Mount Kinabalu is 'wow' :)
Well, we woke up at 7:15am and after a leisurely breakfast we spent 1h40 in our transfer van to get to Mt Kinabalu, Borneo's first World Heritage Park for its outstanding contribution to nature - I mentioned earlier it holds the world record for the most plants per square meters.
It was quite a zig-zag to the National Park and our guide for that day was rather talkative and it made me quite queasy. Even Roberto ended up with a headache... trying to focus on him and make eye contact to be polite when you really would rather look at the scenery... We stopped a little craft market on the way, for 20mns, just to break the journey. I didn't really find anything much of interest (my suitcase is so packed, hard to squeeze any more in for a start), so I got a fridge magnet of a rhino hornbill as a keepsake. Again, I found NO post card that I liked, they were too bleached, too old, or too dull. Sorry. For a country that's as beautiful as this, there is definitely a market here for my photos because they have NO idea how to represent it properly. Shocking. So, I'd rather send no post-cards than bad ones... my visual self will not allow any less.
Our first decent stop was at the Botanical Gardens. The first thing that struck us when we got off the van was how pure and fresh and crisp the air was after our previous stops with 98% humidity in the air. It felt so refreshing. We instantly fell in love with the air quality and the surroundings... a bit like being in the Alps (so Roberto tells me since I've never been there myself) with Mt Kinabalu as a lovely back-drop (when it wasn't in the clouds). The Botanical Gardens had more plants than flowers, as most only flower every 12 years or so (including the biggest flower in the world: good old Rafflesia, that only flowers 5 days a year - named after the guy who 'founded' Singapore and created the Raffles hotel).
Our guide was super enthusiastic about the place, almost too much... we went into the mountain forests to hike and every 10 seconds (no exaggeration) he'd point something out and tell us about how they use such & such a plant for dessert, soups, etc. and I could see that Roberto was so keen to get ahead and do a proper walk (we hadn't had any exercise in the previous 3 days and he was getting 'hyper' by his own admission) and we had to remain polite and listen patiently. It was all interesting, but I didn't have a pen to record it all. All I can remember is that Sabah is only 10% of Borneo and that they have 1,200 different orchids. That most square meters has 30 different plants and that Borneo's rainforests are 130 million years old, twice as old as the almighty Amazon at 'only' 60 million years old. He said that, in that respect, Borneo is the best place on the planet to see how plants have evolved... and that some of the ones that we can still see today would have been eaten by dinosaurs. All the trees have a very low root system as most of the fertilisers are only 5cms deep (the soil is mostly rocks). As it's so humid most leaves that fall to the ground decay in just 3 months, whereas in Europe it'd take more like 12.
We then had lunch in a lodge quite high up on a hill but with no view over Mt Kinabalu, which was a bit of a shame. But it was on the way to the Poring Springs recreation area where we were going to spend the whole afternoon.
Our first stop was the Butterfly farm. They have such big ones but the selection was very poor compared to some in Costa Rica. Their hot springs were also a joke and not at all as scenic as Tobaccon in Arenal (Costa Rica, again). Their bath tubs were tiny and made of ceramic and more like a normal bath tub... instead I opted to go and swim in the pool fed by mountain springs. Much cooler (22C) but just what I needed as I was drenched in sweat....
We had had a short steep hike to reach the canopy walk and I didn't enjoy the hike (who likes to suffer?) but I did enjoy the canopy walk - 35m high. As beautiful as the one in the Danum Valley really. We took some really fun pix at the top, among the tree tops... we look like explorers on a thin board between 2 ropes. A bit hairy. Some people plain refuse to do it. NOT one for the faint-hearted or those who suffer from vertigo, definitely.
We finished our various activities at 6pm and then had dinner in a superb lodge, I think it was called Ligwa, after the river nearby. Just beautifully decorated, simple but nice. I even took a photo....
Our lodge where we stayed overnight was also cosy and very beautiful. The room temperature was only 20C, but it was actually nicer than being too hot. They had 2 blankets on the bed as for most Malaysians, it'd be too cold. But we slept like logs...
Our only concern was that Roberto's toothache is not getting much better, though he'll say it's also not worse. But he had a bad headache, which could be caused by dehydratation (he doesn't drink enough) or a side effect of the toothache? I feel sorry for him as it's a shame that he's not feeling 100% when it's such an exciting adventure... but, to give him credit, he NEVER complains. I'm the one who keep asking him how he is, he just grins and bears it. Top marks.
Well, we woke up at 7:15am and after a leisurely breakfast we spent 1h40 in our transfer van to get to Mt Kinabalu, Borneo's first World Heritage Park for its outstanding contribution to nature - I mentioned earlier it holds the world record for the most plants per square meters.
It was quite a zig-zag to the National Park and our guide for that day was rather talkative and it made me quite queasy. Even Roberto ended up with a headache... trying to focus on him and make eye contact to be polite when you really would rather look at the scenery... We stopped a little craft market on the way, for 20mns, just to break the journey. I didn't really find anything much of interest (my suitcase is so packed, hard to squeeze any more in for a start), so I got a fridge magnet of a rhino hornbill as a keepsake. Again, I found NO post card that I liked, they were too bleached, too old, or too dull. Sorry. For a country that's as beautiful as this, there is definitely a market here for my photos because they have NO idea how to represent it properly. Shocking. So, I'd rather send no post-cards than bad ones... my visual self will not allow any less.
Our first decent stop was at the Botanical Gardens. The first thing that struck us when we got off the van was how pure and fresh and crisp the air was after our previous stops with 98% humidity in the air. It felt so refreshing. We instantly fell in love with the air quality and the surroundings... a bit like being in the Alps (so Roberto tells me since I've never been there myself) with Mt Kinabalu as a lovely back-drop (when it wasn't in the clouds). The Botanical Gardens had more plants than flowers, as most only flower every 12 years or so (including the biggest flower in the world: good old Rafflesia, that only flowers 5 days a year - named after the guy who 'founded' Singapore and created the Raffles hotel).
Our guide was super enthusiastic about the place, almost too much... we went into the mountain forests to hike and every 10 seconds (no exaggeration) he'd point something out and tell us about how they use such & such a plant for dessert, soups, etc. and I could see that Roberto was so keen to get ahead and do a proper walk (we hadn't had any exercise in the previous 3 days and he was getting 'hyper' by his own admission) and we had to remain polite and listen patiently. It was all interesting, but I didn't have a pen to record it all. All I can remember is that Sabah is only 10% of Borneo and that they have 1,200 different orchids. That most square meters has 30 different plants and that Borneo's rainforests are 130 million years old, twice as old as the almighty Amazon at 'only' 60 million years old. He said that, in that respect, Borneo is the best place on the planet to see how plants have evolved... and that some of the ones that we can still see today would have been eaten by dinosaurs. All the trees have a very low root system as most of the fertilisers are only 5cms deep (the soil is mostly rocks). As it's so humid most leaves that fall to the ground decay in just 3 months, whereas in Europe it'd take more like 12.
We then had lunch in a lodge quite high up on a hill but with no view over Mt Kinabalu, which was a bit of a shame. But it was on the way to the Poring Springs recreation area where we were going to spend the whole afternoon.
Our first stop was the Butterfly farm. They have such big ones but the selection was very poor compared to some in Costa Rica. Their hot springs were also a joke and not at all as scenic as Tobaccon in Arenal (Costa Rica, again). Their bath tubs were tiny and made of ceramic and more like a normal bath tub... instead I opted to go and swim in the pool fed by mountain springs. Much cooler (22C) but just what I needed as I was drenched in sweat....
We had had a short steep hike to reach the canopy walk and I didn't enjoy the hike (who likes to suffer?) but I did enjoy the canopy walk - 35m high. As beautiful as the one in the Danum Valley really. We took some really fun pix at the top, among the tree tops... we look like explorers on a thin board between 2 ropes. A bit hairy. Some people plain refuse to do it. NOT one for the faint-hearted or those who suffer from vertigo, definitely.
We finished our various activities at 6pm and then had dinner in a superb lodge, I think it was called Ligwa, after the river nearby. Just beautifully decorated, simple but nice. I even took a photo....
Our lodge where we stayed overnight was also cosy and very beautiful. The room temperature was only 20C, but it was actually nicer than being too hot. They had 2 blankets on the bed as for most Malaysians, it'd be too cold. But we slept like logs...
Our only concern was that Roberto's toothache is not getting much better, though he'll say it's also not worse. But he had a bad headache, which could be caused by dehydratation (he doesn't drink enough) or a side effect of the toothache? I feel sorry for him as it's a shame that he's not feeling 100% when it's such an exciting adventure... but, to give him credit, he NEVER complains. I'm the one who keep asking him how he is, he just grins and bears it. Top marks.
posted by Sylvie at 1:17 PM
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