Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting There & Around
Bus & Van
KK round-trip buses stop in front of park headquarters and in Ranau (RM15 to RM20,
two hours) from 7am to 8pm. Minivans operate from a blue-roofed shelter in Ranau servi-
cing the nearby attractions (park HQ, Poring etc) for RM5. The national park operates a
van service between the headquarters and Poring for RM25 - it leaves the park HQ at
noon.
Northwest Coast
The northwest coast of Sabah is criminally underexplored. The A1 runs north from KK to
Kudat and the tip of Borneo past wide headlands, rice paddies and hidden beaches. This is
a good area for renting a car or motorbike - the roads are pretty level, and public transport
links aren't reliable for getting off the main road.
THE ORANGUTANS OF SHANGRI-LA
Sounds like a movie starring adorable primates in Tibet, right? No, we're just referring to the Sanctuary at Shangri-
La's Rasa Ria Resort, sister resort of the Shangri La Tanjung Aru Resort in Kota Kinabalu, located near Tuaran.
The Sanctuary is a makeshift wildlife reserve owned and managed by the resort. There's all kinds of daily activit-
ies, from bird-watching trips to night walks (there are civets and loris on the reserve) to viewing the Sanctuary's or-
angutans from a canopy walkway. Honestly, the red apes here are just as cute as the ones at Sepilok (
Click here
)
,
and it's way less crowded as well. Plus, your money is still going towards a preservation organisation. There's dif-
ferent rates for all of the above activities depending on whether or not you're a guest at the hotel; for more informa-
tion, email rrr@shangri-la.com or call 88-797888. The two-hour orangutan viewing occurs daily at 10am.
TUARAN
Tuaran, 33km from KK, is a bustling little town with tree-lined boulevard-style streets and
the distinctive nine-storey
Ling Sang Pagoda
, whose approaches are dominated by
vividly painted guardian deities. There's little point stopping in the town itself unless you
