Spirit of Borneo Treks:

Our Spirit of Borneo Trek programs honour the many hundreds of prisoners of war who marched through the jungle from Sandakan to Ranau in 1945. By following in their foosteps, we hope that all those who walk in their memory will gain an appreciation of their indomitable spirit, their bravery and their determination.

Challenge Highlights / Challenge Tour
(12 Days 11 Nights – Full Tour
8 Days 7 Nights – Short Tour)

Photo Gallery : Bauto to Gambaron Maliau To Kapuron Taviu Hill To Liwagu Valley

General Information

This twelve-day tour follows the Death March route from beginning to end, from Sandakan to Ranau, and includes a very interesting two-day trip through Sabah’s interior to Labuan Island, where the POWs are buried in the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery. TYK’s program has been especially designed to show the visitor more of what Sabah has to offer, combining hard physical effort with sightseeing, cultural and historical elements.  It not only caters for the more adventurous traveller with a fairly high level of fitness, it also has great flexibility, allowing all trekkers to choose their own level of physical challenge each day.

Options

Please note that this trek is not for those whose aim is to travel from point A to point B in the fastest possible time. We do not conduct ‘fast, elite’ treks, or set ‘records’.  TYK considers that to do so is an insult to the memory of those who  walked this route in 1945 and perished.  The normal daily schedule has been carefully designed and paced to provide an all-round experience, combining Sabah’s natural beauty with  hard physical and mental effort,  and historical, cultural and spiritual elements, in what is, essentially, a challenging pilgrimage to retrace the footsteps of some of World War 2’s finest heroes. This program also offers an excellent opportunity for common interest groups to develop team building. The various challenges to be overcome each day allow participants to forge strong bonds, as they pull together to discover the true meaning of ‘mateship’.

The Route

DO NOT BE MISLED:

The track opened up by Tham Yau Kong and Lynette Silver follows as closely as is practically possible the route taken by the POWs, retraced and recorded by the Australian Army War Graves team in 1945. Copies of this map, preserved in Australian Archives, are on public display at the Australian Government Commemorative Pavilion at the Sandakan Memorial Park and at the Kundasang War Memorial.

Do not be misled by recent spurious claims, based on a map appearing in a book privately published in 1999, that the POW track passed through Miruru village which, in 1945, was situated on the Labuk River. This was not the path taken by the POWs. It was part of a Japanese supply route along the river, set up in 1942, long before the death march track was cut. There were no villages, at all, on the POW track between Sandakan and Paginatan.

‘Miruru’ is a name given by the Japanese to Taviu Hill and to a tributary of the Taviu River, which they renamed. It does not refer to the village of the same name, a fact confirmed by villagers and the village headman, who stated emphatically in 2005 and again in 2011, that the death march route followed that shown on the 1945 map – along the Taviu and then the Lolosing Rivers.

Unfortunately, the misinformation appearing on the 1999 map was subsequently used to create another map, which was then followed in good faith by a local group organising a commemorative march in 2005. Neither map is correct. On discovering this, in 2006 Tham Yau Kong and his team, with the help of the 1945 map, body recovery data and information obtained from local people who had walked the original track many times, identified the exact route. It follows the Taviu River, before ascending Taviu Hill up the Lolosing ridge. Because of restrictions placed on entry into the Lolosing area (see home page), TYK uses the closest alternate route to ascend Taviu Hill.

Important:

Challenge tour participants aged over 55 years, or those carrying additional weight, are required to provide a statement from a medical practitioner attesting that they have achieved a level of fitness necessary to walk for at least three hours, uphill, in humid, tropical heat. This is a minimum requirement. We advise trekkers not used to tropical conditions to consider arriving a day or two early, to help acclimatise. All walkers can choose to omit a sector, or sectors, on any day. However, the Challenge Highlight Walk scheduled for Day 6 must be completed, as there are no easy evacuation points. The final decision regarding fitness of any participant on any sector on any day lies with the trek leader. While trekking, the accommodation for all tours is in comfortable rest houses, with bathroom facilities. It is essential, in tropical heat, for trekkers to be sufficiently rested at the end of each day. Trekking times are approximate and are subject to weather and track conditions and physical fitness of the party.

A word of caution:

Before you sign up for a trek with any tour company, make sure that the local company facilitating the trek holds a current and valid tour operator’s licence, issued by the Sabah government, and employs an adequate number of fully-trained and experienced guides.  To help ensure your safety  and well-being, TYK employs only fully licensed tour guides and, while trekking, highly-skilled jungle and mountain guides – usually one for every two trekkers. Details of TYK’s tour operating licence appear at the end of this web page.

Basic requirements for trek tours:

All participants must ensure that they have adequate travel insurance.

Basic Itinerary:

Note: Information and instruction sheets, along with a detailed daily schedule, will be emailed to trekkers, once the booking is confirmed.

B =breakfast, L = lunch, D = dinner

Day 1: (D)

Your TYK adventure begins with your arrival at Sandakan Airport, where  you will be met by a member of the team and transferred to the Hotel Sandakan in the centre of the old town.  After checking in, the remainder of the afternoon is free until a briefing in the hotel lobby at 6 pm, followed by dinner at a top local restaurant. Spend the intervening hours resting, exploring the markets,  strolling down to the waterfront for a relaxing drink, or visiting the nearby Museum, which houses a fantastic collection of black and white photographs, taken by American adventurers in the 1920s and 30s.

Day 2: (all meals)

After a buffet breakfast and check out, we visit the stone, heritage-listed St Michael’s Church with its  magnificent stained-glass Windows of Remembrance. It was here that many of the POWs spent the night before they walked the eight miles to the Sandakan Camp. We follow their route to the old camp site, now a peaceful memorial park, where there is ample time to inspect the various relics, as well as the beautiful commemorative pavilion. After lunch in a nearby restaurant we depart for the Kinabatangan River, checking into the Lodge in time for the afternoon river cruise. The river, renowned for its wildlife, is home to orang utans, proboscis and other monkeys, reptiles, crocodiles and a variety of exotic birds including the hornbill. You may be fortunate enough to see pygmy elephants, which also frequent the area.

Day 3: (all meals)

After an early breakfast, depart by road for Bauto, where the six-day trek begins  with a steep climb along a jungle track above the Labuk River, and a fairly challenging descent through thick rainforest. After lunch, highlight walkers  transfer to the comfortably appointed Forestry  rest house, our accommodation for the next three nights, leaving challenge walkers to tackle another  steep ascent and descent. Dinner is either at the resthouse,  where TYK’s experienced cooks  prepare tasty and nourishing meals, using fresh local produce, or at one of the local restaurants. Full trek, 7-8 hours’ duration; Highlights, 4 hours. Medium to hard grade.

Day 4: (all meals)

Today begins with a series of challenging ascents and descents along Gumbaron mountain. Highlight walkers can choose to walk this sector or join the afternoon trek, after a picnic lunch at the Maliu River. The afternoon sector is a fairly flat walk along foot/estate tracks through semi-jungle, small farms and cultivated land,  with numerous creek crossings, but it has open sections that can be very hot.    Full trek, 6 hours’ duration, depending on the heat. Highlights trek, 3-4 hours. Easy to medium grade

Day 5: (all meals)

The day begins by continuing the walk along village and farm roads to the Taviu River, with the chance to meet a local Dusun ‘warrior’ along the way. After a picnic lunch beside the river, challenge walkers continue through cultivated land before following a small stream edged with small farms and then jungle, to the foot of Taviu Hill.  From here, there is a relatively short but fairly exhausting climb through secondary jungle to the summit.  Full trek, 6-7 hours’ duration;  Highlights trek, 3-4 hours. Easy to hard grade, with steep uphill section.

Day 6: (all meals)

Today’s trek begins with a short but stiff climb, before retracing the original POW path through jungle to Monkilua, followed by a pleasant  and scenic walk to the Liwagu Valley, through mainly cultivated land. After a visit to Paginatan village, a key POW staging post, we transfer to Sabah Tea Plantation for an overnight stay in a purpose-built Rungus longhouse. Dinner is in the Plantation dining room, which has a fine view of Mt Kinabalu. Full trek, 6 hours’ hours duration; Highlights trek, 3 hours. Easy to hard grade, with a steep uphill section.

Day 7: (all meals)

Day 8: (all meals)

Day 9: (all meals)

Day 10: (B)

Day 11: (B/L)

Day 12: (B)

Some suggestions:

Mt Kinabalu:
A two-day/one night package is also available for those wishing to climb Mt Kinabalu, South-East Asia’s highest peak. It is best to do this at the completion of the trek (either day 9, for the short tour, or day 12 for the full tour). Please advise TYK at the time of booking your trek if you wish to take this option, especially in peak periods. Wherever possible, TYK will arrange for your trekking guides, who are also trained mountain guides also, to accompany you.

Jungle survival school:
For those wanting to try something different, TYK can organise a twoday/one night package at the Miki Jungle Survial Camp, hosted by TYK’s guides, at Kiau village, on the slopes of Mt Kinabalu.

White water rafting:
Enjoy an hour or two paddling and riding the rapids along a jungle river at the end of your trek. Ask TYK to recommend a white-water rafting trip that will suit your level of expertise, budget and sense of adventure.

2012:

TOUR 1:  3 -14 May

TOUR 2:  16 -27 August

TOUR 3:  Remembrance Day Trek, 3-14 November

NOTE:
Private groups wishing to have Lynette Silver accompany them to provide expert and exclusive historical commentary need to contact TYK to ensure that she is available, and to obtain a quote, before making a firm booking.

COST:

Above rates led by Australia historian (Ms Lynette Silver)

2012: Tours led by local guide

Flexible Departures  (dates by arrangement)

COST:

Please note:

FOR ALL BOOKINGS CONTACT

TYK ADVENTURE TOURS SDN BHD
C/N 477861-U   L/N KKKP3443
ot 38, 2nd Floor, Damai Plaza IV,
88300 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.
Tel : (6088) 232821, 238702
Fax : (6088) 232827
e-mail  :  tykadto@gmail.com

TYK Adventure Tours recommends Flight Centre Group Travel to trekking parties requiring group airline tickets. Group airfares offer great value and flexibility and are the perfect solution for organised tours.

Contact: andrew.garnett@flightcentre.com.au