Sandakan

East Malaysia is an interesting, and quite unique part of Malaysia. The two East Malaysian state, Sabah and Sarawak, joined with the states from the Malayan Peninsula to form Malaysia in 1964. Borneo, the third largest island in the world, now contains parts of three countries- Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei. Because of differences in history and racial/ethnic make-up East Malaysia is quite different from the penisula in many ways.

I flew from KL to Sandakan in Sabah (about a 2 hour and 45 minute flight) to start my trip. Sandakan was an interesting small city of about 300 thousand people. Because I arrived at my hotel about noon, I had the whole afternoon to check out the town. I thought that the people in Sandakan were the friendliest that I have met anywhere in Malaysia. Everyone smiled and waved and many of them wanted to talk about where I was from and what I was doing there (very different from KL where noone ever talks to me- I know "boo hoo").

The view from my hotel window (Nak Hotel). Laundry day in some of the flats. Clothes driers are not very common in Malaysia so people dry their clothes by hanging them out to dry. I am not sure how they ever get dry in this humid climate! Fishing boat and mosque. I enjoyed visiting the Central Market. The market was filled with small stalls selling different types of fruits and veggies. Because Sandakan is a coastal town, it is not surprising that there is lots of fish at the market. You can get fresh fish..... or dried fish. Yummy, dried stingrays! Two girls working in their stall. Luckily, my hotel was located right across the street from the mall so that I could shop until I dropped.