Cerita Bergambar ~ Part 1

And I simply love the time spent in Sabah. It is time well spent as a family. We went to the mountain, island, visited the city center and also the surrounding areas.

(This is like a story book we read when we were little - with pictures..)

Day 1
We left home very early and were just in time to do the morning prayers jemaah at KLIA masjid. There were only a handful there that morning for the solat. The lights were turned off immediately after solat and as we left, the masjid looked was once again 'lonely'. A bit sad.



We flew on the morning "now everyone can fly" airline (what else?)


We landed at KK around noon; the flight took about two-and-a-half hours. The boys slept. And slept. All the way.


We arranged to have the rented Unser delivered at the airport. It looked a bit battered; but the air cond is good and it ran well. We left for Kundasang after lunch and prayer. Got ourselves a map too. The road wasnt bad at all. The view was great with hills all the way. I wanted to get down to get pictures but unfortunately there is nowhere to stop.

The drive was close to two hours and it was cloudy when we got to Kundasang. And cool. There is no sight of the mountain peak.. (we wondered where it is actually). Later that evening the clouds moved and right in front of us we saw the mountain. It was huge. And magnificent; albeit cloudy. But magnificent all the same.


That evening we went to Kinabalu Pine Resort to catch the sunset from the hill top; but the evening was cloudy so no sunset there.


Day 2
Early morning is very, very cool in Kundasang. We caught the greatest view of sunrise and the mountain from the resort at fajar. We were mesmerized. It was amazing. Magnificent. Majestic. Actually maybe no words can describe it. We sat on our balcony and just enjoyed the view. It was not until the sun was high in the sky before we started to move with the plan (big plans! if I may add) for the day.




We drove to the top of a hill and took in these amazing views -



I read the dairy farm has the most amazing view of the mountain. And the internet didnt lie (at least not in this case). I can vouch that the view here is truly something else. This is the coolest farm I've ever seen (the only one I've ever been to actually..) This is a farm with an attitude; even the cows looked delightful on the field.



Later we travelled to Ranau (maybe twenty minutes or so from Kundasang) to the Poring Hotsprings. You can bathe or soak your feet (your poor & tired feet after all that walking around) in the hot water. And it is hot. We also did the canopy walk. I almost regretted doing this (almost being the operative word here). The bridges are built quite high above the jungle / river and looking down is most disastrous to your nervous system. I'm glad I went through this experience now - otherwise when?


It was a bit late to visit the memorial park but I got this.


We also stopped at the park HQ on our way back into KK. It was late afternoon. The mountain peak is no longer in view - hidden already in the afternoon clouds. We went to the entry to the peak and fed friendly squirrel there. The tropical forest was cool and chilly. We see only orang putih walking down (fyi we drove up..) and around the park; with some taxis waiting for passengers. I told everyone, we should come back soon and conquer the peak next time (yeah I know, you will go like "Really, Azah?")

(I know there's only tall grass in the photo above; but that's the idea. The mountain is actually behind those cloudy skies.)

(if you follow this trail into those trees, it will lead you - eventually, if you keep on walking -to the mountain peak..)

Tip #1: The mountain is clear in the early mornings only. By 1030 or so the clouds will start moving in and you dont see the mountain anymore. So start early.

Tip #2 : Plan to spend at least 2 days in Kundasang (or at least 2 mornings) - that'll give you time to soak in the wonderful view and the attractions.

Letih la tulis ni.. I'll continue tomorrow or some other time with our island trip and tour to the tip of Borneo.

*****