Sandakan, Borneo (Malaysia)

We flew to Sandakan on the island of Borneo, this morning, a little over 2 hours East of Kuala Lumpur. The currency is still the Malaysian Ringgit. It’s a fishing village/city with a population of around 130000. Our hotel (4 points Sheraton) is the tallest building here (26 floors). We walked around this afternoon & were surprised at how modern the local mall, & grocery stores are. Lots of fresh local produce, & sea food. Everything is reasonably priced too. The mall is well stocked. Relatively few tourists to be seen as we walked. Entire local families were dining together in the waterfront restaurants. We had a terrific meal, local style, for 51 Ringget, or about $16.50 Cdn. We had apps of Calamari & Prawns, mains of Beef, & Sweet & Sour chicken, & drinks. Lots of locals hanging around on the waterfront after dark, despite the abundance of Muslim people. A friendly atmosphere. We’re hoping to awaken early enough tomorrow morning to watch freshly caught fish of all shapes & sizes being unloaded from boats a short walk from our hotel.Read more