Ranau, Sabah 2019

2nd November 2019 – The morning weather was cool even though it was a bit foggy at the resort. At least we could see more of the resort’s surrounding. We prepared our own breakfast in the room – bread and coffee. We decided to explore the valley of Kundasang.

Kundasang is a town in the district of Ranau that lies along the bank of Kundasang Valley at an elevation of almost 1,900 m (6,200 ft), the highest settlement in Malaysia. It is located about 6 km away from Kinabalu National Park, 12 km from Ranau town 6 km from J. Residence Resort. It is renowned for its vegetable market which is open seven days a week. It has a panoramic view of the Mount Kinabalu. It is populated mainly by the native Dusun, one of the largest ethnic & linguistic groups and a small population of Chinese people. Almost all the shops are operated by locals.

3rd November 2019 – We could see the sunrise from the resort! Last night, while planning the “places to visit list”, Google map indicated a location where we can view an Old mosque at Sabah Tea Plantation about 42 km from the resort. It was situated in Kampung Nalapak, Ranau. We decided to pay a visit.

Our next destination was the Poring Hot Spring. It is a tropical retreat that caters to everyone in a small tourist resort located about 29 km from Nalapak Village, Ranau. Contrasting with the montane and submontane rainforest of Kinabalu National Park, Poring is situated in lowland rainforest which was gazette as a nature reserved. The name Poring comes from a KadazanDusun word for a bamboo species found abundant in the area. The springs are known for their therapeutic properties and the waters with their sulphuric minerals are reputed to ease aching muscles. Apart from the hot spring, there are other attractions such as Butterfly Farm, Canopy Walkway, Waterfalls and Bat Cave.

Our next stop was Adenna Rafflesia Garden about 1 km from Poring Hot Spring. It is a privately owned garden. Rafflesia is a genus of parasitic flowering plants in the family Rafflesiaceae. The species have enormous flowers, the buds rising from the ground or directly from the lower stems of their host plants; one species has the largest flowers in the world.

On our way back to the resort, we dropped by at Ladang Tenusu Desa Cattle to get a closer view of the gigantic Mount Kinabalu. It was worth a trip!

To be continued …