Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia - December 2018

Sailing into Kota Kinabalu this afternoon was nice change after a couple of days sailing the South China Sea.

Back in the middle of December 2018 Sam and I set off on another cruise, this time instead of leaving from Australia we decided to head off from Singapore. The theory being that of all the regions of the world that we’d travelled to, South-East Asia was one of the spots that we’d hardly scratched the surface. Jumping on a cruise ship may not be everybody's idea of a good time but it does tend to allow you to check out a few places in quick succession. I look at it a bit like tapas, if I find something that I like then I can come back and hook in later on. After a couple of days at sea we docked at Kota Kinabalu, the first spot that we’d visited since leaving Singapore and my first taste of tapas on this trip.

The ocean had that still, oily, dead calm look about it....obviously you can't tell from the photo but it was bloody hot as well.

We sailed past a traditional water village on the way into Kota Kinabalu.

We only had an afternoon and evening in Kota Kinabalu so there wasn’t really any time to get too far out of town. Kota Kinabalu has been on my Feral radar for a long time, not because I’d heard great things about the city but more for the fact that it acts as the jumping off point for the climb of Mt Kina Balu, the 4000 metres plus mountain that Sabah is famous for. Most of the stuff I’ve read over the years has suggested getting out of Kuta Kinabalu as quick as possible and to be honest that advice probably isn’t far off the mark I don’t think.

Pusat Pentadbiran Negeri Sabahis a rather flash state government office. As you can see I'm struggling a bit with this post!

We jumped on a tour this afternoon that took us around to the highlights of the city and then dropped as at the Museum to check things out for awhile. After checking out the unique architecture of the Tun Mustapha building, a cylindrical tube of steel and glass reaching skywards 30 stories that definitely draws your eye when you gaze on the skyline of Kota Kinabalu, we continue onto to what in hindsight was probably the highlight of our visit, the Floating Mosque. This mosque is surrounded by a large moat that gives the appearance of having the mosque floating on the still, mirror like water. With our visit corresponding with the call to Friday prayers the place was heaving this afternoon and unfortunately I didn’t really get much of a chance to check things out properly. When I do inevitably return to Kota Kinabalu the Floating Mosque will be the first place I return too, I’m thinking sunset and sun rise would be particularly good.

Tun Mustapha building tends to draw the eye a bit. This unique building is home to a gallery among other things.

Next to the Tun Mustapha building is the Tun Mustapha Gallery. I'm thinking this Tun Mustapha bloke must of been fairly important?

The Floating Mosque.

We now headed to what seems the obligatory attraction on these tours, a market. This time we were visiting Wisma Merdeka. This large market is spread out along the coast for a few hundred metres and from my very limited Feral observations it seems to have a few distinct sections. Unfortunately, with our visit being late in the afternoon the more interesting fish and vegetable sections had more or less shut down for the day, so we were left with the tourist section to explore. I’m not one to buy cheap knock off crap even when I’m at home so I’m not overly keen on these places, so needless to say a few minutes after entering the claustrophobic maze I was ready to call it a day.

Sam was pretty happy with the air conditioned bus.

The Atkinson Clock Tower was one of only a few structures to survive the bombing during WW2.

Wisma Markets, too hot and claustrophobic for me! 

The waterfront behind the markets was an interesting, if not a slightly rough around the edges spot.

After Wisma Merdeka we jumped back on the bus and headed through the busy traffic though town, passing the somewhat diminutive Atkinson Clocktower, I’d seen photos of this historic clock tower before and had always imagined something a little more substantial. The old wooden clock tower was apparently one of only three structures that survived largely unscathed in Kota Kinabalu after the bombings of WW2. Crawling our way through the Friday afternoon traffic we arrived at our next stop, the Sabah State Mosque. Once again with Friday prayers on the mosque was fairly busy so we only explored the grounds and the outside of the mosque. To be honest I generally don’t feel overly comfortable taking photos inside places of worship, whatever the religion is. I have taken a few photos inside churches, temples and mosques over the years but I’m thinking I should be more respectful even though (or maybe because) I’m not a believer. The Sabah State Mosque is surrounded by nice gardens though and there was plenty of room to wander around the grounds checking out the large gold minarets crowning the mosque (apparently the gold is real gold), the mosque itself looks like its more your 1970’s style architecture to my eyes so I didn’t think it was a aesthetically pleasing as the Floating Mosque.

Heading out to the State Mosque we passed an floating village, while the shacks look a bit decrepit it appears that hey did have satellite TV.  The plumbing left a bit to be desired though.

The State Mosque.

The State Mosque. We visited at around the same time as Friday Prayers so it was a fairly busy spot this afternoon.

Jumping back on the bus we headed off to the nearby Sabah State Museum. The museum is designed to resemble a large longhouse and in the extensive grounds of the museum there is a large collection of replica huts and longhouses used by some of the local tribes. After climbing in and out of the wooden huts for awhile it was time to head into the museum and check things out. While the exhibits in the Sabah State Museum feel a bit dated it was still a good spot to get a bit of an overview of Kota Kinabalu and Sabah, it was a little sad though to make our way through the environmental section of the museum and see all the animals that were either critically endangered or extinct. This region of the world is under intense environmental pressure unfortunately. If you find yourself at the museum and have a bit of time up your sleeve, the grounds of the museum are worth wandering around for awhile as there are a lot of interesting odds and ends scattered around and the building itself looks quite modern.

Practising my blow dart technique at the Heritage Village in the gardens of Sabah Museum.

The Skull Hut. During the headhunting days it was thought that hanging skulls from the roof would bring good luck.

The fairly modern Sabah Museum.

Sabah Museum

Sabah Museum 

Who knew that Sabah had it's own history of Crap Elvises?

The Dirt.
To view the Wisma Tun Tower, the Floating Mosque and the Sabah State Mosque is free, so it could be possible to hire a taxi and do things a little cheaper than our bus tour. Entry to the Sabah State Museum was included in our tour price but I’m thinking the entry price was around 5 Aussie dollars. Like I mentioned earlier, apart from being a jumping off point for places further afield, Kota Kinabalu is a little underwhelming I’m thinking. Next time I pass through I’ll probably stay in town somewhere which will give me a bit more of a chance to explore on foot and explore a little more so I might change my mind then…we’ll see.

Relevant Posts.
Gardens by the Bay, Singapore, 2017.
Little India & Kampong Glam, Singapore, 2017.
Sentosa Island, Singapore, 2018.

Apart from the Heritage Village there is plenty to check out in the extensive grounds of the Sabah Museum.

Sabah Museum

The Sabah Museum is only a few kilometres from town but I'm thinking catching a taxi or a bus is the best way to get out here.

Sailing back out into the South China Sea as the lights of Kota Kinabalu recede into the night.