Luxury Hotels in Interior Division, Malaysia

Sabah is a big state. There are the bigger cities and also there are the interior divisions of Sabah. The interior divisions are actually the administrative division of the state of Sabah. The interior division of Sabah is bordering to Sarawak on the west side. The interior divisions also occupy the western area of Sabah. Around 14.7% of the Sabah populations are within these divisions. The largest town in the Interior Division is Keningau. Other main towns in this division include Beaufort, Kuala Penyu, Sipitang, Tambunan and Tenom.

The coastal areas mostly are occupied by the race called Bruneian Malays as well as Kedayan. As for the inland areas to the east of Crocker Range, they are occupied by various subgroups of the Kadazan – Dusun people. In the Kadazan culture, Tambunan is the major centre of it. While for Murut people, Tenom is their largest town. The Long Pasia and Long Mio is the gateway to the Lun Bawang/Lun Dayeh tribes Sipitang.

Some of the districts in Interior Division of Sabah are Beaufort District, Keningau District, Kuala Penyu District, nabawan District, Sipitang District, Tambunan and also Tenom District.

In cities like Beaufort, Keningau and Tenom, there are many Chinese who lives there. The Chinese people belong to the subgroup called Hakka. Sabah is known to have multiple ethnicities and each ethnicity has their own dialect to the Malay language. Not to mention when there are Chinese races involved there are multiple languages spoken throughout the interior division of Sabah.

How to Get There

By Flight

One can take a local flight such as Air Asia or Malaysia Airlines and Firefly and fly to Kota Kinabalu. From there, there will be plenty of taxis waiting outside the airport to get the visitors to Keningau, Beaufort or the other large cities in the Interior Divisions. If one would like to go to the smaller cities they may take a taxi or perhaps boats to cruise through the river.

By Car

One may take the expressway from Kota Kinabalu. For example they may take the Beaufort Highway to get to Beaufort town. Then to get to other cities, they may also take the car and drive to next neighbouring town.

By Train

There is a train that brings the passengers from Tanjung Aru towards other cities in Sabah. Tanjung Aru is the station in Kota Kinabalu nearby the Kota Kinabalu Airport. The line is called the Sabah State Railway. It leaves Tanjung Aru town every morning at 7.45 am. The journey will take around 2 hours therefore it will reach Beaufort town at 9.45 am. The train stops here for mid destination before the rest of the passengers precede going to Tenom. There are also other stops on this line. So passengers may choose the stop where they want to visit whichever cities within the Interior Divisions of Sabah.

Tourist Attractions Nearby

Beaufort Bridge

The Beaufort Bridge is a landmark bridge across Padas River in the state of Sabah, Malaysia. It is a bridge that has been there for some time and it has been maintained for the public use.

Pesta Rumbia

Normally held in August, this is a festival held by the locals to celebrate the ‘Sago’ tree which are widely planted in the district. It is also aimed to promote the many use of sago. Visitors would come to Kuala Penyu during this festival to try the local delicacies made using sago. The famous dish is ‘ambuyat’. Visitors also would like to try consuming the sago worms while they are still wriggling and alive like the locals would!

Merintaman Beach

This is a beach nearby Sipitang. Locals come here to enjoy the waves and the sunset while having a nice picnic with the family and friends. There is a nice breeze that allows kites to be flown here.