My first time to poring even though I am a Sabahan...
About 15-20 minutes from Ranau Town..Poring is indeed a place to go to relax..particularly for those who have just climb mount kinabalu..
You can take a bus or taxi from Ranau town or Directly from Kota Kinabalu..
The entrance is different from the Hot Spring Area and you have to walk about 2-3 minutes to get to the actual area..
Poring or Bamboo if directly translated from the local Kadazandusun Language has many bamboo plants growing around its vicinity..the moment I entered the place through a bridge...Something says to me that something awaits me..
Which can be depicted in this picture..Its so beautiful and is personally captured by me..(not flattering), mind you though, the water is unsafe to drink as it contains traces of harmful minerals...remember Mt.kinabalu used to be an active volcano...
I suppose that you will see this notice..in every national parks in sabah!
This is the trail going to the hot spring..a solid walk indeed..so no mud even in the rainy season..
structures at last...
The tubs are divided into 4 chambers each...See the tubs with the blue tiles? Yes..thats it...and as you can see many people are waiting at that time because it was a public holiday..so its best to go there when its not public holiday..or even weekends..This is the statement taken from tripadvisor.com about poring
....the hot tubs are built slightly below the actual source of the hot water. The hot water is piped (as at the source it is hot enough to hard boil eggs) and presented at the tubs along side a cold water tap. Due to reasons of hygene, the tubs are drained after each use, but they are also fairly large and thus sometimes take some time to fill. There are several other sized tubs scattered about nearby, which are not tiled and communal. Hot water flows freely through these and are always at the ready.
There are also two or three indoor tubs for private use. The better of the ones is the Raffelsia, which is quite new, spacious and nice and clean. The other tubs are fairly basic, almost like what you would find at home, but do feature two big tubs side by side. The facilities are also basic, but clean.
The other pools in the part of the facility are cold-water pools. There is a freely accessable rock pool, as well as the paid-access slide pool, which is a series of 4 cascading pools, the upper 3 of which are margined by a water-slide. The water in these pools are fed by a river and are thus constantly replenished. This part of the facility is quite popular amongst tourist and locals alike, especially during weekends and public- and school holidays.
Which is really true because during that day (a Public Holiday for Sabahan)..ALL TUBS and POOLS ARE OCCUPIED...I managed to spend a few minutes in the tubs..but its so distressing to see others waiting in line to have a taste of the Hot Spring..so I just spend a little time there..Gonna be back again soon...
There are also several pools out there..but if you want to rest or relax then tubs is the best choice...there is a CANOPY WALK..and BUTTERFLY SANCTUARY if you want at extra few costs...I didn't have the chance to go there as I was busy spending my time in the cold water pool and hot tubs..
There is a Jungle Restaurant which is pretty unique and cool because most of the building materials are mainly taken from jungle and nature..
YEah...its a very jungle restaurant indeed
With that bye-bye poring...But my journey that day has not end yet..I have a short-incidental Visit to Kundasang still...and I would like to share a few more pictures with you..
Kundasang is a small town before ranau, famous for its vegetable, cool air n spectacular views...
there is also the Kundasang World War II Memorial to commemorate the 24,000 Allied soldiers killed during World War II. Established in 1962, this was one of the first memorials to commemorate the brave Australian and British Prisoners of War who died in Sandakan and during the infamous death marches to Ranau during World War II. The memorial also remembers the people of North Borneo who risked their lives to help the POWs. (http://www.kinabaluweb.com/kundasangmemorial.html) - I have been there but the explanations and pictures require a whole new post..I will post it once I get there again and be able to take decent pictures..
And besides the road from Kundasang to Kota Kinabalu..there is a few rows of markets selling vegetables, local fruits
and local titbits..Fried spinach anyone?..which proves to be as famous as the rest of the public attractions among tourists..and locals alike...
honey..anyone??
flowers on sale...its as fresh as it can be..And my journey to ranau is ended by a shot of Mount Kinabalu view taken originally by me..
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