Summary:
Day 1 Just check in and do some survey
Day 2 Rent a car to Kinabalu Park, Kundasang, Desa Dairy Farm, Raffflesia seeing and Poring Hotspring
Day 3 Aquarium and Marine Park, State Museum, Heritage Village, Signal Hill Viewing Point,
Day 4 Padas White Water Rafting
Day 5-8 Great experience in Mabul Island
We had missed so many great things in Kota Kinabalu like the Sunday Morning Market, hiking the mount of Kinabalu. We didn't visit Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park and Matanani Island because we were heading to Mabul Island after KK. It is guaranteed that we will be back for hiking the peak of Borneo and explore places that we missed out.
Day 1 ~ settle down and check in Accommodation
Getting to hotel, there are several ways. However as backpackers we chose the Bus
- By Bus - that is a bus with "number 16" labelled on shuttle between airport and Wawasan Bus station (Bus terminal) for about every hour. Once in Wawasan Station we can take the according city bus to our backpackers Lodge. ( RM 2 per person from airport to Wawasan, RM 0.50 from Wawasan to Wisma Sabah)
- Taxi - There is a booth for taxi service at the entrance of the airport, a flat rate of RM 30 per taxi is charged for any places in the KK city.
- Airport transfer - Or you can pick a hotel that provides airport transfer service
Check in X-Plorer Backpackers
It is not difficult to find our hostel as the whole KK city is just very small, is on Gaya Street, the location of the Sunday Market. We stayed there for 4 night, in an A/C double room, the charge is RM 60 per night per room. One can't expect more than a shelter from X-Plorer at this rate, however there is not dirty issue and the basic commodities are all available like Wifi, water, breakfast and so on. May be the staffs are not that good in giving guidance and advice on planning our trip.
For dorm room, the rate is RM 25 per person.
Information about X-Plorer Backpackers
Address: 108 Jalan Gaya, Pusat Bandar, 88000 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Telephone: +60 88-538 780
E-mail: info@xplobackpackers.com
Website: www.xplobackpackers.com
Checking for car rental and survey for price packages in Wisma sabah
After that we went on to Wisma Sabah to survey and make some price omparison of the different service providers before we headed to get our dinner. There are a whole lot of tourism service providers in Wisma Sabah, they almost occupy the first 2 stories. So if someone is on an spontaneous trip it will be a place for gathering information. It is not difficult to find it, it is just located beside KK Suria, the largest shopping mall in KK.
Dinner at Fatt Kee Restaurant
Without surveying any good restaurant in KK city, we decided to pick randomly. From the number of customers of Fatt Kee Restaurant, we could be told that it should be a decent restaurant. The price is generally cheap, as we order some typical Chinese food to fill our starving stomach. After walking around leisurely in the quiet city and KK Suria, we went back for rest.
Day 2 ~ Kundasang Day Trip ~
Rent a Perodua Viva
Instead of taking Kundasang packages which is RM 170 per pax, we decided to rent a car so that we can have full control on our trip. There are a couple of car rental companies in Wisma Sabah with quite identical rate. In the first place we wanted to rent a motor, a heavy type motorbike that is capable of long distance travel. But we ended up driving a Perodua Viva as all the bikes were fully booked. We were advised to take Viva instead of the cheaper Kancil because it's CC is too weak for long distance and going up mountain.
Viva should be a good choice, it's convenient, small and most important it's fuel consumption is low. With only filling RM 40, it was enough for the whole day to Kundasang.
General Price for the vehicle
Kancil RM 90/Day
Viva (M) RM 120/Day
Viva (A) RM 140/Day
Kelisa (M) RM 120/Day
Myvi (A) RM180/Day
Saga (M) RM 180/Day
Some Useful Contacts
Victor: 016 - 5856402
Josephen: 016 - 8416258
Fizzy: 017 - 3788340
Kinabalu Park
It took us 2 hours to reach Kinabalu Park from Kota Kinabalu, one should be a good driver as most of the journey is in mountainous area. Kinabalu Park is where the hiking of the mount of Kinabalu begins besides it is also a reserved forest. The air in the park is very refreshing and cool. There is a Botanical garden in the park that charges RM 5 per person. The peak of Borneo is supposed to be visible in the park but the cloudy weather was hiding the peak from our sights. Please be noted that the tickets must be kept because it is still valid later in the other part of Park.
Kundasang ~ Desa Dairy Farm
After some sightseeing in kinabalu park, we headed to Kundasang in 15 minutes, a little farming town on the highland. It was unbelievable to learn that there is a town in the mountain. We were told that along the way to Kundasang and in Kundasang is the best spot to enjoy the scenic Mount of Kinabalu, however it was so sad that the clould was still hiding most of the part of the treeless peak. Then we drove to Desa Dairy Farm, but we decided not to go inside because we were an hour early to see the milking demonstration. So we just stopped at the entrance, there were groups of cows in the grass meadow and the magnificent Mount of Kinabalu was just standing gracefully in front of us. It was so amazing.
Information about Desa Dairy Farm
Open hour: 8 00 am - 12 00 am, 1 00 pm - 5 00 pm
Entrance fee: Adult RM 4.00 children RM 3
Milking demonstration: 3 00 pm
Location: refer to signboard along the road
~Rafflesia Blooming~
Next destination is Poring hotspring after a short "lunch break" in Ranau, in Ranau there are a few local restaurants and also KFC too. We were told in the Kinabalu Park that there was Rafflesia blooming on the from Kundasang to Poring Hotspring. It was true, there was a banner bound on a tree, so we just stopped by and paid a visit, the entry fees was RM 5 per person. It was not a park, it was a stretch of private land where the rare flower is planted over there. That was the 4th day after it bloomed, therefore the colour had faded a bit, and it would be totally dead the next day.
Some Information:
Location: on the way from Kundasang to Poring (observe the banner)
Fees: RM 5 - RM 10
Time: Only available for 5 days if there is blooming
Poring Hot Spring
As I said just now the ticket of Kinabalu Park is also valid in Poring Hotspring because it is another end of the Park, the whole park is actually larger than Singapore Island.
First we went to Canopy walk as it will be closed at 4 pm. Canopy walk or or tree top walk are a few bridges bound to towering trees in the forest. The walk was truly horrifying, each step we took, the bridge swung and shook.
Then we took a 15 minutes hike to a small waterfall. The sound of the splash was refreshing and there are some intriguing surprise there. there are some very exotic kind of fishes which when we stood still on the rocks, they swam to our feet and nibble our feet as if feeding on our dead skin. But it was unbearably itchy at first.
Then we relaxed ourselves after the day long trip in the Hotspring, there are pool in rectangular shape for us to soak our legs in the hot water. Then there are open bath tub where we could adjust the temperature of the water and relax. There is also swimming pool with hot water, but unfortunately it is closed due to maintenance.
Some Information about Poring HotSpring
Fees for Canopy walk: RM 5 for foreigner and RM 3 for Malaysia, RM 5 for camera
Open hour: before 4 00 pm
Day 3 ~ UMS and around Kota Kinabalu
Rent a MotorBike
Today we planed to stroll around Kota Kinabalu and pay a visit to UMS Aquarium and Marine Muzeum so we rented a scooter from Go Go in "Wisma Sabah" at the rate of RM 30 for half day, where the usual rate is RM 45 per day. We filled RM 5 of petrol and it was enough for a full half day.
GoGo Sabah Info:
Location: first floor of Wisma Sabah
Telephone: 088 317385
Website: gogosabah.com
Petrol: RM 5 whole half day
UMS ~ Aquarium and Marine Muzeum ~
UMS is located not too far from KK city, it was a 20 minutes scooter ride along the breezy shoreline. To be very honest, the aquarium is not as large and amazing as expected, and the species of marine life are not that much. The fishes on display are just a few. There is a sea turtle, shyly hiding from the visitors sight fantasizing.
However the video being played repeatedly about wonderful coral reef and preservation of it.
Information about UMS Aquarium and Marine Muzeum
Open hour: 9 am to 12 am, 2pm to 4 30 pm (daily besides public holiday and wednessday)
Website: http://www.sabahtourism.com/sabah-malaysian-borneo/en/destination/158-aquarium-marine-museum/
State Museum, Heritage village, and Islamic Civilization Muzeum
The three attractions are fenced in a same place, in the State Muzeum, camera is not allowed, the 2-level Museum has a gigantic whale skeleton at the center of the front hall. And there are another 4 sections that are Ceramic, Costume, History and Animal and may be more.
Heritage Village is much more fun, with a bridge, and some traditional houses of some of the indigenous ethics In Sabah, we were allowed to go inside the house to take some photo.
Due to fatigue and tiredness, we decided not to visit the Islamic Civilization Museum.
Information of State Museum
Opening hours: Daily from 9.00am till 5.00pm
Admission fees
My-Kad - RM2.00
Others - RM15.00
Student card - Free
Picture-taking is only allowed outside the buildings.
Tel : 6 088-253199, 6 088-263551
Email : muzium.sabah@sabah.gov.my
Yu Kee Bak Kut Teh
We were told that it is the most popular in KK, however as we reached we were astounded by the number of customers and empty tables, our starving stomach lured us to forget about it but still insisted to give it a shot. It was proven we were right, they serve fast despite the crowd. The price is to reasonable RM 12.00 per person (depends on how you order). It was delicious.
Information of Yu Kee Bak Kut Teh
Location: Jalan Gaya, 88000 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah (easy to find)
Day 4 ~ Padas White Water Rafting ~
Padas White Water Rafting
The package we took was RM 180, which was cheaper than some we found online.
This is the most thrilling part of the trip. As a swimmer, the idea of rafting was not as intimidating as some others might think. However, it turned out to be a crazily thrilling to me, I fell off the raft and got into the water and found out how weak was I in the monstrously strong current of the river. Though it was horrifying to be flushed helplessly in the current, it was totally safe if we followed the safety instruction and the most important wear the safety gear, life vest. It was just so fun, one should not miss it in KK, even if you don't know how to swim.
The whole trip consumed out whole day, it included 2 hours of mini van travelling and 2 more hours of train, and the same amount of time in the journey back, so it was a 8-hour travelling. The train was so classic, it was like 50 years old, some of the coaches didn't even have passenger seats and with the door opened at all time, we just could perched on the door of a moving train and swinging our legs.
The adventurous rafting was just around 2 hours, and another hour for lunch which was included in the package.
Some information
Cari T Lee (Sabah)
Contact: +60128115677
Price: RM 180
Time: 6 30 am to 6 00 pm
