Of Mountains and Oceans. A Visits to Kundasang and Kota Kinabalu, Sabah (Part II)

For those who have not read the first part, I would suggest you do so to grasp better understanding of what I'm about to write next.

So, after singing 'Flying Without Wings', had a fantastic breakfast and well do what we have to do (yup, the usual morning ritual, an appropriate stuff, not really suitable to share, you get the point) we went to Poring Hot Spring. It's not really hard to find, one can just follow the signboard or simply turn on the GPS or Waze or Google Map or whatever apps you're using to get from point A to point B and guess what, you'll eventually reach the place.

A tree aged more than a hundred years, a treasure

Poring Hot Spring... how do I put this in words... Yes, it's a hot spring. Sulfuric, hot (egg boiling hot!), and... it's a hot spring. But, there're many activities to do there. There's a Butterfly Farm (we didn't get in), waterfalls (we didn't take a dip), jungle tracking (we didn't do that either) and Canopy Walk (that we did). Seriously, the climb was tiring with wet muddy trail but once you get there, you'll be in for a surprise!

It was SCARY (if there were no Japanese tourists behind us, which blocked the way I had probably turn back). But my two girls are actually enjoying the climb as well as the long, wobbly walk across. My wife and I, well we don't really have any choice do we? But to press on and put up a 'brave' smile for the camera.

 My two girls having a great time, unlike the adults

While going up the trail was tiring enough, going down was even worst (for many of those who loves tracking it would be like a walk in a park, but not me). My wobbly legs after the near death incident crossing the Canopy Walk (yes I was that scared as I was attacked by a fly that tried to get in my ear) won't stop shaking making going down the trail just a little bit better than crossing the plank stitch by ropes and will definitely move to the slightest touch (maybe I'm a bit over the board on explaining this). But against all odd, my wife and I plus the girls (who pushes us to go faster while laughing all the way) made it safely down.

As my legs won't stop shaking, it's obvious that the next place we're going will not be as adventurous as the Canopy Walk. We decided to go to Sabah Tea Plantation. A more relaxed place where we can ease our minds enjoying a simple life's pleasure, a cup of tea (maybe a few more cups by my count). There we had lunch, which is simply delicious (to a hungry stomach) had a stroll in the compound, bought teas for family and friends back home and happily left for our next destination.

The blue sky is something that I'll missed the most

The last destination of the day was Kinabalu Park. It was raining when we arrived, meaning no outdoor activities for us. But we did stroll around the park with our trusted Urvan (that has been doing great so far). The view was stunningly beautiful, pity we didn't have the chance to explore more. As the rain stopped, we hanged out at the entrance of the park, taking some photos of the scenic views and left for the hotel.

A quick stop at Kinabalu Park, an opportunity to snap a few photos

We spent the night having a 'balcony party', Maggi in a cup was the best choice at that time, garnished with fresh veggies we bought earlier. Cold weather and hot Maggi is a match made in heaven (I do think that it's the best tasted Maggi ever, better than the ones I had in boarding school). So that wraps up the visits to Kundasang. We had an early start the next day, driving back to KK trying to catch earliest boat to Tungku Abdul Rahman Marines Park. I'll write about that part in my next post.

In a nut shell, Kundasang is a great place for family vacations with tons of things to do and much to see. The fantastic weather, the clean air (as apposed to KL) is somewhat a cure to boredom and stress. I'll leave you guys with that thought and cheers.

Thanks.

Yours truly,
Kaz
11 Dec. 2013