Would
you prefer to print out this information? Find out how.
Most overseas traveler will arrive in Malaysia
by aeroplane. The
standard route to get to Kota Kinabalu is by air, via Kuala Lumpur in
Peninsular Malaysia, to Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, and then onwards to the
park overland. Swimming
from the
Peninsular Malaysia or southern Phillipine is not an option...
Major airlines fly into Kuala Lumpur,
the capital city of Malaysia. You
will first arrive in Kuala
Lumpur
International
Airport (KLIA) before
you have to take another flight to Kota
Kinabalu.
There are about 40
international carriers servicing the airport.
You could take a flight from any airline that you prefer, provided that
their destination is Kuala Lumpur. If do not have any preferred airline
or still have not book any tickets yet, please feel free to try airfares.com.
It offers cheap flights, hotel reservations and cheap packages to
places around the earth. It has up to 60% off published airfares on
major Airlines. Their offers are good on major airlines to destinations
world wide. All prices subject to availability on select scheduled
airlines and select cities. All prices in $USD. Although it has some
restriction, it is worth a try!
When you arrive in Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), you have
a choice to choose between these two airlines to fly to Kota Kinabalu,
Sabah. It is either Malaysia
Airline
System
(MAS) or Airasia.
The flight would take approximately 2 hours and 35 minutes. You do not
have to worry about catching the flight because both of the airlines
provides 5 flights daily to Kota Kinabalu.
The differences between the two airlines is:
Malaysia
Airline
System (MAS) is a national
carrier, which will arrive in the main terminal Kota Kinabalu
International Airport (KKIA), whereby Airasia, a low cost carrier will
arrive at Terminal 2. (Technically, it is the same airport, but the
place where the plane park and the exit of the passenger is different).
If somebody is picking you up there, please remind them about this.
Airasia
is cheaper, free seating, you have to buy meals on board and they do
not have business or first class. You have to pay MAS a bit more, but
you would get a dedicated seat, meals and you could choose to fly
business class.
Well, you can
choose anyone that you like. Go to their website, compare the prices
and you could make an online booking! In
conclusion, if you have
extra
cash, fly MAS. If not, take Airasia.
Kota Kinabalu
can also be reached by direct flight from Singapore, Hong Kong, Manila,
Brunei and Taipei.
When you arrive
in Kota Kinabalu, it is better for you to have somewhere to rest first
before continuing your journey to Kinabalu
Park HQ.
Kota Kinabalu
International Airport is about 10km from the heart of Kota Kinabalu
city.
There
are taxi services shuttling from the airport to the city
center. The fare
is about RM10 to RM15. Please use the Airport
Taxi Services
and go to
their counter before taking any taxi. It is much safer, easier and the
fare is pretty standard.
There are also a
lot
of places for you to choose to spend your night sleep, from
traveler's/backpackers lodges to
five star hotel. You could find a place to stay in Kota Kinabalu in the
next few pages. It is actually nice for you to have a break
after traveling from far to Kota Kinabalu.
FROM
KOTA KINABALU TO KINABALU PARK HQ
From Kota Kinabalu (KK), local buses run once a day to Ranau
from the
main outstation bus stop in town, passing the entrance to the Kinabalu
Park HQ on the way. The buses leave KK at around 7.00am reaching the
Kinabalu park HQ at about 10.00am. It cost about RM15 to RM20 per
person.
Car rentals can be arranged through major hotels in KK. At the time of
writing, taxis to Ranau charge RM80 per taxi to Kinabalu Park HQ and
take a maximum 4 passengers. They leave from the same outstation bus
stop before 8.00am. You can negotiate for the taxi to pick you up from
Kinabalu park HQ for your return if you hire the whole taxi.
It is
a van! But
they call it bus in here
It is an uphill
and winding journey.
If you are prone to get
motion sickness, please bring along some
medication with you. Otherwise, they might have to clean up your
vomits.
If you would
like to hire a car for
your journey, try the Mayflower
Car Rental. It is a Malaysian
base
company dealing with car rental for self drive, chauffeur drive and fun
drive. They have 2 offices in Kota Kinabalu, one in the airport and
another one in Wisma Sabah (the same building with Sutera Sanctuary
Lodge). Check out what they have got to offer!
how far is the lodge from the park's entrance? km or/and hour, thx
ben stephen penampang
Posted at 3:25pm on Friday, February 15th, 2008
kinabalu mount got it all for you...you there to take the challenge.....its beautiful when you are at top of it,you will enjoy the scene and the invironment