Cuti-Cuti Sabah - Highland/Alpine Destination

We Sabahans are indeed blessed to have somewhere to go for holiday on an alpine environment. We don’t have to fly to Cameron Highland or Europe to experience the cool climate, the scenic view of mountain ranges, and diverse assortment of flora and fauna. It is also less than 2 hours away from the city of Kota Kinabalu, accessible by road, and what more – a World Heritage Site.

Kinabalu Park is a popular holiday destination for the locals and foreign tourists alike. Not only it offers climbing opportunity to the 7th tallest mountain in the world, this young non-volcanic mountain is in fact both magical and mysterious to visitors visiting the Park. Apart from climbing to the Low’s Peak summit, the park offers various attractions such as visit to botanical garden, various short and long trails, and so forth.

I have been a few times to the Park in the past. But having the opportunity to explore the entirety of the Park including the Mesilau and the Poring Hotspring is a mind boggling experience. If you are an eco-tourist and a naturalist, this is probably the best destination to visit. A well established tourism destination and an iconic tourism attraction for Sabah, Kinabalu Park, Mesilau and Poring Hotspring are the places to visit. It worths every penny you paid for.

Being part of a study team to assess the Kinabalu Park, Mesilau and Poring Hot Spring, we were given a VIP treatment to get access to all the attractions. Apart from climbing Mount Kinabalu, which is over booked (one has to pre-book at least 6 months in advance), the Kinabalu Park has many other attractions. The mountain garden at the main hall is well maintained with series of trails ranging from short walk about 15 minutes to longer trails which take up to an hour. Excellent interpretation and knowledgeable guides is an added bonus. The view of the mountain from the Park is a mouth full.

There are many attractions in Hot Spring. The surrounding forest provides a superb background to Poring Hot Spring. The canopy walk is a must-try. It is the first in Malaysia and only several in the world. It takes courage out of me to complete the 170m walk, and it sways from side to side on a slightly breezy day. The butterfly garden is very inviting to kids. Next to the research station building is the waiting platform for visitors to wait for the orang utan to come down from the forest to feed. Long-tailed macaques with their babies hanging to its mother are also visible, they are rather cute and funny. Near by, is an orchid garden showcasing Sabah’s collection of orchids. Of course, do not miss out for a rejuvenated bath at one of the hot spring’s many sulphur-filled outlets.

Mesilau offers a slightly different offering. This damp rather saturated moisture environment setting is quite eerie to certain visitors like me due to its isolation from the other mainstream tourism destination in Kundasang. I was tasked to climb to the Layang-layang station from Mesilau (6 km) and down to Timpohon Gate (4 km) in the next few days. Whether the mission successful or otherwise that we have to wait. Climbing to Mount Kinabalu is also possible from Mesilau but most climbers prefer climbing from Timpohon Gate. If more climbers take place from Mesilau that would reduce pressure to the trails from Timpohon Gate via Kinabalu Park. Perhaps in the next couple of years.