Holiday in Borneo: Day 2 (part one) -- Mount Kinabalu

17 June 2009. Kota Kinabalu was dry and a little cloudy as we set off for THE Mount Kinabalu. Since we didn't do any training (nor did we do all the bookings), we opted NOT to climb to the 4000m peak. Instead, our target were Mt. Kinabalu National Park and the Poring Hot Springs.

Just for anyone who wants to know, it takes about 1.5 hours to drive from Kota Kinabalu, and the drive is challenging itself with winding roads and often slow trucks. Ainsley decided to take a break...



Just to add to my fun, once we reached the mountain, the clouds descended on us.



It became wet and foggy. Great.




After paying the entrance fee at the gate, we headed to the Mount Kinabalu National Park Comlex (or center). It was about 18 degrees celcius, at around 12noon.


The complex also has hotel rooms (below).
Here's Ainsley in the lobby area.


We decided to have lunch there. Since it was run by a 5* Malaysian hotel chain, we were prepared for "coffee house" prices. But overall, food was Ok, and not THAT expensive.


Also housed inside the Complex is the Kinabalu Park Museum.

There's Ainsley trying to imitate one of the flying animals displayed in the Museum!

So further up the road was the entrance to THE CLIMB. Minimum 2 days required, and with us not preparing, it wasn't an option this time.




Taking the car back to the main gate, there was THE picture spot, a well prepared platform which -- on a good day -- would have given a great picture of the Kinabalu Peak. Oh well...better than nothing...


Already 3pm, we pushed on further. Not long after leaving the Park, we arrived at Kundasang village, where we found another great picture opportunity of the mountain.


We continued on, heading to our next stop: Poring.