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Tuesday, 3 July 2007

Kinabalu Park,Sabah, Malaysia (Borneo)

After Manukan Island, we took the speedboat back to mainland and rent a SUV (Cost less than RM200.00..Aprrox USD60), we headed to Kinabalu Park (the foothill of Mount Kinabalu- the highest peak in Malaysia & South East Asia).The journey to Kinabalu Park HQ will take about 2 hours. The Kinabalu Park Headquarters lies at an elevation of 1,563 meters (5,128 feet) above sea level. The 90 kilometers (50 mile) drive along sealed road takes an easy journey but not until the road passes the little town of Tamparuli, after about 45 minutes, does it start to rise. Although clouds usually cover the summit by midday, in the early morning the mountain is often clear, the view constantly changing as the roads winds up and up. Some of the best views come near Kampung Kelawat at the kilometer 55 (to Ranau) mark, when the mountains rises dramatically ahead as you round the corner.
Shifting cultivation covers most of the hills around here, and at kilometer 33 the roadside stalls of Pekan Nabalu are well stocked with local produce. This is a regular tourist stop where a variety of good quality handicrafts can be purchased as well as the deliciously nutty flavored brown hill rice - a specialty of the area, together with extra sweet pineapples.
Rented a double storey bungalow, looks very english http://www.suterasanctuarylodges.com.my/kinabalupark.htm. The weather is very cold at night & very misty along the way to Kinabalu Park. The Mountain Scenery was awesome & you will enjoy the flora & fauna while driving.
When we arrived at the park, we are unable to see the mountain peak at all. It was due to the misty weather.We checked in our bungalow, set up the fire (They provide woods at the fire place), we had tea & some biscuits,it felt so good. You can go to the information center and get all the information about Mount Kinabalu and Sabah Parks, know more about the flora of Mount Kinabalu in the mountain garden guided walk or maybe go to their mini-theater to watch video show about Mount Kinabalu. A fee of only a few ringgit is charged for each activity. You can buy a "package" ticket for all three.
There's only one restaurant there,so everyone got to eat there. Food is not bad & price is reasonable.They are open till 10.00am and seved western & oriental food
There's cable tv in the bungalow, so one can enjoy a lot of TV show. We slept early cos we got to get up early to get the sneak preview of the Kinabalu Peak. IF you wish to climb Mt Kinabalu, one got to be physically fit and get a week training. And you can't just climb the mountain without a pre arrange trip and one get must get a professional liscensed guide & permit to climb the mountain
http://www.mount-kinabalu-borneo.com/.
We got up at 5am to catch the view of Mount Kinabalu (the later you get up you probably see nothing cos the clouds will be covering the entire mountain), We drive our selve to Timpohon (the very foothill of Mt Kinabalu where you will begin your journey to climb the hill, you must report yourself before climb. Unfortunately, we are not geared to climb the mountain.Therefore , we just catch the glimpse of the mountain & enjoy the fantastice view of the surrounding & waterfalls.And we managed to catch the sunrise.
While we were there we saw a few local people who works on top of the hill, they climb up the mountain everyday with just simple gear. Mind you, they carry a lot of stuff up the hill, like gas tank, sands, bricks, tools....just wondering how they managed it...is a daily thing for them. People like us will probably half dead.
As you get out of the park...you can head to pouring hot spring
http://www.mount-kinabalu-borneo.com/poring.html. But we didn't have enough time, therefore we head ourselves to another place...check out next....here's the picture u can view Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Malaysia

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