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History
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Places of Interest in Donggongon
Donggongon, only some 10 km from Sabah's capital might not be on the
regular traveller's list of places to visit, but its famous tamu
certainly is worth while a stopover. For me, the
Donggongon Tamu is simply
the most beautiful in Sabah: clean and well organised, here you can
find from local vegetables over dried fish and hardware to
traditional medicine and handicraft anything you wish. It is a
vibrant and colourful affair that starts on Wednesday evenings at 5
pm and last right through - more or less 24-hours a day - to Friday
evening whereby Thursday mornings are busiest!
There is a Chinese Temple in Donggongon
that has recently been renovated and enlarged, and is a fine example
of Chinese architecture; also close to Donggongon is the Sabah
Cultural Centre (Pusat Kebudayaan Sabah), which is, however,
some 'white elephant' and only used during weddings and other
functions, such as the Pesta Ka'amatan. Thus, don't look for Sabah
culture there - not even the architecture reflects anything
Sabahan... More cultural insight offers the KDCA
compound (Kadazandusun Cultural Association, on Jalan Penampang ca 7
km from KK). There you find a couple of traditional houses, the
excellent Ka'andaman Spa and a famous hall where
almost every week-end a wedding is held. KDCA is also where the
venue for the state level celebrations of the Pesta Ka'amatan,
every 30 and 31 May each year.
Donggongon is full of kedai kopi, or
local restaurants, and some of them offer delicous local specialities
otherwise hard to find. At one end of the township you find the
restaurant 'Tahun Baru' where they serve 'hinava'
(fresh fish pickled in lime and with a generous portion of ginger)
as pusas - the equivalent of Spanish tapas. In the
middle of Donggongon Township, across the Buhavan Square
you find the famous restaurants 'Ching Fah', which has
been catering for more than a generation at local and Chinese
weddings, and the restaurant 'Dragon', equally famous
for its catering. Restaurant 'Loi Hin' offers one of
the best 'new chap' in town, ideal after a long night's
drinking session, and word has it that Donggongon is rather
notorious for that type of sport... 'Jam's' (formerly 'the
Local') and 'Pusakag'' are only two amongst the 30 or so
local but unpretentious karaoke pups where Kadazandusun songs
prevail. 'Top Ten' across the road in a new section
of the ever expanding Donggongon offers exotic food: try the 'sizzling
landak', plus beer at unbeatable prices! There are too many food
outlets to name here, but most shops offer great food even if their
aspect might at first glance not be too inviting. Check out the
crowd: if there are lots of people it means the food is great!
There are plenty of shops in Donggongon
where you can find just about anything you ever need here. For
completeness' sake and because it is so important for us living here
I must mention Donggongon's own "shopping mall", Chua Kah Seng!
Coming up is Malaysia's longest shopping mall, smack in the middle
of Donggongon. Presently it is under construction, which makes our
parking woes even worse, and when completed I suppose it is going to
be another white elephant. The longest shopping mall in Malaysia in
Donggongon, really!
Crocker Range National Park
Donggongon is the gateway to Sabah's
largest national park, the
Crocker Range National Park. Its huge
nature-tourism and jungle trekking potential has yet to be realised
by local tour agents - as per now, there is virtually no tourism
infrastructure and thus a great place to experience Sabah's jungles
and cultures in a prime state. The Flying Dusun Sdn Bhd offers a
series of journeys to this little explored part of Sabah, some of
which are pure hard core jungle trekking (see also below links).
How to Get to Donggongon &
Accommodation
Bus (no 13 from KK), taxi; believe it or
not, but there is accommodation in Donggongon even if you are not
likely to need it as 'regular traveller' to Sabah... 'The Local'
offers 'homestay', and the 'Borneo Hotel' on the Penampang Road
offers 2-star rooms. Soon Donggongon will have its very own hotel,
too, in the Donggongon Square just opposite the tamu ground. And
Sinurambi
is a uniquely beautiful residence for those who seek to gain more out of
their visit to Borneo than the average traveller.
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Impressions from the
Donggongon Tamu
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