Hidden Gems and Local Secrets in Borneo (Sabah)
Part of the Borneo (Sabah) travel guide — see every topic in All Borneo (Sabah) Guides.
Sabah's visitors follow a narrow circuit: Kinabalu, Sepilok, the Kinabatangan, Sipadan. That leaves most of a very large state effectively unvisited. What is out there includes a colonial-era railway through a river gorge, a market where Bajau horsemen still ride, a sustainably logged forest reserve with some of the best mammal viewing in Asia, and an interior of longhouses, waterfalls and hot springs that most Sabahans know and almost no foreign visitor reaches.
The interior railway
The North Borneo Railway, built from 1896, still runs from Tanjung Aru near Kota Kinabalu south through Beaufort and into the Padas river gorge to Tenom. The Beaufort to Tenom section is the good part: a narrow-gauge line clinging to the gorge wall above whitewater, through tunnels and jungle, on a working local service used by villages with no road access. It is cheap, slow and one of the best train journeys in South-East Asia. Tenom at the end has the Sabah Agricultural Park and the state's coffee industry.
Kota Belud and the west coast
The Sunday tamu at Kota Belud, ninety minutes north of KK, is the largest market in Sabah: livestock, produce, textiles, buffalo, food stalls and, on occasion, Bajau horsemen in ceremonial dress, a tradition that gave the west-coast Bajau the name "cowboys of the East". Further north, Kudat and the Tip of Borneo have quiet beaches, Rungus longhouses with homestays, and the northernmost point of the island. Mantanani island is offshore. Almost nobody on a standard Sabah itinerary goes north of Kinabalu.
The overlooked reserves
Deramakot Forest Reserve is a certified sustainably logged concession with mammal densities that draw wildlife photographers from around the world — clouded leopards, sun bears, orangutans, otter civets and marbled cats are all recorded on night drives, at a fraction of Danum's price. Tabin Wildlife Reserve has elephants and mud volcanoes. Imbak Canyon is a research area with very limited access. Crocker Range National Park, the mountain spine south of Kinabalu, has trails and villages and sees hardly any visitors at all.
Small things
The Poring hot springs on the far side of Kinabalu Park, with a canopy walkway and, sometimes, a Rafflesia in bloom nearby. The Klias river cruise for proboscis monkeys and fireflies, ninety minutes from KK and a good substitute if the Kinabatangan does not fit. Sabah Tea's plantation at Ranau, at the foot of Kinabalu. The Mari Mari and Monsopiad cultural villages near KK. And Tenom coffee, roasted without margarine, which is the best coffee in Malaysia and is almost unknown outside the state.
Hidden Gems and Local Secrets at a glance
| Best train | Beaufort to Tenom through the Padas gorge, narrow gauge |
|---|---|
| Biggest market | Kota Belud tamu on Sundays — Bajau horsemen |
| Best value wildlife | Deramakot Forest Reserve night drives |
| Northernmost point | Tip of Borneo, Kudat — longhouse homestays nearby |
| Near KK | Klias river proboscis and firefly cruise, ~90 min |
| Take home | Tenom coffee — roasted without margarine |