Borneo Off Road Adventure
We were at breakfast when they opened at 7 a.m. It was the first time we’ve had all the fruit available and there were even some hot items! Seems the hot food is brought out hot, it just doesn’t stay hot with the lids off! Entirely different breakfast experience. Maybe it pays to get there early!
Albert picked us up 7:30 in his Toyota FJ Land Cruiser. We were heading to the base of Mount Kinabalu. He asked if we were comfortable with going on an off road experience and on some gravel roads. We said sure no problem! It was an interesting ride through the twisty mountain road. It’s very narrow, although Albert assured us two vehicles could meet and get by, which did happen, but it was very tight!! We did make a wrong turn once and had to drive some way before we could find a spot wide enough to turn around. His version of gravel road if a far cry from what we think of gravel roads. We even drove across the river in one spot. We stopped and he put the vehicle into 4 wheel drive (low range) several times. The river was really moving and there was a sharp drop off the passenger side of the vehicle – we had a moment questioning if we could get across without getting swept over the edge! All was fine and we crossed safely. We arrived at a look out point where we were fortunate to see the peak of Mount Kinabalu. From there we navigated across a wooden creaky bridge and back through the mountain roadway to the main road where we headed through the town of Kundisang and on to the town of Ranau where we would eat. Albert took us to a large food court building where there were dozens of tables in the centre of the complex with food vendors all around the perimeter. We enjoyed sweet and sour chicken, ginger fish, mixed vegetables and steamed rice for 53 MYR ($15 CAD for 3 people). There was a separate booth where you bought your drinks so we all had a calamansi juice with sour plum.
From Ranau it was about a 15 minute drive to Poring Hot Springs and the Rainforest Canopy Walk. The canopy walk was pretty impressive and just a little nerve wracking! It was a fairly sweaty hike up the walkways to get to the canopy walk. You zig zag your way on walkways up the side of the mountain. When we finally reached the first canopy walk we both did a double take. The suspended walkway has ropes and netting along the sides and the plank you walk on is like 2×10’s end to end. You have to walk carefully one foot in front of the other as it is so narrow. The signs say maximum of 6 people at one time on the suspended walkways. It was very quiet so we went one at a time to minimize the sway and bounce! Some of them were very long spans and if you looked down you could get vertigo! It was a VERY long way down. The trees and plants were incredible. The sheer size of the Menggaris trees is breathtaking, there is a reason they are called the King of the Forest. The walkway is 157.8 m long and 41m high.
If we weren’t sweaty enough from the canopy walk we then hiked to a waterfall. It was pretty cool. From the waterfall we made our way back to the hot springs. The water temperature where it comes out of the mountain is very hot – 59 degrees C! Apparently the hot springs are known for their therapeutic properties and sulphuric minerals are supposed to ease aching muscles. Many climbers of Mount Kinabalu come here after their 2 day/1 night climb. We had originally discussed stopping and renting a bath house and soaking for a while. By the time we were done hiking around the canopy walk and waterfall it was getting late and we decided to just sit at the foot baths and soak our feet! Also the thought of soaking our hot sweaty bodies in hot water seemed less appealing. There were several foot baths to choose from with varying temperatures. It did feel good to get our shoes off and soak our feet for a while.
From the hot springs we headed back to our hotel. It was a 2 – 2 1/2 hour drive back through the mountain range. It was very picturesque. We did stop at the Mount Kinabalu trail head where the climbers start and return. After our morning view of Mount Kinabalu it was shrouded in clouds and mist pretty much all day. However, on our drive back, while at times we were driving in thick mist, it did clear and the mountain top was visible again. We stopped and managed to get a few more pictures. It was just after 7 pm when we arrived back at the hotel. We changed and got a grab and headed back to the El Centro Mexican restaurant. The food was the hottest we’ve had in Malaysia (temperature not spice level), it was really tasty after a long day, the service was pretty sporadic and not that great. The cold beer really hit the spot.
It was a great day of touring but with the heat and humidity and lots of hiking we were pretty tired and dehydrated. We hit the sheet exhausted.
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