Kuala Lumpur and Borneo
Flights were with Turkish Airlines via Istanbul. The advantage of using Turkish is that you can fly from a local airport to Istanbul before flying on to your destination. Some of our group flew from Manchester and the others flew from Gatwick. Birmingham and Heathrow are other options.
Turkish Airlines have won many awards in recent years so I was interested to see what makes their service so special. They have modern aircraft with many movies and programmes available in a good selection of languages, but the thing that really stands out was the quality of their food in economy. It was well cooked and really tasty. Unfortunately I cannot advise on their Business Class service as we were not given the opportunity to sample this on any of the four flights.
Our accommodation was provided by Shangri-La hotels. The first night was spent in Traders. This is a good 4 star hotel in a perfect location next to the Twin Towers. The rooms and food were excellent, but the highlight is the Pool Bar on the 33rd floor which acts as a nightclub in the evenings and has stunning views of the cityscape.
The next night we moved to the 5 star Shangri-La. I last stayed in this hotel over 30 years ago. The hotel is well maintained despite its age, but is now surrounded by other buildings. As a result the sun disappears behind the other buildings blocking any sun from the pool area by about 4pm. I also visited the 5 star Majestic Hotel for lunch. The food is amazing and the hotel is a historic hotel that focuses on the Colonial heritage and traditional service standards typical of a bygone age. The only disappointment with the hotel is that the 2 swimming pools are quite small and you can hear some road noise.
Whilst in Kuala Lumpur we went on a walking tour of the city. This is a great way to experience the buzz of a busy city and to get a feel for life for the local people. We visited the Masjid Jamek Sultan Abdul Samad mosque which was built by the British in 1909 and also some of the street markets. Unfortunately time limitations meant we could not go to some of the major attractions like the Batu Caves to the north of Kuala Lumpur.
The next day we flew with Air Asia to Kota Kinabalu. This is the capital of the state of Sabah – one of the 2 states on Borneo which are part of Malaysia. Our home for the next 2 nights was Shangri-La’s Rasa Ria. This is a lovely 5 star resort set on a huge beach surrounded by the rainforest. We were upgraded to the newer Ocean Wing. In this wing the rooms are huge with over 90 square metres of space. The balconies have a double Jacuzzi bath where you can relax listening to the sound of the sea and birds singing in the canopy. The team at Rasa Ria really make an effort to ensure every guest feels special.
We visited the 5 star Gaya Island Resort to spend the day learning about this 5 star eco resort. The weather prevented us from fully appreciating everything the resort offers. I do feel that the location on Gaya Island is a love or hate it type of thing – you are close to Kota Kinabalu which offers convenience, but also means you are overlooking a busy harbour scene. Personally, I would opt for the quieter location of Rasa Ria. Our final stay was at Shangri-La’s Tanjung Aru. Again, like the Gaya Island Resort this is a city based hotel with a beach, and was therefore not to my liking.
Whilst in Borneo we were taken to the Mari Mari cultural village. This is a fascinating place to visit as you see how the local tribes traditionally live. We also visited the Mount Kinabalu National Park and went on a rope bridge canopy walk. It is a long 4 hour drive up into the mountains but is well worth it.
This brings me to the biggest disappointment of my visit. If I am going to visit Borneo I would want to see the rainforests and possibly seeing some orangutans in their natural environment as this is what makes Borneo a different place to visit. The itinerary that was provided for my visit did not allow time for the group to fly to Sandakan in eastern Sarawak which is where the orangutan population is located. So, whilst I have been able to discuss the best way for other people to travel to Sandakan with a specialist company and can give some excellent advice if anyone is keen to do this, I did not manage to experience the journey myself.
To conclude, what did my visit to Kuala Lumpur and Borneo teach me? Firstly, you can easily spend a day or two in Kuala Lumpur en-route to Borneo and enjoy exploring the city. But you can also fly to Hong Kong as a gateway airport and possibly this is a better choice. Secondly, there are many amazing beaches in the Far East. The beach at Rasa Ria is up there with the best of these beaches and I would happily stay at this resort if I was going again. Thirdly, the main reason for going to Borneo is to see the rainforest and hopefully some orangutans so you should always include this excursion in your visit. I learnt that you should allocate sufficient time to allow the major attractions to be seen as when you visit Kuala Lumpur and Borneo there are some amazing things to see and do. I would therefore ensure you build in time to visit the major attractions as this is what makes any visit worthwhile.