Day 1: From LCCT to KKIA

Date: 27 June, 2013 (Thursday)

This is our 2^nd annual trip for me and my cousin. Tickets were purchased about 6 months earlier for RM360 inclusive of 25kg return-baggage for 2pax (so RM180 per pax). Turned out that we don’t really need to buy too much of baggage allowance since our total bags weighted only 16kg (and returned at 17kg). Flight from LCCT departed on time at 11.05am and by 1.40pm we reached Kota Kinabalu.

KKIA building is very small; comparable to the airport in Kuching and Labuan. But it has one flaw. The immigration hall is way too small. It only has 6 foreign passport + 4 Malaysian passport + 1 staff counters. Very ironic that the foreigners counter is more compared for Malaysians. We had to cramped to the 4+1 counters and the queue ended up until outside towards the tarmac. Anyway, no need to wait for our bags since by the time we cleared off, 30mins already passed.

Then, a drama unfolds. I already made our car booking via online at sewabah.com. Perodua Viva Elite 1.0L at RM85/day (RM170 for 2 days). In my email correspondence, we agreed to give them a call once we’ve reached the airport on the 27^th. I guess a part of it was my mistake to not reconfirm with them a day earlier. The person in charge was not reachable when I called from KKIA. There is no office number on the website but there are few other contact numbers. I finally got hold and the guy said that he’s not aware of my booking. This is really weird since I thought it’s supposed to be in their database since there was a booking number upon confirmation. But the guy said he’ll try to find me a Viva and he’ll give me a call within 15mins.

After all the hassle, we finally got a car around 3pm. Payment was settled on the spot and we made a deal on the returning point near our accommodation in KK 2 days later. Off we go to our 1^st stop, Kundasang. Oh ya, while waiting we managed to savage few KK and kundasang maps at the Sabah Tourism booth at the arrival hall. No maps were given by the car rental but then, this is Malaysia so we weren’t worried. GPS helps a lot too.

My cousin was the driver for 2 days. She said she preferred to drive rather than figuring the road hahaha :p

We had to drive though KK town. We were quite surprised at the traffic. It’s already jammed although it’s only 3.30pm. It wasn’t even rush hours yet! At first, we planned to stop by near the UMS for lunch and to pack food for dinner. But for some reason, we couldn’t find any roadside stall in that area. So we opted for Anjung Rasa at Putrajaya, Telipok (~30mins from KK). You will not miss this restaurant as it is exactly by the main road. There is a market nearby as well as a small Giant (where we bought our water supply).

Based on my blog-hopping, the route was simple. Just follow KK -> Tuaran -> Tamparuli -> Ranau. But there was a bit of confusion there. You don’t really need to go through Tamparuli IF you DON’T WANT TO VISIT THE SUSPENSION BRIDGE. You can just go straight at the roundabout (instead of taking the 3 o’clock exit) to go to Kundasang. Our initial plan was to drop by the Rumah Terbalik today and the suspension bridge on our back later on. But it turned up the other way around. We found the suspension bridge unsuspectedly after we followed the signboard to Tamparuli (we were searching for Rumah Terbalik at that point).

Aqua square is the Rumah Terbalik (which we missed on).

Red route - if u don't want to visit the suspension bridge

Blue route - route to the suspension bridge

Yellow box - Tamparuli Suspension Bridge

Some photo session here and there, we then move on to our main destination. At that point, it’s already 4.30pm. You can either take the blue colored route or return back. We followed back the route to the same roundabout. If you follow the blue route, you’ll end up to the roundabout with the pineapple statue. If u take the red route, this pineapple roundabout is the 2^nd roundabout u’ll pass through.

Anyway, we started the climb towards Kundasang soon after. The road wasn’t bad as I thought it’d be. It is exactly like the road up to Cameron Highlands. But the view was breathtaking. There were plenty of passing lanes but it started to rain so with Viva, we just take our own sweet time driving. We didn’t manage to stop at Pekan Nabalu since it’s already dark so we drove straight to Kundasang instead. Somewhere on the way up, we spotted a rest area but we gave it a pass as well.

To reach our accommodation, Kiram’s Village, we have to drive pass Kinabalu Park towards Kundasang Town. U’ll reach a roundabout, take the 9 o’clock exit and then go straight at the 2^nd roundabout. The shops should be on your right, as well as the Kundasang War Memorial. The signboard at the 1^st roundabout was way too small to be seen at night. There are no road lamps so we actually missed the turned. We stopped at the front to take our 1^st Kinabalu pics although the sun already sets. It’s dark but you can still see the shape of the peak.

If you didn’t see Kiram’s signboard at the Kundasang town, don’t worry. You may follow any of these signs: Desa Cattle Farm, Mesilau Nature Park, or Kundasang/Mesilau Golf Course (there is only 1 golf course in the area).

The drive after the 2^nd roundabout near the War Memorial was steeper and darker. U’ll pass thru the village area and after maybe a 15mins drive, u’ll see a junction to the left towards the Desa Cattle Farm. Go straight and u’ll make your way down towards the small wooden bridge (u’ll seriously feel like you’re in the middle of the jungle here). Don’t worry, just drive passes the bridge and u’ll reach Kg.Mesilau. Take a left turn at the junction and after that u’ll see Kiram’s Village on your right. If u still couldn’t find the place, gv them a call hehehehe ; )

All in all, we reached Kiram at 6.30pm. In the dark, I could see Kinabalu’s peak behind us. I’m excited to actually see it at daytime the next day! Dinner was banana fritters and maggi. When we first get in the room, it’s a bit warm. But wait for a while, it gets really cold and we slept like a log at 10pm hahahaha. Long john + socks + long sleeve shirt + sweater + long pants really helps….

More in the coming entries :D