Part 3 of our honey moon. We bused it from Semporna to Sandakan and it took us 5 hours with a half way stop at a palm oil and timber town the size of 2 X 300 meter wooden shophouses sandwiching the highway.
You will find little towns along this route built out of wooden structures with tiny mosques and churches for the community. Everyone looks sleepy and shopkeepers uninterested in business recommending you to go next door and have a bite or coffee instead of their own store. Kids are seen everywhere playing on their own and we found a bunch of kids using a pick up as their temporary playhouse till the unfettered driver comes back.
Half an hour before sandakan is the Sepilok Orang Hutan Reserve. Entry fees are at RM30 for foreigners and RM5 for Malaysians. You will have to add RM10 to use your camera and its well worth it to catch the orang hutans during the feeding times. You will get to see the orang hutans swinging down from deep in the jungle on man made ropes leading to the feeding grounds. Only Rangers are allowed to feed these beautiful peaceful apes so don't expect any hand shakes and ape hugs. Most of these Orang Hutans are orphans that have been rescued and given sanctuary at Sepilok and this conversation activity has been on going since the 1960s. I guess this is one of the few good acts that came out of the British colonisation of this part of the world. Save the apes but exploit the people and take Sabah away from Brunei.
Another thing you must do in Sabah towns like Sandakan and Tawau is to try out their seafood. Fish is a big industry in these parts of the state and the seafood restaurants deals with only live seafood. We tried the OCEAN KING RESTAURANT which is almost the size of half a football field stretching from edge of the beach into the sea tied to fish net cages in the sea to keep the fish fresh. You can choose your catch of the day from these cages if you dare to walk the plank or form their fish tubs in the restaurants. Seafood is cheap adn good here. I don't think I have found a place that can give so much deliciously cooked seafood and such good prices till we came to this part of the world.
