We started the day at 7:25 AM, by being picked up by our incessantly energetic tour guide, Edwin. Our first sight was an 8K run/walked/strolled by Malaysian students in support of the the "one student" Malaysian policy of getting kids involved in athletic. On the left side of the car, they clearly couldn't care less and were stopping, sitting, texting, and talking; on the right side, they were sprinting:
The promised half-hour drive was actually an hour and a half (the first of many drives much longer than described). Luckily, the drive was beautiful. Our destination was Nabalu, described as quaint, but actually a town that seemed to exist solely for tourists. Hundreds of stalls crowded a couple of small pavilions, selling rice, fresh fruit, and many, many souvenirs. Kari got us some breakfast, about 20 mini bananas for 1 ringitt (30 cents!), and we got some sub-par kopi peng. See the giant bunch of mini bananas in this photo (they lasted us all day and into the next day):
We browsed the stalls but our half hour flew by, and we didn't end up getting much, except for this photo:
From there, we took another long drive to Poring Hot Spring and Nature Reserve, passing Kinabalu Park, which we would return to later. The drive was GORGEOUS. The scenery was out of this world, rolling mountains, rice paddies, and Kinabalu himself looming over all of it. We learned the first legend of Kinabalu (yes, there are two), which is that when people die, their spirits go to live on the mountain. If you hike it, you should not call anyone by their real name, just a number the tour guide assigns you, because if you use their real name, the spirits will hear it and call it out, luring the unlucky namee to their death.
When we arrived to Poring Hot Spring , Edwin took us up to our first destination, the Treetop Canopy Walkway. We had signed up for a lot of hiking and exercise, but our fellow tourists, two Malaysian couples and a middle-aged Indian uncle, were not dressed for nor in shape for anything more than 20 minutes of hiking, which is how long it took to get to the canopy walkway. Still, a nice little hike and way to stretch our legs after all of that driving.
I had expected something like wood planks nailed to a solid structure that was a little ways off the ground. Nope. We were presented with an apparatus made up of ropes and cables that sunk as soon as you stepped on it and reached heights of 30 meters off of the ground. Terrifying (although I am hiding my fear from the camera here):
Somehow, Kari and I survived the walk, and in order to get some more hiking in, decided to pass the hot sulfur baths up (they didn't look too clean, anyways) and hike to a waterfall. Hike would be an overstatement; it was about a ten minute stroll, but the falls were pretty and Kari had the chance to try out the natural foot spa--down stream a little ways, the fish they'll charge you hundreds of dollars for in New York will nibble at your dead skin for free:
We got back in the car for another long drive for lunch at the Fairy Garden Restaurant, a restaurant with beautiful views of the mountains and seemingly tailored to tour buses. We were promised deer meat to try, but due to some odd reasons (we had to sit at a different table than the Muslims just in case we wanted to order alcohol, which we didn't, and you need at least six people to get the deer dish, and because of the religious divide we were a group of three and one of four, so no minimum for deer), we just had chicken, fish, and veggies. Still good, though we had gotten our hopes up!
Next, we had just a short drive to Kinabalu Park, where we spent 30 minutes being told about the things we would see if we had decided to hike Mt. Kinabalu. Kari and I kept trying to subtly hint that we would rather be outside in nature instead of being told about nature from a inside a sub-par exhibit hall, but Edwin would say NOT YET! NOT YET!
Once we finally got outside, Edwin led us through trails of lush plant life and a few gurgling streams. Very pretty, except I made a mistake. Earlier on the tour, I had expressed to Edwin that I liked orchids. Therefore, every single time he saw one, he would stop and yell "Christine! Christine!" until I came over and he could point at it. Thanks, Edwin.
I also made the mistake of disagreeing with Edwin over betelnut. From what Kari and I have heard and read, betelnut is a sort of fruit-like pod that grows in the wild, is harvested by Malaysians and Indonesians, and sold in some stores. It's effects are slightly drug-like, and it can be addictive. When I tried saying that it was addictive to Edwin, he shot me down and tried to talk over me. Maybe he is an addict? According to wikipedia, it also is a carcinogen! Who knew!
After another long ride home, Kari and I dumped our stuff at the hotel and walked towards the waterfront to check out the sunset and the Filipino market. Sunset: gorgeous; market: crazy (so much food! so many people!). We enjoyed a pitcher of Tiger and a seafood feast while watching the sunset over the South China Sea. How romantic. Afterwards, we tried some Malay desserts (Kaya butter balls = delcisiouness) before packing it in for the night.
Verdict: the area is beautiful, but even after coming home and doing some google searching, I cannot figure out how to do active touring of the Kota Kinabalu area without hiking to the top of the mountain itself. Perhaps if we had asked for more action and adventure, or to hike half the mountain, our experience would have been a little better; but Sabah is definitely beautiful and I would encourage anyone who has the chance to go. Wouldn't fly around the world JUST to see it, but hey, if you're here, why not?
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