Kinabalu Park and Poring Hot Spring Tour & Day Three of My Trip

<< Day Two

Most part of day three was spent on the day trip to Kinabalu Park and Poring Hot Spring and i figured this would give a rather good summary of what to expect from the RM 201.40 per person tour purchased from RiverBug.

We had a great sleep; so comfortable that we didn't have enough time to have a decent breakfast! Luckily i could do without any food in the morning although the same could not say of Alex; who grab a polo bun from a coffeeshop and hungrily woofed it down! 

Notice the funny sign on the mini coach bus? No kissing is allowed woah! Like that how, if your toddler demands a wet kiss from you on his / her cheeks?! 

The pickup time was 8 am and Priscilla, our guide, kindly informed everyone that the journey up Kinabalu Park would be comparable to the winding roads at Cameron Highlands. Point taken and i knew i had to get a pack of preserved fruit when the coach stopped over at a petrol station to top up the oil.

10.00 am - Reached our first stop; Nabalu Town which boasted an amazing view of Mount Kinabalu if not for the darned clouds. To read more of this half mountain town, click here. 

Entering the Kinabalu Park Heritage Site at about 10.40 am. By all means, the ride wasn't half as bad as Cameron Highlands which has a giddying effect on me!

Map of the park for your reference. Many mountain climbing enthusiasts would have to navigate through the same way to get to the base camp.

Checking out the Botanical Gardens as part of our tour. Verdict - it was a subset of what we have in Singapore; interesting because we have Priscilla with us but generally quite boring. 

Descending down the mountain to Poring Hot Spring. I am on the lookout for a place to retire in peace and the allure to reside in the highlands is just so tempting!

Imagine waking up to fresh, crisp air (no air-conditioning is required), minimal pollution and likely a slower pace of life. Not sure it would be my cup of tea given i am such a hyperactive person even at my age, 

The road could be congested on weekends! 

Optional tour (at RM 30 per person) to catch the Rafflesia, which i did. Might as well since i have yet to see a real one after living quite near to the biggest single flower in the world for 35 years! To read more, click here. 

Lunchtime @ Round Inn located very near to Poring Hot Spring. 

Awkwardness set in when all our tour mates (eight in total) were seated together in typical Asian style; i am actually not as sociable as many friends thought i am! 

As usual, food has that incredible effect on people and we started chatting with one another. Anyway, food was really decent and i absolutely loved the sweet and sour pork!

Walking from the restaurant to the Poring Hot Spring; told ya it was close. 

It would normally be quite weird to see beach accessories on a mountain but in this case, Poring Hot Spring had slide pool and at only 500 meters above land, it was honestly warm!

For my separate postings on Poring Hot Spring, Canopy Walkway and the Kipungit Waterfall, please check out here, there and that, respectively. 

Time to return back to Kota Kinabalu; by then, all of us have abandoned all the initial shyness and started delving into topics like politics! 

Tuaran - even though more renowned for its signature noodles, the district is supposedly also quite famous for its horse racing. 

Water promenade at Kota Kinabalu. The round building across the water is the 122-meter Tun Mustapha Tower which had a rotating restaurant on the 18th floor and had a really easy-to-remember nickname; battery building. 

Requested Priscilla to drop us off at Star City Mall, where we had our first seafood dinner in KK. For review of Welcome Seafood Restaurant, visit this link.  

Walked all the way back to Jesselton Hotel as the weak Alex was too tired!

>> Day Four

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Tour Price

RM 201.40 per person (original price). As this was the second purchase with RiverBug, we were quoted only RM 170 per person which includes everything in the itinerary except for the camera / video camera fee at Canopy Walkway.

For the summarised itinerary of my 7 days, 6 nights Kota Kinabalu (Sabah) trip, please click here.