Day 2: Canopy Walk & Poring Hot Spring, Ranau

Date: 28 June, 2013 (Friday)

My day started at 6.30am. It’s already bright and I went straight to our balcony to see the Peak. Yeay, it’s clearly there!! No clouds blocking my view!! *grin* We found out that our next door neighbor already outside, so we rushed out to take some photos out. Being in Mesilau, we could see the almost all front and side sight of the mountain. It was beautiful. Very near yet very far. I could clearly the walls of the mountain (read as “wall” since it is a straight wall, no trees). The sun hasn’t shined on yet so it has this gloomy-majestic look. I wonder if seeing peak of Kinabalu already awe me like this, what will my respond be on seeing peak of Mt. Everest??

After having enough of photos, we went in to get ready for our plan today. Today was the only full day we had in Kundasang so we need to maximize the time.

1^st stop: Poring Hot Spring & Canopy Walk.

After our serunding-sandwich breakfast, we departed from Kiram around 7.30am. Including a quick photo stop at the Kundasang Town (note: there is a morning market every Friday here), the journey to Poring took us about 50mins. We planned for the Canopy Walk first before going to the Hot Spring. Actually, don’t be mistaken, both are located in the same park. To go to the Canopy Walk, u need to walk thru the Hot Spring area. Just follow the signage.

You need to pay a conservation fee of RM3 for the Park (at the carpark entrance), another RM3 for the Canopy fee and RM5 to bring your camera in (at the Canopy Walk entrance).

Here is a must if u decide to go to the Canopy Walk:

-   Determination to reach the canopy – it’s not an easy walk. Yes, the first 400m walk from the hot spring area to the canopy walk entrance is easy. Just like a typical flat walk in the jungle. But once u go into the canopy walk area, u have to face another 550m hike up the hills. I said DETERMINATION cause I don’t have the STAMINA but I can climb up slowly on my own pace. This is one of the main reasons we decided to head to the canopy walk the first thing in the morning. To avoid the crowd. Less people thru the track and less people cramped out on the Walkway later.

-    Bravery to face ur fear of height – my cousin is afraid of height. But she is determined to go through. Of coz with some cold sweats, drama and restrictions (only her in the section at a time to avoid the swinging effect. Max is 6pax per section at a time), she managed to go from start to the end J. U’ll climb from lower point to the highest point and the section also gets longer and longer. Don’t be afraid and don’t look down too much. The view is very refreshing. I even managed to spot a bushy tailed huge squirrel (but no pics as I was in the middle of the bridge when it passed by).

Lucky us, we’re the only souls at the canopy Walkway all the time. Only on our way down we passed by a lot of people starting to go up the track. After an hour there, we head down to the hot spring area.

There weren’t a lot of people there. Only few outdoor tubs were filled as well as the below pools. Since we were lazy to get wet, we just dipped our feet into the hot water. Kire ok-lah after the climbed up the canopy walk, kind of soothing. For those who wanted to take a long bath, there are also closed pools for privacy. Plenty of toilet and shower room for a change of clothes.

Nothing much to do other than that. The information center was closed for construction so after a short dip, it’s time for the next destination – Kelah Sanctuary.