We had initially planned to hike up Mount Kinabalu during our trip to Malaysia. We had booked a mountain guide with the tourism company Amazing Borneo many months ahead and had already prepared training physically for it. A very unfortunate event happened on June 5th this year, when an earthquake hit the region and many tour guides and climbers perished on the mountain. As a result, the hiking trails and several areas of the park are closed to the public tentatively until September, allowing the authorities to repair the collapsed pathways.

We were deeply saddened by the turn of events and loss of so many victims. With the chaos that must be going on in Malaysia, we did not expect Amazing Borneo to come forward with an email concerning our booking merely a week after the event. The company gave us several alternative tour options or a complete reimbursement. On this note, we would like to thank Amazing Borneo for their honest and efficient management.

Island-hopping in the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park

The marine park is composed of 5 distinct islands, two of which we visited: Manukan and Sapi.

Manukan is the larger island with a 1 km long sandy beach. The view of the other islands and the sea is soothing and the long beach allows for tourists to stretch out, making the place feel not overly crowded. However, the water quality was poor on the day we visited. It was barely possible to see further than my outstretched arms through the cloudy water. Needless to say, snorkelling was not very exciting, although a few different fish species could be spotted.

The rest of the island consists of a restaurant facility and a watersports and equipment rental office. We rented a jet-ski for half and hour, which cost 175 MYR (about 60$ CAD). We were transported by speedboat to a floating platform, where the jet-skis are docked. It was very fun to drive and the staff even finished by showing us some cool moves they could do with the jet-ski.

Sapi is barely smaller than Manukan but the beach area is tiny! There was almost no space to lay down on the beach when we got there a little after lunch time. Dozens upon dozens of tourists, most of them Chinese, already claimed up the space.

There is a trail up the hill into the rainforest that we sadly couldn’t hike, having forgotten to bring adequate footwear and mosquito repellent. According to our guide, the fauna is very different on these islands. There is a population of a special kind of macaques and monitor lizards that can grow up to 3 meters long!

Kinabalu Park: A UNESCO site

When hearing Kinabalu, one unavoidably thinks of the 4000+ meters high peak that is the symbol of Sabah, Malaysia, but the national park that surrounds the mountain is also worth its heritage site label. Boasting a tremendously large diversity of flora and fauna (more than 4500 different species), Kinabalu park is best visited with a guide who is able to tell you relevant details about everything you see.

Poring hot springs and Nature reserve park

Part of the Kinabalu Park is a complex hosting open-air sulfurous water baths, a concept that was brought to Malaysia by the Japanese during WWII. The natural hot spring water is channeled into individual tiled bathtubs that can be outdoor and shared or indoor and private. The latter will cost you extra, whereas the outdoor baths facilities will be included in your entry ticket. Another thing to note is that the park charges an extra 5 MYR per camera brought into the reserve.

We only used the outdoor facilities and found that they were clean and well-maintained, although it takes a very long time to fill up the bathtub, and by the time there is enough water to bathe yourself, it had gotten lukewarm. Luckily, there is a large shared one that is already filled and ready to use. The water was hot and the smell of sulfur simply overwhelming…not a treat for your nose but definitely a relaxing treatment for your skin.

While in the reserve, take some time to wander around the jungle on the various nature trails available. One that I would definitely recommend is the Canopy walkway: suspended bridges installed about 40 meters above the ground, allowing for incredible views of the jungle.

Stay tuned for the review of TH hotel Kinabalu in the next post!