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-   -   Sarawak v Khao Sok (https://www.fodors.com/community/asia/sarawak-v-khao-sok-1014234/)

Prachuap May 13th, 2014 04:20 PM

Sarawak v Khao Sok
 
Which area has the better wildlife and treks?

Kathie May 13th, 2014 09:49 PM

Do do realize you aren't making a fair comparison -right? - a park vs. a whole province on the island of Borneo. And if you want wildlife in Borneo, you'd be better off in Sabah. Thailand in general is not famed for it's wildlife (other than night life), while Borneo is famed for wildlife.

LancasterLad May 13th, 2014 10:05 PM

Kathie. There's plenty of wildlife in Sarawak. Bako National Park to start with...

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Ba...w=1024&bih=653

http://www.sarawakforestry.com/htm/snp-np-bako.html

...and it's easy to reach from Kuching by local bus, and then speed boat. After you've seen a crocodile basking on a sand dune along the way it's slightly unsettling being dropped off a 100 yards from the beach and having to wade ashore.

A troop of nasty macaque monkeys stole our breakfast!

Kathie May 13th, 2014 10:32 PM

Of course there is plenty of wildlife in Sarawak. Not as much as in Sabah, but it's a fine destination for wildlife.

LancasterLad May 13th, 2014 10:44 PM

@ Kathie<<<Thailand in general is not famed for it's wildlife (other than night life)>>>

Looks life you might spend a bit too much time in Bangkok...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ve_to_Thailand

Seek and ye shalt find. You only see wildlife in Borneo if you go looking for it, same as most places.

Prachuap May 13th, 2014 10:51 PM

I thought Sarawak more than Sabah. So what is Bako like? Decent rooms to stay in?

Which np in Sabah is best for animals?

Thanks for any input.

Prachuap May 13th, 2014 10:52 PM

^ Pattaya has lots of wildlife haha

Kathie May 13th, 2014 11:00 PM

The Danum Valley is the best protected wildlife area in Sabah, but there are many places in Sabah (and in Sarawak) to see wildlife.

LancasterLad May 13th, 2014 11:02 PM

Only went to Bako NP for a day out from Kuching. Have a look on the link I posted a few minutes ago about the Park...

http://www.sarawakforestry.com/htm/snp-np-bako.html

or see the TA reviews...

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowFor...k_Sarawak.html

Prachuap May 14th, 2014 12:50 AM

A score out of 10 would be if possible.

I will google Danum. Never heard of it.

Treepol May 14th, 2014 01:07 AM

Here are links to 2 outstanding reports of safaris to Sabah wildlife destinations:

http://safaritalk.net/topic/12548-bi...-sabah-borneo/

and

http://safaritalk.net/topic/10674-bo...life-trekking/

konniandmatt May 14th, 2014 04:31 AM

Hi Prachuap,
I’d opt for Sarawak (even before Sabah). You’ll find friendly native people, great nature and a lot of National Parks. Besides Bako, which is close to Kuching, there is Gunung Gading, where there are nice treks too, please have a look at our travel notes with many pictures: http://konniandmatt.blogspot.ca/2009...-jul-2009.html.
Mulu National Park is another very cool option, you could do the pinnacles trek, it is hard though: http://www.konniandmatt.blogspot.ca/...-sep-2009.html
All NP's in Sarawak have decent accommodation, mostly wooden bungalows, when we were there. Bako was not the cleanest though, because very frequented.
One more thing, there is the Semengoh Wildlife Centre/Orang Utan sanctuary in Sarawak, easy to reach by local bus from Kuching and very affordable to visit (pls find the description at the bottom of the page of our travel notes): http://www.konniandmatt.blogspot.ca/...3-kuching.html
Enjoy your travels
Cheers, Konni.
www.konniandmatt.blogspot.com

crellston May 14th, 2014 09:48 AM

I probably would not choose either for wildlife but Sarawak has much more in terms of trekking opportunities. Mulu, as mentioned above is excellent ( although flying in we were horrified by the amount of deforestation that had taken place and that was 15 years ago. There is also some grey trekking in the Kelabit highlands around Bario.

cokesmith May 15th, 2014 04:45 AM

Thailand has pretty good wildlife options with plenty of trekking opportunities as well. Sabah definitely has more to offer for fauna than Sarawak but I am not sure how flexible your plans are. Here are a couple of our trip reports - we travel both areas...

http://cokesmithphototravel.com/expe...nasserim-.html

http://cokesmithphototravel.com/expe...to-borneo.html

http://cokesmithphototravel.com/expe...-thailand.html

Prachuap May 16th, 2014 04:56 PM

Thanks for those outstanding photos. Terrific stuff.

JayEx Jul 10th, 2014 01:25 AM

Never been to Borneo but it must be amazing. But i been a few times to Khao Sok National Park. In my opinion the town itself is overrun by tourists. Thats why i always go for a trip to the Cheow Lan Lake. I had the chance to see Long Tail Macaques, Langures, Gibbons, Monitor Lizzards, Wild Buffaloes , countless snakes and birds and even a Wild Elephant on my last trip !

I used to book with these guys they provided me a nice Guide and arranged my trip to the Wild Life sanctuary zone on the end of the Lake.

http://khaosoklake.com/about-khao-so...heow-lan-lake/

Additionally I cant wait to see Borneo for comparison ! :)

Best wishes Jay


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