The Land Below The Wind: Mount Kinabalu - Day 5

It has been super busy for me last two weeks, also some ups and some downs at work - but mostly just busy. And I'm glad that most of the planned events and work has been completed or at least they are on track to be.

Anyway, I will leave job related talks for another entry - since it's certainly not my intention to do it on this 5th post of my trip to KK. And it's the most exciting part, the main part and also the only reason for having the trip in the first place.

The day started off early, with a hearty English breakfast - all with the intention of providing that extra boost of energy as we made the hike up Mount KK. I have thought about how to recount the journey...and for fear of boring you guys (and myself too!) with countless words, I'm going to let the pictures to the talking - or so the saying goes. Plus for me, the main reason for blogging about these whole journey day by day was simply so that I could come back one day and reminisce.

So here is a shot of the hotel we stayed for the night at the "kaki" of Mount KK. It's about 30mins to the Mesilau trail we had planned to take.

Hehe...all of us with our walking stick - more useful when coming down to ease the strain to the knee.

There is a park at Mesilau itself, though we were only interested to begin our journey ;p

OK, before we begin, must have group picture-lah. Hehe...be sure to check out the "After" picture at the bottom of this entry ;p

A quick check on Pang's watch to see how high we were already before setting off. Apparently we were almost at 2K metres at the Mesilau start point. 4K - 2K = 2K left...easy la, right? Or so we thought LOL!

Just to make sure we were on the right trail ;p

See those plastic bags I was carrying? Those were part of our lunch - there was fried chicken, a boiled egg, a can of coke, and the rest were all cheese or ham sandwiches. Oh...and there was an apple as well. These were all we were going to have till we reach Laban Rata for dinner. We started off around 9:20am and estimated to reach Laban Rata around 4-5pm. Haha we reach around 7pm...tired and hungry ;p

We were delayed probably because we stopped a lot to take scenic pictures and also to eat ;p I was like snacking every 40 minutes or so ;p

Hehe...loads of posing and cam-whoring ;p

Man...my neck started aching after a while...but so long as I didn't take it off, I guess I didn't feel the pain...yet.

Taking a break. Pang was carrying two bags - his own and LT's bag. The perfect gentlemen - since LT was getting tired as we moved higher up. Oh...and see Pang's shoes? Hehe...DIY fix after the soles started coming off...it was still OK then...but it was tough for him later on as it started to rain and the path got slippery.

The trail was an "up-and-down" - meaning we hiked up several hundred metres before trekking down a few hundred metres. The Mesilau trail is far longer than the Timpohon trail - but the former is more scenic and much more beautiful - hehe with lots of places to take pictures and enjoy nature.

Well, that was before it started to rain...slightly at first and then it fell more earnestly. Wasn't too much trouble though since most of us brought either a rain jacket or rain-...(what do you call those plastic rain jackets?)

This was kind of the end of the Mesilau trail - also half way to Laban Rata. At this point, there was still about another 3 hours up Summit trail to reach Laban Rata.

Also managed to see pitcher plants along the way. Pitcher plant = Periuk Kera. Used to study it in school last time, but never had an opportunity to see it up close ;p

Getting wet and a bit slippery, but we pushed on...hehe what other choice did we have? Head back down? It was nearer to go up than down at that point ;p And what do you call that "blue disposable plastic rain jacket" ? We were close...though we were getting tired and just wanted some hot food. The rain was making it colder than it seemed...

Hehe...this is a close up shot of Pang's shoes...it caused him a lot of pain since he sole kept slipping off as we were reaching Laban Rata. He had to stop and re-tie the shoes multiple times...I salute him for the having the perseverance to continue.

This is the "After" pictures ;p We were all a bit dazed, with FL wasn't in the mood for any picture taking ;p

I stuffed myself with food - it was a buffet dinner so it was all for the taking! ;p I was cold and hungry...and my shoes got soaked wet...but still it didn't stopped me from filling myself...erm...sufficiently ;p

By the time we finished our dinner, it was around 8pm already and the sky was dark. Only then did we know that we still had to climb another 10 minutes to our lodgings at Gunting Lagadan. Hehe...along the way, I guess Pang lost his patience and I think the most memorable part of that 10 minutes hike was the different swear words that came pouring from him as he vents his frustration at having to cope with a less than complete shoes - it was dangerous for him as well cause it was so easy to twist an ankle in the dark, especially the path was rocky and slippery.

Anyway, we did make it to our lodgings and thought we could settle in for a good night's rest. Well, that's what we thought...till we found out how cold it was going to get later on...but that is for me to tell in the next entry ;p

More to come in: The Land Below The Wind: Mount Kinabalu - Day 6

The Land Below The Wind: Poring Hot Spring - Day 4

On the fourth day, we left the city and headed off towards Mount KK - not the hike up just yet, but we planned to visit the Poring Hot Spring and try the canopy walk at the Kinabalu Park. We were half-way through our Sabah trip and yet this was only the beginning of the real objective of the week long journey.

We were excited of course and along the way, we saw quite a few peaks, which prompted us to started guessing which one was the famous mount that we were supposed to climb the next day. It certainly wasn't difficult to spot the peak that was highest:

A shot of the tallest mount in South-East Asia along the way...

We reached an area with a spectacular view - the place was purposely built for tourist to snap pics of the famous mount. And we didn't allowed ourselves to miss this chance ;p

Moi with the mount...
We shall make the attempt tomorrow! Unfortunately not all will be making it...
Right opposite the photo-op area, there is a whole row of stalls selling souvenirs and the like

And how can I not pick something back from the Land Below the Wind? Haha...this is my second orang utan t-shirt; the first was a souvenir from a friend when he went over to Sabah for a trip - has been years since then...

One last shot of the "Gunung Kinabalu"

After that stop, we headed straight for the Kinabalu park to have our lunch in a restaurant just outside the said park.

In the park, we started off with a 30 minute (or so) documentary on the park and watch beautiful scenes of the mount, the area surrounding it and also the flora that inhabits the land. It only wet our appetite more for the next two days.

Oh...and we also discovered why the place was called "Poring" Hot Spring. Poring stands for bamboo in the Kadazan Dusun language. And bamboo can be found aplenty in that area.

After that it was off to canopy walk - we left the hot spring for last ;p

"Take nothing but photographs...leave nothing but footprints..."

A picture taken with some very old "poring"

Taking a break after a short hike up to the canopy walk area

Going up for the canopy walk...wait...there is a photo-op!

Posing while on the canopy...hehe probably just to prove she is not scared ;p
It's 100 to 200 feet above the forest floor.

Hey! I'm pretty steady myself...hehe the sun glasses helps with the look ;p

A very tall tree and must be very old too...that's how the canopy walk is suspended from these trees...

Next destination: Hot Spring!

This is actually a swimming pool - with very very cold water ;pNow this is a "hot pool" - very hot one that has not been mixed with some cold water
Hehe...I don't think anyone tried this...
Now, this is where we waited to fill our "tubs" with hot water (plus some cold water to make the "dip" a bit more bearable). These are public bath tubs and are free to be used. It took pretty long (like an hour) to fill up the tub with water...enough water to dip in anyway.

You can also pay to use the private tubs for RM15/hour

Getting in before it gets filled up :P It was taking too long!

I was sun burnt...and still went for a dip. Hehe should really be doing this after the tiring hike...Oh well...time didn't permit. So if you are going to Mount KK, make sure you visit Poring Hot Spring after the climb down.

It was pretty satisfying...though was feeling a bit tired from over-soaking ourselves in water that was too hot ;p

And the worse thing after that was that it started to rain...cats and dogs. Some of us ran all the way back to the main building where our transport was waiting - and got throughly wet. The rest took their time for the rain to petter out before making the attempt.

Anyway, it was a relaxing day before the real deal. So the next thing we did was to head to a hotel, which was about 30 minutes from the Mesilau trail start point, to take a rest. Dinner was covered in our package and we got a chance to try out some local alcohol too ;p It was sweet and I'll probably get drunk on it - often - if it was sold in Penang lol! ;p

More to come in: The Land Below The Wind: Mount Kinabalu - Day 5

The Land Below The Wind: Island-Hopping - Day 3

Originally the plan was to do the hike up Mount KK first before doing all the water rafting and island-hopping, since it's probably better to do the hike when we were still fresh.

Unfortunately, it was hard getting a booking for an accommodation at Laban Rata - and we had to modify our plans by moving all the other activities in the early part of our Sabah trip. We didn't really have much choice since we had already bought our plane tickets ;p

Anyway, as planned, the third day was all about island-hopping - namely Pulau Sapi, Pulau Manukan and Pulau Mamutik. These three islands are part of the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park, which was established in 1974. There are two other islands that is part of the park, which are the Pulau Gaya and Pulau Sulug.

Early on the third day - I got my mobile phone clock set wrongly by the way and ended up waking an hour earlier than I wanted too ;p - we followed our guide, Mesius, to the boat terminal at Jesselton Point. The day was sunny and so we decided to walk there, while Mesius gave a bit of history of the city along the way.

This is Jesselton Point - it was refurbished (if I recall correctly) in 2006

A picture of the old Jesselton Wharf in the 1930s. There is Pang queuing up to help us buy the boat and park tickets. The tour package was about Rm43. We had to separately rent the life jacket and snorkel though, which was about RM15 for the two items - for the whole trip.

I guess she was fascinated with the old phone booth...we don't see them around anymore...do we?

Our way to the boat. With lots of development going on in the background. A hotel maybe? Or maybe that is part of the Jesselton Waterfront project.

We arrived at Pulau Sapi first.

I tried to snorkel a bit, but the water was frankly not too clean...I think at one point I came in contact of some seaweed and I ended up with itches all over my body - had to quickly shower to get myself cleaned up.

Well, what else to do then (if I can't snorkel) but to take more pics...

OK, despite what I just said...there was still plenty of people on the beach...well, perhaps I was unlucky...

The rocky parts on the beach...the water certainly looks clear from here...

The gals took the opportunity to have a group photo...

How can the guys not have one?? ;p

A photo op as we headed to the next island, Pulau Manukan :)

I was a bit disappointed with Pulau Sapi really and the whole island-hopping activity wasn't cheap either - if all we did were to stay on the beach and take pictures. And I wasn't about to go into the water again since the my experience at Pulau Sapi.

So we decided to go...

Jet Skiing! :)

OK, it was certainly NOT cheap - RM150 for two, for 30 minutes...Though, I guess it was worth it cause we really had loads of fun ;p

The first time I went jet skiing was during a company event at Batu Ferringhi. And that was free. This was my second time on a jet ski...RM75 per person...saved the day I would say. If not I'll probably have been bored on the whole island-hopping trip - and the RM43 I paid for the package would have been wasted ;p

So pour more money in to make interesting, eh? Doesn't sound smart, right? Well, I was on a holiday and wanted to enjoy it...so... ;p

Of course...we couldn't resist taking another group pic :)

And then it was off to the last island, Pulau Mamutik

We found a nice place to just float in the water under a shade...while we watched some plastic bags and other "alien" items float by...No, I'm not kidding...

And here I was trying to be funny...while WM posed very seriously for the camera ;p
We were waiting for the boat to come pick us up to head back to Jesselton Point.

One last pic with YL before we headed back to the hostel for a shower and then for dinner. I was already sun burnt by then. Dang...getting dark makes me looks thinner...Or maybe I just lost weight? ;p

We had chicken rice that night for dinner - supposed to be pretty famous. No pics unfortunately as all of us were too hungry and only concentrated on filling our stomach ;p Anyway, it was the end of the our main activity for the day. At night - since it was our last night in KK city - we went out for some drinks at the water front and just chat the night away.

More to come in The Land Below The Wind: Poring Hot Spring - Day 4