Photos

Tanjung Simpang Mengayau is the northern Land's End of Sabah. The other Land's End is across the Marudu Bay at the end of the Bengkoka Peninsular.

It is becoming the major beachside attraction in Sabah and, any visitor or tourist finding himself or herself in Kudat is probably because of this beach. Or really, the promontory or the tip of land that juts out to sea making it, the northernmost tip of Sabah.

This photo was taken when it was just a dusty gravel road to get there and a time when it was almost as pristine as it was before it became a tourist attraction. You would be hardpressed finding an empty coke or candy wrapper.

It was almost deserted if not for a security outpost, some palm fronds thatched native shelters and the incidental backpacking bed & breakfast tourists. But you would be pretty much alone under the casuarina trees, with the northern breeze gently whipping your face and the white surf running along the edge of the sandy white beach.

It is also safe to camp under the trees, on account of the armed security personnels walking the beat. There are no incessant mosquitoes haranguing your eardrums except for the never ending breaking surf and the gentle whispers of the South China winds.

But, just like the lyric of the Telegraph Road, things at this Land's End would never be that solitude again.

...A long time ago came a man on a track
Walking thirty miles with a sack on his back
And he put down his load where he thought it was the best
Made a home in the wilderness
Built a cabin and a winter store
And he ploughed up the ground by the cold lake shore
The other travellers came walking down the track
And they never went further, no, they never went back
Then came the churches then came the schools
Then came the lawyers then came the rules
Then came the trains and the trucks with their load
And the dirty old track was the telegraph road...