Tawau

A 20th century cocoa boomtown that sits surrounded by the wild vistas of the Maliau Basin on the very cusp of Malaysian Sabah and Indonesia, Tawau is a chilled-out, friendly city. There’s plenty to do here in the way of wholesome pursuits, the ubiquitous Malaysian foodie strips and opportunities to venture into the wilds of Borneo and beyond.

Between the hubbub of the daily fish market and the town’s sprawling central bazaar, visitors can see evidence of Tawau’s mercantile past. Here, prized terubok and catfish lie stacked on makeshift tables, as do oodles of handwoven saris and whittled tribal trinkets, coloured spices, and aromatic piles of nasi campur. But the sensory overload doesn’t stop there, because night time in Tawau gives way to a smattering of food courts, where rustic buffalo soups rub shoulders with salty seafood in the open air around Sabindo and the town centre.

This is Borneo after all, which means wild rainforests are never too far away. For these, ask your Tawau tour guide about trips to the Ulu Kalumpang Forest Reserve, the Maliau Basin Conservation Area, or the Tawau Hills Park a little closer to home—where gushing waterfalls weave through beds of tropical flowers, mangrove and oil palm.