SANDAKAN

KING PARK HOTEL
Lot 23A, Blok C, Tingkat Bawah-2, Utama Place Batu 6, Jalan Utara,
Sandakan

Single Standard Room	Rm 68.00
Double Standard Room	Rm 78.00
Deluxe Room	Rm 88.00
Suite Room	Rm 98.00
Family Room	Rm 108.00

Abai Jungle Lodge
Lot 1002-1003, 10th Floor, Wisma Khoo Siak Chiew, Sandakan, Sabah TEL: 089-213502/3 FAX: 089-217807
EMAIL: sales@sitoursborneo.com

Bilit Adventure Lodge
Kampung Bilit, Jalan Sukau, Kinabatangan, Sabah TEL: 089-271077/88 FAX: 089-271066

Hotel Central
Lot 5A-B & 6A-B, Block 24, Jalan Lebuh Dua Sandakan, Sabah.
TEL: 089-238005 FAX: 089-237005 EMAIL: rooms@centrslhotelsandakan.com

Hotel Doitright
Tingkat Bawah, Lot 5-8 Block N, Batu 8, JIn Lintas, Bandar Sibuga Jaya, Sandakan. TEL: 089-672666 FAX: 089-674666

Hotel Lagenda
Block 24, Lot 11, Tkt 1.2 &3, JIn. 2, PPJU Bt 1 1/2 , JIn. Utara, Sandakan, Sabah TEL: 089-228699 FAX: 089-221399

Hotel Lutana
Lot 1, Block J, Bandar Ramai-Ramai, Sandakan. TEL: 089-272111 FAX: 089-272999

Hotel New Sabah (Sandakan)
Block 42, Lot 1, Jalan Elopura, Bandar Sandakan, Sabah
TEL: 089-218711 FAX: 089-273725 EMAIL: htlnewsabah@yahoo.com

Hotel Ramai
Leila Road, Town Centre, Sandakan, Sabah. TEL: 089-273222 FAX: 089-271884 EMAIL: stgramai@tm.net.my

Hotel Selingan
Lot 4, Block 14, Tingkat 2 & 3, Jalan 2, Sandakan, Sabah. TEL: 089-227733 FAX: 089-272270

Hotel Tulip
Lot 1-2, Block 44, Singapore Road, Sandakan, Sabah. TEL: 089-221722 FAX: 289-221922

Hung Wing Hotel
Lot 4, 3rd Avenue, Block 13, Sandakan, Sabah
TEL: 089-218855 FAX: 089-271240 EMAIL: zungzang1168@gmail.com

Jockey Lodge Hotel
Block B, Bandar Tong Huat, Batu 3, JIn Utara, Sandakan, Sabah TEL: 089-221988 FAX: 089-224682

Kinabatangan Riverside Lodge
Lot 1002-1003, 10th Floor, Wisma Khoo Siak Chiew. Sandakan, Sabah
TEL: 089-213502/3 FAX: 089-217807 EMAIL: info@sitoursborneo.com

Sepilok Jungle Resort
KM 22, Labuk Road, Sandakan, Sabah. TEL: 089-533031/051 FAX: 089-533029 EMAIL: johnny@sepilokjungleresort.com

Sepilok Bed and Breakfast
109,Lorong Megah, No 6 Taman Megah, Sandakan, Sabah
TEL: 089-534050 EMAIL: sepilok_bnb@yahoo.com

Pulau Selinggan Chalet
Sabah Parks Jetty, JIn Bull Sim Sim, Sandakan, Sabah
TEL: 089-212711 FAX: 089-212712 EMAIL: cqI996@streamyx.com

Taman Sepilok
Batu 14, Jalan Sepilok Off Jalan Labuk, Sandakan, Sabah TEL: 089-272522 FAX: 089-271719

Zaharah Hotel Apartments Sdn Bhd
Lot 1,Tingkat 1 Wisma Harbour View, Sandakan, Sabah.
TEL: 089-212162 FAX: 089-212521 EMAIL: zaharahhotelkk@hotmail.com

Rainforest Discovery Centre
Sepilok, Sandakan, Sabah

20 miles away from Sandakan Airport
24 km (14 miles) from Sandakan town

The Rainforest Discovery Centre (RDC) situated in Sepilok, Sandakan is a part of the Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve. Located in Sabah, the RDC is an environmental education (EE) centre in Sabah.

The RDC is a centre for environmental education situated within the famous Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve, home of the orang-utans of the Sepilok Orang-utan Rehabilitation Centre.

Its primary function is to create public awareness and appreciation of the importance of conserving forests, as well as the sustainable use of forest resources.

Take a walk through the park, or a stroll on the suspension bridge at the 950 metres canopy walk and view countless of exotic wildlife.

Night walks along the trail also offer a chance to catch a glimpse of wildlife such as the cunning mousedeer, wily civet cats, cute tarsiers and various insects and birds.

There are also many magnificent flowering shrubs a the Plant Discovery Garden, with about 250 species of native orchids. The orchid family, is known to be the largest flowering plants with about 25,000 wild species throughout the world.

Enthusiasts, naturalists, budding scientists and nature lovers from all walks of life will get to know more of the wonders of the rainforests through this unique Rainforest Discovery Centre.

The RDC helps to raise public awareness and appreciation of the importance of conserving forests, as well as the sustainable use of forest resources.

"Sandakan" is derived from the Suluk word "sanda" meaning, to pawn and "kan" being the suffix. So "Sandakan" means the place that was pawned. Who pawned it, and to whom, remains a mystery.

As the story goes, in the early 1870s, William Clarke Cowie, a Scottish adventurer and engineer, delivered guns and ammunitions to the Sultan of Sulu, then protecting his territory from Spanish conquerors. (HASHEMITE SULTANATE OF SULU). In return, Cowie was granted permission by the Sultan to set up base on Pulau Timbang, in Sandakan Bay, where a small Suluk village existed. Cowie called his base "Sandakan" but it soon became known as "Kampong German" due to the number of German traders who visited Cowie.

The settlement was re-located to Bull Sim Sim in 1879. It was an uninhabited jungle and mangrove area but with one of the most beautiful natural harbors in the world. He named the new settlement, "Elopura" meaning 'The Beautiful City" but the name reverted to "Sandakan".

In 1883, the British North Borneo Chartered Company moved its capital from Kudat to Sandakan. A "building mania" started and Sandakan became a bustling modern town though Allied bombings to liberate it towards the end of World War 2 nearly flattened the town.

In retaliation, the Japanese burnt whatever remained and Sandakan as a town, ceased to exist in June 1945. In 1946, the capital was moved to Jesselton (subsequently, renamed Kota Kinabalu).

Sandakan was first and foremost a port for the export of logs and timber. In fact, it was said that Sandakan timber went into the building of Peking's Temple of Heaven. In its heyday, Sandakan used to boast of having the greatest concentration of millionaires in the world! Today, it is known more as the gateway to nature's most prolific treasures in Borneo.

Sandakan's prosperity led to an influx of people. Chinese, Europeans, Malays, Dayaks, Dusuns, Sikhs, Pathans, Arabs, Filipinos, Suluks, Javanese and even Japanese. One of the earliest Chinese immigrants was Kwan Woon Kwong, a general merchant, who established the oldest company of Sandakan, the Man Woo Loong Company in 1882.

Tham Kung Temple

Situated at Mile 1.5 Jalan Utara, this century-old temple was built around 1894. Its uniqueness lies in its "preservation of a temple within a temple" as conservation efforts had literally lifted the old temple and transferred it to within the new temple, a first in Malaysia.

Sam Sing Kung Chinese Temple

Situated at the edge of the town padang. The Three Saint's Temple is the oldest building in Sandakan. The three saints are Kwan Woon Cheung - saint of righteousness; the goddess of Tin Hou, worshipped by fishermen and seamen for protection, and the Min Cheong Emperor, worshipped by those who seek success in examinations (even to this day!). Four Chinese communities got together and started the temple: the Cantonese, Teochew, Hakkas and the Hainanese. In the temple is a plate inscribed with the names of all those who gave more than RM2. The bell donated by the first Kapitan Cina of Sandakan, Fung Ming Shan can still be seen in the Temple today.

Puu Jih Shih Buddhist Temple

Situated on the hilltop above Tanah Merah, south of Sandakan town centre, the temple was built in 1987 at a cost of about RM7 million. From here, you can catch a breathtaking view of Sandakan Bay. The extravagantly ornate temple is a blaze of red and gold, with writhing dragons, gold-gilded Buddhas, hundreds of gleaming lamps and the fragrance of burning incense. It is said that the temple protects and brings good-health and wealth to Sandakan and its people.

The Australian Memorial

Located at Mile 8, Jalan Labuk Utara, this RM750.000 Memorial is dedicated to some 2,700 Australian prisoners of war (POWs) and others who died at the Sandakan POW camp and death marches in North Borneo during World War 2. The Memorial comprises three Memorial Caims within the Park, a Commemorative Pavilion and the Sandakan Memorial.

Agnes Keith's House

Another link with the past can be found in Agnes Keith's house. Situated on a hill at Jalan Istana overlooking Sandakan Bay, it was the home of Conservator of Forests, Harry Keith and his American wife, Agnes Keith, a writer, from the 1930s until 1942. Agnes' book on life in pre-war Sandakan popularized the old seafarer's name for Sabah in its title, "Land Below the Wind" (referring to Sabah's location just below the typhoon belt). Her second book. Three Came Home, about their war experiences was made into a movie. Their two-storied wooden bungalow, built on a ridge overlooking the town, was destroyed during WW2 but reconstructed when the Keiths returned in 1946. Conservation and rebuilding of the house is in progress.

Masjid Jamek

This mosque sits on the hilltop overlooking the town centre. Its quaint architecture was designed based on a harmony of Islamic elements.

St Michael's & All Angels Church

Situated at Eiton Hill, this beautiful granite church was built in 1893 and took 20 years to complete. The church was constructed with granite found at Sim Sim.

Berhala Island

Situated in Sandakan Bay, this beautiful forested island has striking, prominent cliffs at its northern end and also had a small leper settlement colony. During WW2, Berhala became the camps for civilian internees and POWs. A story was told of an escape, when eight prisoners being taken to the mainland made their break at Berhala via the leper colony. They swam to the sheer walls of the Berhala cliffs and with help from natives, escaped to freedom. Each year, some families of the Australian POWs make their pilgrimage to this seemingly peaceful island to retrace that dramatic journey.

Japanese Cemetery

The Cemetery at Jalan Istana has a monument and the remains of Japanese soldiers who died during World War 2, plus some Japanese women who worked, lived and died in Sandakan.

The Central Market is where locals come to buy fresh produce, fruits, delicacies and crafts, sarongs and seashells. The fish market here is perhaps the biggest in Sabah and offers a stunning array of fresh seafood.

Other places of interest include the Crocodile Farm and Forestry Headquarters at Labuk Road and the Labuk Bay Proboscis Sanctuary, situated on a 400-acre mangrove forest inside the Yet Hing Oil Palm Plantation.

Sabah's third Marine Park

Three hours' by boat and 40 km. north of Sandakan in the Sulu Sea, lies Sabah's third Marine Park, one of the most important turtle breeding spots in South East Asia. Designated as a Marine Park, the islands of Selingan, Bakungan Kecil and Gulisan are safe haven for the endangered Green Turtles and Hawksbill Turtles. Strangely, these turtles only lay their eggs in their original birthplace. So after over 30 years of turtle conservation, the success is now clearly evident as more turtles make their pilgrimage every year.

Dive into these waters and marvel at how the turtles are like ballerinas floating amidst the corals, foraging for food before their next breath of air. At night, crouch quietly as park rangers point out the turtle laying their eggs. It's a slow sand digging, laying and burying ritual that they go through before making their way back into the waters. Park rangers then carefully transfer 100 over odd eggs into safe haven for monitoring, before hatching and subsequent release into the sea.

An overnight stay on Selingan Island is recommended for a rare glimpse of these turtles laying eggs. Arrangements can be made with local tour agents, while independent travelers may contact the number below.

Managing Director (Mr George Tseu)
Crystal Quest Sdn Bhd

Wisma Khoo Siak Chiew, 12th Floor, Room 848
90709 Sandakan

Tel: (089)212711 Fax:(089)21271.-
E-mail: cquest@tm.net.my