Borneo Safari 16th 2006 International Off Road Challenge

Site Category : Adventures/Sports Tourism, Cultural and Environment Assistant Minister Datuk Karim Bujang flagged off the event in front of the Sabah Tourism Board (STB) office in Jalan Gaya on 29 October 2006. Chairman of STB, Tengku Datuk Zainal Adlin and Chairman of the Kota Kinabalu Four Wheel Drive Club (KKFWDC), Mr James Wong were also present at the flagging off. There are 75 vehicles altogether participating in the event, but only 14 vehicles are actually competing in the special Stages (SS) and other events. The rest are only support teams and observers/journalists. The 8-day event will pass throught the following places: Tuaran,Telupid,Deramakot Reserve, Tongod,Kg. Sinua and Trusmadi. The convoy will swing back after reaching Ranau and head back to KK passing through Tambunan. The number of vehicles is much lesser than those of the previous years because the organisers have to limit the number this time as the convoy will be passing through the Deramakot Reserve, steps are being taken to reduce the possible damages to the environment. Limiting the number of participating vehicles being one of them. The huge number of comments to this post are advertisement which are not relevant to this aricle.Read them only when you have nothing better to do.

Nexus Hotel/Karambunai Resort Golf Club

Guess it's high time to start introducing some luxurious places found in Sabah in order to cater for visitors who do not mind paying extra for first class facilities. Let's start with the Nexus Hotel/Karambunai Resort Golf Club which lies leisurely on the shore of the South China Sea, and is approximately a 30-minute drive from the city center and a 40-minute drive from the Kota Kinabalu International Airport. The resort has a white sandy beach and the surrounding rainforests are well preserved to give the guests a comfortable sense of serene and tranquil, away from the hassle and bustle of the city. Luxurious accommodations at Nexus Resort include the 235 room Borneo Villa, nestled within a cluster of 7 two-storey buildings, amid a lush tropical garden. The 5-storey Oceanville offers tastefully stylish accommodations, with each guestroom unveiling private balconies that afford panoramic vistas of beach and cobalt blue seas wing was built to compliment the serene kampung charms of the Borneo Villa guestrooms. Apart from the 18-hole golf course, Nexus has the following facilities : RESTAURANTS & BARS: Penyu All Day Dining The Kingfisher Olive Mediterranean Restaurant Noble House Darlin' Entertainment Club The Horizon Lobby Lounge Golfer Lounge OTHER HOTEL FACILITIES AND SERVICES: Sports & Recreation : 3 swimming pools, an outdoor jacuzzi, a gymnasium, tennis, and squash court, cycling, aerobics, horse riding, archery, beach volleyball, mini soccer and Tai Chi lessson. Rainforest nature walks in the hotel 75-acre nature park. Karmabunai Resorts Golf Club : The 18-hole championship course designed by Ronald Fream Design Gropu Banquet : 1 Grand Ballroom, 3 ballrooms and 8 meeting rooms, catering up to 2,300 persons reception-style, 1,080 banquet-style and 800 classroom-style. Rates : From RM 440

Winners of 20th Mt Kinabalu International Climbathon Men Open

Ricardo Mejia of Mexico retains his title for the Mt Kinabalu International Climbathon by beating more than 130 runners from 21 countires on Sunday. This win also enables him to take the crown of the 7-series Buff- Skyrunner World Series Federation For Sports At Altitude 2006, after collecting 400 points in all. 43-year old Ricardo had won the title (Mt Kinabalu Climbathon) on 2001 and 2005. The second place goes to a local runner, Mius Balinting, who is a mere 500m behind Ricardo on the asphalt road at home stretch. 37-year old Mius plants vegetables in his own small plot of land on the foot hill of Mt Kinabalu when not competing. Incidentally, Mius is the first local runner who comes closest to clinching the title after 10 years. The title was won by Guianus Salagan, (who is in 9th position this year), 10 years ago when there were not so many competitors from overseas. Another Sabahan, Safrey Sumping (a moutanin guide), wins the third position. The excellent performance by Mius and Safrey has spurred the local sports authority to sit up and starts to organise programs to revive the interests of this sport and to relive our past glory, hopefully. Below is a list of the top 10 of the event :

Position	Name	Country	Clocked
1	Ricardo Mejia	Mexico	2:50:52
2	Mius bin Balinting	Malaysia	2:51:44
3	Safrey Sumping	Malaysia	2:53:22
4	Tadao Yokoyama	Japan	2:54:02
5	Dapit Fulvio	Italy	2:54:43
6	Agusti Roc Amador	Spain	2:55:44
7	Marco Rusconi	Italy	2:56:08
8	Jessed Hemandex Gispert	Spain	2:58:23
9	Guianus Salagan	Malaysia	3:03:48
10	Madamin Ghun	Malaysia	3:04:37
11	Sapirin Sumping	Malaysia	3:04:54

Winners Of TM 20th Mt Kinabalu Internatinal Climbathon

Reigning champion Anna Pichtrova of Czech Republic ,wins the Mt Kinabalu International Climbathon Women Open category title for the fifth time this year. Her team mate Iva Milesova wins the second place. Briton Dr Angela Mudge is in third place, while French Corine Farve is fourth, missed by merely one second. Nonetheless, this result enables Dr Angela to win the title for the 7-series Buff World Skyrunner Circuit. Mt Kinabalu Climbathon is the last and decisive leg of the series. In the Men Veteran category, Sarun Sadi is the champion. Francis Lane Cosgrave is second and Taising Bukolong is third. The Men Open Category will be held tomorrow. Below is a list of the top 10 of the Women Open event :

Position	Name	Country	Clocked
1	Anna Picthrova	Czech Republic	3:08:48
2	Iva Milesova	Czech Republic	3:14:42
3	Dr Angela Mudge	Great Britain	3:28:25
4	Corrine Favre	France	3:28:26
5	Daniela Vassali	Spain	3:33:34
6	Merlita Vailoces Aria	Philippines	3:38:30
7	Ester Hernandez	Spain	3:39:55
8	Danny Kuilin	Malaysia	3:44:04
9	Estaphanie Jimenez	Andorra	3:47:56
10	Han Zhenying	China	- -

Top 10 results for Men Veteran category not available. Will update as soon as it becomes available.

Travel To Sabah Will Be Easy Again

Flight arrangement to Sabah will be back to normal soon, making it easy for people to visit Sabah again. Read more...

Borneo 4WD Cross Country Challenge

Site Category : Adventures/Sports The Kinabalu Four Wheel Drive Club (KFWDC) is making plans to shift the racing grounds for this year's event namely, the 16th Borneo 4WD Cross Country Challenge, to a new location. The Chairman of KFWDC, James Wong, said the new venue will in the heart of Sabah. It is at the upstream of the Kinabatangan River in the Deramakot Forest Reserve. He said this change is due to the requests from the off-road enthusiasts who prticipated in past events. They find that passing through oil palm estates and jungles year after year is no longer thrilling enough for them. There are also other changes beside changing the venue, the registration fees will be raised to limit the number of participants because the event will be held in a forest reserve and damages to the environment need to be kept at a minimum. With a large number of participants this will be difficult to achieve. The number of vehicles will be limited also. More tests and challenges will be introduced and this time they will be passing through virgin jungles. James and a team who acted as path finder had ventured into the planned venue to mark a new route for this event. They were very excited at they found. The reserve covers an area of over 55,000 hectares, many wild life habitants were encountered. There are estimated at about 1,000 orang utans, wild bears, deers, elephants and many species of fauna and flora. Another team of path finder is currently try to establish a route to link the forest reserve to Donggu then connect to Keningau. So far they have come across some small streams, but they will expect to discover a few unpoluted rivers in Tongod during the next trip the team explores the reserve again. The 16th Borneo 4WD Cross Country Challenge is tentatively fixed at October 29 to November 5 2006. Teams from Japan, a regular in this event, have indicated that they will bring along their own vehicles. Teams from West Malaysia and Sarawak are likely to do the same too. Please register early to avoid disappointment!

Tabin Wildlife Conservation Conquest

Site Category : Wild Life Reserve Tabin is near Lahad Datu which is about 45-minutes travel by air away from Kota Kinabalu. Malayisa's largest wildlife reserve is located at Tabin.In order to attract visitors and make the public to be aware of the importance of wildlife reserves, an interesting and action-packed competition is held within the largest wildlife reserve in Malaysia.Fun filled activities including :

• Test of skills on traditional weapons
• Jungle running with obstacles
• Treasure hunting
• The unique mud man parade

This 2-day 1- night event has specially designed a race route that allows participants to discover the many facet of Tabin’s beauty and raise their awareness on environment and nature conservation. Requiring only moderate degree of physical fitness, contestants are requied to cover their bodies and faces, decorating their hairs with flowers and leaves. Several of the contestants were foreign visitors from countries like the UK, France who initially intended just to watch the events but were tempted by the promises of great funs and persuded to take part eventually. When asked they admited were glad that they participated because it was good fun. The conquest crowns the annual Tabin Mud King, Mud Queen and Mud Warrior as the best contestants..

The 20th TM Mt Kinabalu International Climbathon 2006

Site Category : Adventures/Sports The 20th (TM) Mt Kinabalu International Climbathon 2006 is open for registration now. All local and overseas high altitude racing enthusiasts are urged to register early to avoid disappointment Acclaimed as world’s toughest racing on high altitudes event, The 20th TM Mt Kinabalu International Climbathon 2006 is fixed to be held on September 30 and October 01 2006. The event categories on the first day will be the Men Veteran category and the Women Open category, while that on the second day will be the Men Open category. Please note that there will be a new restriction to be introduced this year, that is: the climbathon will cap at 150 (one hundred and fifty persons only). This is to prevent excessive damages to the fragile vegetations on both sides of mountain path leading to the summit that may incur if too many people tramping on the path at any one time are allowed. The Secretary of the organizing committee, Zachary Mobijohn, disclosed the above new rule and reiterated that late comers will be rejected once the maximum number (150) of participants is reached. This annual race, which tests one’s courage and ultimate body strength, attracted many world’s top high altitudes racers to face the challenges offered by this 4095.2 meters high Mt Kinabalu yearly. Another important reason for them to take part in this event is because it is sanctioned by the 7-series Federation for Sport at Altitude’s (FSA) Skyrunning World Championship. This happens to be the final leg of the 7-series circuit, hence the deciding and crucial race. It is learned that Mt Kinabalu is one of the few mountains, which does not require special kills and equipment to surmount, in the world. The distance for each race category is 21 km which has its starting point at the Kinabalu National Park, up the summit and return back to the finish line also at the National Park. The competitors will face challenges from the nature such as wet grounds, precarious cliffs, wooden stair-steps, bridges, steep high grounds etc. On top of that, this event is held during the rainy season each year, making it a true long torturous test for all the contestants. Therefore only the fittest and strongest willed challengers will become the final victors. The new sponsorer, Telekom Malaysia (TM), which replaces the previous long-time sponsorer, Malaysia Airline System (MAS), will donate RM30,000.00 cash prizes and RM10,000.00 worth in kinds. Those who are interested to participate please obtain the registration forms from the counters of

• Sabah Tourism Promotion Board
• Sabah Sri Tours Sdn Bhd

Or from this URL : http://www.sabahtourism.com/climbathon06/index.html For further information please contact through phone : 6088-232121 (Mr Zachary MobiJohn) Or E-mail balwant@sabahtourism.com

Sabah Tea Adventures Race (STAR)

Site Category : Adventures Sports The 4th Sabah Tea Adventures Race (STAR) organised by the Sabah Tea Plantations Sdn Bhd was a great success. It attarcted participants from the neighbouring countries like Australia,Japan,Korea, Singapore, Indonesia and Philippines. As this race was held in the cool and scenic settings of the tea plantations at Kundasang on the foot hills of majestic Mount Kinabalu, family members of many competitors accompanied them here. They will explore the scenery and rainforests while their loved ones are testing their cycling skills and speed amongst the green hills. The Culture, Tourism and Environment Minister, Datuk Chong Kah Kiat, suggested that the organising committee should consider holding a mini carnival on the side, showing performances by cultural groups, putting up stalls of handicrafts, local cuisines and fruits to attract more family memebers to come with the competitors.

Sipadan Project Scrapped

Good News! The Sabah state cabinet has decided to scrap the RM4.5 milion project on the Sipadan Island which caused damages to the surrounding environment, especially the coral reefs. The authorithy concerned claims that this amount was planned to provide the barest minimum of facility for divers. If that was true the planned wash-room will be most expensive one in the whole world. Imagine, a RM4.5 millions wash-room! Guess it will be costlier than purchasing a few decompression chambers. The authorithy should understand that tourists are attracted here by our natural senery, unique multi-racial cultures and the variety of local exotic cuisines, not by man-made posh hotels and facilities. Definitely we are in no position to compete with reputable hoteliers in other parts of the world in offering high quality hotels services and facilities. We should know our limitations as well as strong points, stop wasting money on building expensive hotels and resorts, use the money wisely to improve and protect our nature and environment, in turns attract more visitors who bring in revenues to us.

Layang-layang Resthouse Cum Restaurant Project Scrapped

The Sabah state cabinet met last week and the abandoned resthouse cum restaurant project 9000 feet up on Mount Kinabalu was also discussed, and it decided to terminate the project permanently and the site is to be reverted back to its original state. It is a big relief to nature lovers in Sabah because it was disclosed that the project would have put up a 2 1/2 storey high building requiring balsting on the mountain's granite to lay the foundation of the building. It is insane! Moreover, the allocated cost is RM4.3 millions. Surely there are better ways to use this kind of money, like building better bridges or roads which do not collapse easily during raining seasons. Mother nature has been very kind to us Sabahans, blessing us with wonderful tourist spots, but we do not know how to appreciate them and to treasure them. It is really sad. What the authority should consider doing is to build several zinc-sheet huts at strategic spots along the climbers' trail. It will be much more cost effective, environmental friendly and convenient to climbers. After the Sipadan Island case and now this one, how many more surprises are in store for us?

Masilau Natural Resort

Site Category : Mountain Resort Masilau is also situated on the foot hill of Mount Kinabalu. But it is different because there is a golf course nearby, which obviously is not owned by the resort because there is no mention about it in the resort owner's website. Nestled at the foot of the magnificent Mount Kinabalu at 2,000 metres above sea level within the World Heritage Site, Mesilau Nature Resort promises to enchant visitors with its cool temperate climate and serene surroundings as an amazing nature's paradise. Climbers especially repeat climbers, may now try the new and challenging trail to Mount Kinabalu from this point. The bio-diversity of the flora and fauna found here makes Mesilau a haven for naturalists. The world's largest pitcher plant, the "Nepenthes Rajah" grows in abundance here. Cool and refreshing, Mesilau is an ideal venue for motivational training, seminars, meetings and even meditation.

There are many choices of accommodations available here :

1. Rest House
   • Dormitory Bunk Beds Common Lounge, Common Bathroom, Kitchen Cooking Facilities (upon request)
2. Lodge
   • 3 bedrooms with heater Living Area, Attached Bathroom, Heater Shower.
3. Lodge
   • 2 bedrooms (1queen-sized bed / 1 king-sized bed) Living & Dining Area, Room Heater, Bathroom, Heated Shower Kitchen

Activities arranged :

• Nephenthes Rajah Natural Trail (9:00am - 4:00pm) - subject to fee
• Guided Nature Walk within the Resort - subject to fee
• Monday to Friday - 9:30am, 11.00am, 2.00pm
• Sat, Sun, School & Public Holiday - 7:30am, 11.3am, 2.00pm
• Outdoor Games for Rental: Volley ball & Sepak Takraw - subject to fee
• Indoor Games for Rental : Carom / Scrabble / Chess / Checkers
• Others : Souvenir Shops, Renanthera Restaurant, Function Room (accommodates up to 120 persons Theatre Style)

Here's a view of Mount Kinabalu from the resort :

Picture by Doris Doris's photo website

Tour Operator :

Sutera Sanctuary Lodges

Good News : Sipadan Remains Open

The Sabah Culture Environment Tourism Minister, Datuk Chong Kah Kiat announced that the world-famous diving spot - Sipadan Island is open to visitors until the relevant authorities meet and decide on the next course of action to take regarding the running of the island.
As a precaution, please double confirm with your tour operator before flying in. You will never know, the stands of our officers here are as changable as the local weather!
And please, please obtain a permit for visiting the Sipadan island. This is actually the responbility of your tour operator, but be aware that this is the most important prequisition for your visit.

Sipadan Island Closed Indefinitely

The Sipadan Island will be closed to all visitors indefinitely due to extensive damages to the eco-system caused by an unauthorised barge carrying heavy building materials meant for construction works on the island. Read more....... (View Sipadan Island)

Sabah Fest 2006

Sabah Fest 2006 has begun. It was officiated by Head Of State Of Sabah, TYT Tun Ahmadshah Abdullah in the presence of the Chief Minister of Sabah Datuk Musa Aman and Deputy CM cum Minister of Tourism Datuk Chong Kah Kiat. It will run from May 6 until May 14. Cultural shows including traditional dances, songs and handicrafts by the 30+ ethnic groups in Sabah will be performed at the various shopping complexes/malls around Sabah. Visitors (foreign and local) are welcomed to sample the various traditional cookings available at the stores which will be put up by the organising body at each of the venue where such shows are held. The month May, is a month of celebrations in Sabah because Kaamatan, the most important festival for the largest ethnic group in Sabah - the Kadazandusun, will be celebrated at 30th & 31st of May every year. Starting at early of the month almost every town with Kadazandusun residents will take turns to hold Tamu (open air gatherings), where people of all races in Sabah will come out to watch dance performance, beauty contests, take part in rice wine drinking, consuming traditional home cookings. And on the actual days of Kaamatan (30th & 31st) the Tamu Besar (Grand Gathering) will be held. The role of playing host to the Tamu Besar will be rotated between the major towns each year. The Kaamatan (Harvest Festival) is to give thanks to the Rice Goddess after a boundiful harvest in May when the harvest season is just over for the year. But, please do not confuse the Sabah Fest with the Kaamatan (Harvest Festival), some ethnic groups in Sabah do not celebrate the Kaamatan. The Sabah Fest is held in May because the air is full of joy this particular month.

Cures For Cancer,AIDS And Malaria Found in Borneo Rainforest

Site Category : Rainforests It is reported in the Sabah local papers that certain trees found in the rainforest on the Borneo island may provide the keys to produce cures for the most deadly human diseases - Cancer, Aids and Malaria. The new WWF report was compiled by associate professor with Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Dr Menno Schilthuizen. He said in his report that an Australian pharmaceutical company has identified a promising anti-cancer substance in a shrub in Sarawak. A compound present in the plant Aglaia leptantha has been found to effectively kill 20 kinds of human cancer cells in laboratory tests, including those that cause brain and breast cancer, and melanoma. Scientists also found a unique chemical in latex produced by the Bintangor tree. The compound, Calanolide A, that appears to be effective against the repication of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), as well as the tuberculosis bacterium, which affects many AIDS patients. The discovery is particularly important as, to date, no single drug has been able to treat both HIV and TB. If clinically proven, Calanolide A, could be a major development for the health of many millions worldwide. The report further said that researchers found a powerful and previously unknown anti-malarial agent in the bark of a local tree, Lansium domesticum, traditionally used by the Kenyah people of Kalimantan to treat malaria. The substance, a triterpenoid - apparently kills the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum in laboratory tests. However,the Chief Executive Director of WWF-Malaysia, Dr Mikaail Kavanagh, fears that these new discoveries will disappear together with the rainforest from the heart of Borneo if they are not protected. He reiterated that he hoped the 3 Borneoan countries namely Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei will sign the " Heart Of Borneo Declaration" which aims to preserve approximately 220,000 sq km of equatorial forests and numerous wildlife species.

Origin Of The Dragon Boat Race In Malaysia

Further to my previous entry on the Dragon Boat Competition, I wish to add a background story about the origin of the dragon boat race for the benefit of those readers who did not know about it already. At the biginning the dargon boat race was solely a Chinese affair, celebrated by the early migrants from China on the 5th day of the 5th month of the lunar calender every year. This is the Duan Wu Festival (端午节), some simply call it the "rice dumpling festival" becuase every Chinese household must cook rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves called "zong"(粽) this particular day. As Malaysia being a multi-racial,multi-cultures country, this annual event slowly saw the participation from other communities and eventually become what it is today. Any way, let's get back to the story about how the dragon boat race was started. More than a thousand years ago in China, (I forgot in what dynasty it was already) there was this patriotic poet named Qu Yuan(屈原) was serving as a high ranking official in the Emperor's court. He was very worried and frustrated by the fact that the Emperor was surrounded by corrupt officials, and wise and hosnest officials like Qu Yuan were sidelined. As a result of following the ill advices given by the corrupt officials, the Emperor had run the country poorly and the people lived in dire hardship. Qu Yuan risked his life to offer his advice to the Emperor, the Emperor was annoyed and sent him into exile to a backward place at the border. Utterly disappointed and sad, Qu Yuan commited suicide by throwing himself into a river. On hearing this sad news, the village folks raced to the middle of the river on boats trying to rescue him or at least to recover his body. They throw many "zong" (粽) into the river so that the fish will feed on the zong and not damage the body of their beloved poet, Qu Yuan. The people carry out the same act of racing on boats in the river and throwing zongs into the river on the day Qu Yuan died, ie. the 5th day of the 5th month of the lunar calender every year. Over the years this performance has spread to the whole of China and even to overseas. There are also significant modifications taking place along the way, the zongs though are still a must every year, but they are landed in the stomach of the people instead in the rivers nowadays. And people started to carve decorations on the boats for the race, being Chinese their favourite figure is always the dragon, so there was a dragon on almost every boat, hence the name "Dragon Boat Race" was coined. This race has become an international event now but it is always good to know how it started.

Sabah Dragon Boat Competition

Site Category : Adventures/Sports The Sabah Dragon Boat Competition will be held at the Likas Bay, Kota Kinabalu, on a grand scale this year. The 21st Sabah Dragon Boat Competition 2006 will see very keen contest amongst the participating teams because Indonesia, Japan, Australia and Hongkong have shown their intention of sending teams to take part this year. The secretary of the Organising Committee, Zahcary Mobijohn disclosed this yestaerday. He said that these 4 countries had expressed their intention of participating, and they had requested relevant information on signing up already. The Sabah Dragon Boat Competition is an annual tournament jointly organised by Sabah Chinese Cultural Association, Sabah Tourism Board and Seri Travel Sabah Sdn Bhd. It will be held on a grand scale at Likas Bay on June 18 2006. There will be a new cagetory for this year's event - the Female category. This is to encourage all-female teams to participate. Zahcary said that a team from South Australia will be taking part in this event for the 4th consecutive year. The unique part about this team is because they won the Breast Cancer category challenge trophy in the 25th Penang International Dragon Boat Festival, and all their team members are survivals of breast cancer and supporters. They are very active in promoting awareness among women about breast cancer and urging them to do regular check ups. The organising committee hopes that this unique team will bring along another 3 all-female teams to take part in this particular category. He also hopes there will be many local all-female teams to participate. Although there will not be any cash prizes for this category, the Sabah Chinese Cultural Association will sponsore a challenge trophy for the winner. Besides, the Organising Committee agrees to revive the Kinabalu Challenge Cup category for males below 21, the Sabah Tourism Cup for all tour operators, hotels, travel agents, tour packages organisers. In summary, below are the categories :

	Category	Participants
	Open	Males above 21
	All-female	Female
	Kinabalu Challenge Cup	Males below 21
	Tourism Cup	Tour operators,hotel employees,travel agents

There were 52 teams including Brunei, Hongkong, Indonesia, China, Australia and local teams taking part last year. Hopefully there will be more than that this year. Any team interested to join please request for entry forms from Sabah Tourism Board at Gaya Street or Seri Travel Agency Sabah Sdn Bhd. Alternatively, visit the website below : Sabah Tourism Board Tel : 6088-232121/6013-8504007 (Zahcary Mobijohn)

Semporna Water Festival

The 13th REGATTA LEPA annual water festival will be celebrated by the Bajau ethnic group of Sabah east coast to commemorate the use of Lepa at Semporna on April 15-16 2006. This water festival has being passed on to the Bajau by their great great grand fathers since time immemorial. Lepa in the Bajau dialect means "boat", this festival has got some thing to do with boats, naturally. Yes, the high light of the event is to choose the most dazzling Lepa from the beautifully built, colourfully adorned lepas which are lined up at the waterfront. On the decks of these colourful lepas are smiling dancers and musicians dressed in equally colourful traditional attires. Beside the main attraction, there are also other exciting activities like "lumba dayung" - rowing competition, tug-of-war, duck catching, cultural show and many more awaits visitors. All are invited to come to witness this colourful event and celebrate this age-old tradition!

East Coast of Sabah,Semporna is to the east of Tawau Colourful Bajau dancers onboard colourful Lepa How to get to Semporna.....

Mode of transport	Fares	Duration
From KK to Semporna by air-conditioned Express bus	RM58.00/person	9 hours
Daily flights by MAS kk-Tawau	Check with nearest trevel agent	45 minutes
From Tawau to Semporna either by Taxi or Mini bus	RM60-Rm100(Taxi) RM12-RM20 (Mini bus)	1 hour 45 minutes 1 hour 45 minutes

Where to stay....

• Anung Hayat Resort
• SeaFest Hotel
• Semporna Holiday Resort
• Dragon Inn

For details please contact : Balwant Singh Kler Tel : 6089-781518,6088-232121 Fax : 6089-781472,6088-265540 Email : balwant@sabahtourism.com

Kiulu 4M Challenge

ite Category : Adventures/Sports The 4M Challenge will be held on May 7 2006 at 7:00am. The venue of this challenge is again at Kiulu - remember the White Water Rafting Adventures (Refer entry : 1/21/2006 View) and the Open 4x4 Jamboree Contest(Refer entry : 3/07/2006 View) ? The 4M Challenge is an annual traditional event for the local natives to test their physical fitness, endurance and survival skills. 4M stands for the four compulsory events because the 4 events spoken in local dialects all begin with the letter "M", namely Manangkus (Running for a distance of 6km), Mamangkar(Bamboo rafting for a distance of 5km), Manampatau(Swimming with a lenght of bamboo for a distance of 1.3km) and Mamarampanau(Walking on bamboo silts for a distance of 0.2km), hence 4M...:=)

Route map of Kiulu 4M Challenge The 4 Events : Walking on silts(top left),Bamboo rafting (top right), Swimming with bamboo lenght(bottom left),Running(bottom right) Come and participate in this traditional sports and have some splashing funs. There are several categories to choose from :

• Mixed Open
• Junior Open
• X - treme 5M

How to get to Kiulu :

Mode of transport	Duration	Fares
From KK to Tamparuli (Wawasan Bus Terminal)	1 1/2 hours	RM4.00/person
Bus Interchange at Tamparuli to kiulu	30 minutes	RM2.00/person

Where to stay : MitAbang Homestay Kampung Tulung-Mantab Kampung Pukak Homestay For details please contact : Ariffin Gadait (Organising Chairman) Tel : 6088-225752,6088-255972 Fax : 6088-262198 e-mail :Ariffin.Gadait@sabah.gov.my