Sandakan

This small sliver of sleepy boat jetties, leafy parks and seaside boulevards that pokes its way out into the waters on the edge of north-eastern Borneo is perhaps known today primarily as the eco tourism gateway to two of the country’s most famous wildlife sanctuaries: the Sepilok Orangutan Centre, and the Turtle Islands Park of the Sulu Sea. There’s yet more wildlife to spy out at the Kinabatangan River where elusive Borneo pygmy elephants coexist with birding habitats found best in the lower area at the Gomantong Caves. And the list does not end there; with the Canopy walk at the Rainforest Discovery Centre as well as the monkey sanctuaries of pretty Labuk Bay completing the absolute must do experiences in the Sabah area. Alongside, your Sandakan tour guide will explain that the laid-back provincial town of Sandakan also touts a curious mishmash of Chinese temples and historic English houses, remnants of colonial occupation. Then there’s the sobering monument at the Sandakan Memorial Park, which marks the spot where so many lost their lives during the Borneo Death Marches of World War II.