Sandakan, Malaysia Summary

Sandwiched between sea and cliffs on the northern lip of Sandakan Bay, SANDAKAN isn’t an immediately appealing city, but does make a good base for day-trips to the Turtle Islands Park, the Sepilok Orang-utan Rehabilitation Centre and the Gomantong Caves. Stretching west of the dense downtown area is Jalan Leila, while to the east, running up round the bay, is Jalan Buli Sim-Sim. The heart of the town is the colourful market along the harbour’s edge: here stalls sell baskets, fruits, scaly fish, clothing and much else besides. A fifteen-minute walk east of the town centre, along Jalan Buli Sim-Sim, brings you to Sandakan’s modern mosque. Beyond this is Kampung Buli Sim-Sim, the water village around which Sandakan expanded in the nineteenth century, its countless photogenic shacks spread like lilies out into the bay. Sandakan’s less central addresses are pinpointed according to their distances out of the downtown area, hence “Mile 1 1/2”, “Mile 3”, and so on.