.00am. Free day??? Overnight at a Hotel in Sandakan
DAY 4 - fly back to KL.
thanks
Not a whole lot to see in Sandakan. Have to remember than 98% of the town was destroyed in WW2 by Allied bombings. They have a "Heritage Trail" Walk that hits several Chinese temples and what remains of the Old Town. Up above town there is the English Tea Garden (where you can have a pricey "high tea") and the interesting "Agnes Keith House". This was the rebuilt wooden house that the Keith's occupied before and after WW2. Agnes Keith was the American Novelist who memorialized Sandakan in "Land Beneath The Wind"...and wrote two other novels about her experiences in a Japanese internment camp and her families return to Sabah in the days leading up to Malaysian independence. Her husband was Commissioner of Forestry and began the Sabah Parks. The house is a museum, filled with her old furniture and books...beautiful spacious old place. Well worth a visit. There's another small "Sandakan Municiple Museum" in the City Hall next to the Tourism Office (mainly old photos).
You might also visit the Sandakan WW2 Death March memorial out near the airport.
If you wanted to arrange it, you could go out to the Turtle Islands and stay there the night instead of staying in Sandakan. Then you could see nesting turtles. Could be tricky depending upon your flight out, though. If it was an AM flight that idea would be impossible.
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