beautiful sabah, in borneo, malaysia.

[faye]

this is one of my favourite countries, out of about 25, i have spent time in. the people are friendly, indian, chinese and malay food, great and the scenery, apart from the palm oil plantations, is beautiful.
among other things, i got to see the orangutan in the forest, the largest flower, smallest orchid, wandered the jungle and snorkelled on a pristine reef at palau sipadan
i also made some friends whilst there, who i stayed in contact with.
Discover Sabah Borneo Malaysia - YouTube

[Badlun]

voow great I would love to visit there some times
where from one can catch flights , only from Malaysia or there are international flights from other countries?
Which language they speak?
Are the local people Muslim , if Muslim then do they ban women from public participation, is alcohol openly available what about beaches , are there clubs and good restaurants, are there tourist facilitation offices? What about security and criminals in the streets?
Is it expensive? how much for 3 star room or 4 star ? Are taxis available or one can use public transport? How is the climate, tropical, sub tropics or what ?
I would love to know your personal experiences for my all so many questions!

[faye]

lol..i found the people extremely friendly and it was cheap, from an australian point of view but the mainland of malaysia was cheaper.
there were not many tourists there, in 92/93 but i think they will have increased with cheaper fares to kota kinabalu, the capital. i always stay in budget accommodation and eat local style meals.
many people spoke english and it is a muslim country. many of the indian restaurants were run by muslims from south india.
my friends, sisters, were local and married to muslim men and had taken on the same religion as their husbands. the women's mother only spoke the native language and malay and follows her own traditional religion. women there were involved in public life.

i felt very safe there, day or night. there were night markets, so i was out and about. even arrived at 2 in the morning and had the taxi driver find me a budget hotel, that was manned all night. opposite was a cafe where i went and socialised after having a shower.

a good place to find travel info, is the 'lonely planet' website and go to their 'thorntree' section.

[Badlun]

Thanks Faye for this useful information