Sightseeing

0.5 km (6 min walk) - Every Sunday morning, the length of Gaya Street is closed off to traffic to make way for the Fair. Shop for anything under shady trees and over-sized umbrellas, like batik sarongs, fruits and flowers, arts and craft, footwear, antiques and souvenirs, cakes, even pets and herbs!. This is the best place to experience the cross-section of the local population when entire families enjoy a Sunday outing.

0.5 km (6 min walk) - Situated north of downtown Kota Kinabalu, this quaintly scenic place has an unmistakable historical feel to it—complete with olden days snapshots of Kota Kinabalu city (Jesselton) and vintage red English phone booths. Jesselton Point Waterfront serves as the only ferry terminal for Labuan-bound passengers as well as the main (and cheapest) boat terminal for the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park and Gayana Island.

0.9 km (8 min walk) - Commence your Walk at Padang Merdeka with a very experienced Heritage Guide and continues to Atkinson Clock Tower, Malaysia Monument, War Memorial, City Hall, Gaya Street, Jesselton Hotel, Sabah Tourism Board, Community Centre, Australia Place with vivid & interesting commentaries. Indulge in a localised tea break and bring home your personal copy of the KK Heritage Walk book as souvenir.

1.8 km (10 min walk) - Filipino Market is a dream come true for the bargain hunters. The humble pasar malam is a melting pot of awesome street food, local fruits and vegetables, a separate wet market section and everything else in between.

1.8 km (10 min walk) - You will be spoilt for choice with miles and miles of beautiful sarongs and pareos, an ideal reminder of your tropical holiday in Sabah! Be sure to also check out the glistening and gorgeous pearl jewellery and handicrafts while you are there.

1.9 km (10 min walk) - This Clock Tower has the distinction of being the oldest standing wooden structure in Kota Kinabalu that survived the destruction of Jesselton town during World War II. Till today, it still serves to keep the city’s time.

1.9 km (12 min walk) - Just a couple of minutes walk from the Hotel 7 Suria will bring you to the airy deck where you can get amazing views that extend to the outlying islands of the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park and further.

1.7 km (12 min drive) - Famed night market offering varied Southeast Asian street food cooked & sold from stalls.

5 km (14 min drive) - The mosque can accommodate up to 5,000 worshippers at one time. There is also a special balcony exclusively allocated for Muslim women during prayer time, with room for up to 500. Visitors are advised to adhere by the dress code when visiting places of worship. Avoid visiting on Fridays which is the day of prayer for Muslims.

6.6 km (15 min) - Taking its name from the casuarinas or aru trees that fringe the fine sands, this is where one might get a ringside seat to the greatest sunset on earth every evening when the crimson sun dips slowly into the horizon, leaving the vast skies a brilliant red.

17 km (27 min drive) - In the village, you will be introduced to various traditional homes of Sabahan ethnic communities—the Bajau, Lundayeh, Murut, Rungus and Dusun—which are built by descendants of the tribes which they represent.

19 km (30 min drive) - The park consists of two components: zoological and botanical. The main objective of the park is to become a family-oriented park and the emphasis is put on the Children’s Zoo. 

Among the inhabitants of the zoo (zoological component) are the Borneo Pygmy elephants, Proboscis monkey, Malayan tiger, as well as some different species of deer.

The botanical component, on the other hand; offers visitors the opportunity to go jungle trekking along the botanical trail. The paved trail is about 1.4 kilometers long. However, for leisurely strolls, visitors are only advised to walk halfway along the trail.

85.6 km (1 hour 57 min drive) - A list of plants found here are the infamous Nepenthes rajah; the world’s largest pitcher plant, Nepenthes x sukaibiensis; a natural cross-hybrid between Nepenthes lowii and Nepenthes burbidgae and the enigmatic Paphiopedilum rothschildianum (Rothschild slipper orchid) one of the rarest orchids in the world.

The main attraction at the Park is none other than the majestic Mount Kinabalu, one of the highest mountains in South East Asia standing at 4095.2 metres. Apart from traditional mountain climbing, visitors can also experience the Mountain Torq, the world’s highest and Asia’s first Via Ferrata or ‘iron road’ at 3,200m to 3,800m above sea level. To those who are more adventurous, there are other mountain activities such as Alpine Rock Climbing, Paragliding and also mountain expedition.

99.7 km (2 h 15 min) - The real attraction here is the cattle farm, producing about 900,00 litres of milk per year. The farm is 199 hectars and most of the milking cows are Friesians, the highest milk producers of all cattle breeds.

It is an ideal destination for the whole family, where there are activities such as feeding the calves with bottled milk, feeding goats with grass, how milk is processed as well as the milking process are available for all. If you have ever wondered how milk is made, Desa Cattle Farm is the place for you.