As usual, the long distance bus terminal is out of town in KK but this time the hotel recommended using Uber/GrabIt rather than a taxi.
Uber was not available so the helpful night guy on reception ordered a car through GrabIt which worked well and was about half the price of a taxi.
The location of the car which has been booked can be tracked on the smartphone to check progress! (First time we have used this type of service!).
We arrived well in time for the 0900 bus to Sandakan – a long 6 hour journey to the east of Sabah - our longest bus journey of the trip.
There is beautiful scenery for much of the way. The early part is dominated by the mighty Mount Kinabalu, which was imposing but shrouded in clouds and mist.
The latter part is dominated by oil palm plantations, which have unfortunately replaced the ancient forests over large tracts of Malaysia and particularly Borneo.
Taxi into Sandakan from the out of town bus station, of course!
We had eventually chosen a very cheap (10 euro per night but 5 of 32 hotels in Sandakan in TripAdvisor) hotel, which came very well recommended, was very central and nothing else looked particularly interesting - the May Fair.
Its rooms looked more like those you might expect to find in a hospital/institution, there plugs everywhere (so no problem recharging equipment), some interesting “don’t” signs (see photo) and it looked clean – OK so far.
Continue reading (Incl. Pic) at: Aandl - Sandakan
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