{"id":557,"date":"2010-07-19T01:00:59","date_gmt":"2010-07-18T17:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mysabah.com\/wordpress\/?p=557"},"modified":"2021-01-15T20:48:52","modified_gmt":"2021-01-15T12:48:52","slug":"part-2-of-8-trip-to-maliau-basin-day-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mysabah.com\/wordpress\/part-2-of-8-trip-to-maliau-basin-day-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Part 2 of 8. Trip to Maliau Basin, Sabah’s Lost World – Day 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Continued from Part 1…<\/a><\/h3>\n

After a month of waiting, finally, it was the day to go to Maliau Basin. Though I had been preparing and looking forward to this trip, I still felt nervous when the moment came. In the morning of day 1, our group gathered in Kota Kinabalu. There were 5 persons in the group, i.e., me, Ms. S, Ms. D and Mr. T, and our guide Mr. J, an experienced naturalist who had been to Maliau many times.<\/p>\n

\"group<\/p>\n

Departure<\/h3>\n

After we put our bags on our 4-wheel, we departed at 8:30am. Maliau Basin Conservation Area is located in south central Sabah, about 40 KM north of the Kalimantan border. FYI, there are two ways to go to Maliau Basin by land:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. From Kota Kinabalu: go to the Keningau town and proceed to the east for 160 KM. You will pass by Sook, Nabawan and Sapulut (Sepulot). It took about 5 to 6 hours.<\/li>\n
  2. From Tawau: Maliau Basin is about 190KM at the west of Tawau. The ride takes 4 to 5 hours. (this was the only option when the new south-north “Keningau-Tawau” road was not available before 2008)<\/li>\n
  3. If you are rich, charter a helicopter to take you there in no time (do invite me!).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"Location<\/a><\/p>\n

    Stop over in Keningau Town<\/h3>\n

    We arrived Keningau town around 11am, and we saw many logging trucks on the way. Some of us purchased Kampung Addidas (Village Addidas) shoes. Kampung Addidas is rubber shoe that has studs at the bottom and it is waterproof, making it the most suitable trekking shoe in the rainy and muddy conditions in tropical rainforest. It is only RM6 to RM8 a pair, very cheap but work better than your hundred-dollar hiking shoes.<\/p>\n

    \"Dangerous<\/p>\n

    After we had our lunch in Juta Hotel, we went to Millimewa Supermarket to buy food supply. Since there is no restaurant deep inside the forest of Maliau, we have to carry and prepare our own food. We bought one week quantity of food supply consisted of rice, noodle, bread, can food, fruits, vegetables, fish, chicken, eggs, coffee & tea, salt & sugar, cooking oil, spices, drinking water, etc. Then we continued our road trip to Maliau Basin.<\/p>\n

    \"Buying<\/p>\n

    There is no petrol station between Keningau and Maliau Basin, so make sure your oil tank is full enough (don’t forget you also need gas for return trip). If your car breaks down, there is no phone line, and you will be in trouble. There is no toilet too.<\/p>\n

    Road to Maliau Basin<\/h3>\n

    (Updated:<\/strong> May 2016) A few years ago, a road trip to Maliau Basin required 4-Wheel Drive because of the gravel road in bad condition. Now most of the road from Keningau Town to the gate of Maliau Basin is paved and highly accessible by sedan and small cars.<\/p>\n

    \"paved<\/a>
    99% of the road from Keningau town to Maliau Basin (gate) is paved, like the photo above.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Personally I give this road a score of 70%. Overall, this asphalt road is quite ok, but you have to stay vigilant and be careful of potholes, uneven surface and slow logging trucks that show up from time to time.<\/p>\n

    \"Lush<\/a>
    Lush forest along the road<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    The 30-Km stretch of road between Nabawan and Sapulut (Sepulot) Town is poorly constructed, so it isn’t a very smooth ride on this section.<\/p>\n

    \"Ugly<\/a>
    Ugly oil palm near the road<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    You can take a look of the video below to get an idea of the road condition:
    \n