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The journey to Kinabalu
Park HQ starts early on the
next morning after you have a good
night sleep, and maybe delicious seafood the night before. Pack
your things up,
have some
breakfast and head for the Kota Kinabalu
main bus station. It
would be better if you could go out early, maybe around 7.00am as the
city becomes more congested after that. The new town bus station
situated in Inanam,
about 10
km from the city.
You could take a bus
there, provided you ask the bus
driver first, whether they go to the Inanam bus station.
It is easier for
you to take a taxi, but it may cost you a little bit more. If you stay
in hotels that have their own shuttle bus to the bus station, you can
also use their services. If you have choose to pick Mount Kinabalu climbing
package from any travel services, most likely that they will provide
the transport for you.
For those who
pick to travel by public transport, buses from the Inanam bus station
will depart Kota
Kinabalu city to
Kundasang/Ranau (Kinabalu Park
HQ is on their route) at
8.00am. At the time of writing, the bus
fare to Kinabalu
Park HQ
is
RM15 to RM20 per person. If you happened to travel with another 3
person, it is better for you to charter a taxi. It would cost RM80 to
RM90 per taxi. The ride is better in a taxi than a bus.
Mount
Kinabalu from Tamparuli town.
The journey to Kinabalu Park HQ
will take about 2
hours. The Kinabalu
Park Headquarters
lies at an elevation of 1,563 meters (5,128 feet) above sea level. The
90 kilometers (50 mile) drive along sealed road takes an easy journey
but not until the road passes the little town of Tamparuli,
after about 45 minutes,
does it start to rise. Although clouds usually cover the summit by
midday, in the early morning the mountain is often clear, the view
constantly changing as the roads winds up and up. Some of the best
views come near Kampung
Kelawat
at the kilometer 55 (to Ranau)
mark, when the mountains rises dramatically ahead as you round the
corner.
Shifting
cultivation covers most of the hills around here, and at kilometer 33
the roadside stalls of Pekan
Nabalu
are well stocked with local produce. This is a regular tourist stop
where a variety of good quality handicrafts can be purchased as well as
the deliciously nutty flavored brown hill rice - a specialty of the
area, together with extra sweet pineapples.
Fruit stalls at Pekan
Nabalu.
Mount Kinabalu, the view
from Pekan Nabalu.
At
kilometer 29,
at the turn-off to Kampung
Kiau,
the air is already
cooler and yellow daisies become increasingly common, scattered through
the grass at the edge of the road. Soon you pass the Kiau Nabalu
restaurant on the roadside, 6 kilometers (4 miles) from the Kinabalu
Park HQ,
where there are
good views of the patterned fields of shift cultivation above the
Kampung Kiau.
If the day is clear
there are also excellent views of the long trailing waterfall of the
Kadamaian from here onwards to the Tenompok
Pass. A rough road to the
right at the pass leads down to another historic village, Bundu Tuhan,
where the most famous of the mountain guides, Gunting bin Lagadan,
lived, well-known as a teller of tales and legends and now the stuff of
legend himself.
At the Tenompok
Pass, just after the
kilometer 22 mark, you cross over to the
main
massif and within five minutes reach the impressive arched entrance of
the Kinabalu
Park HQ, with
introduced pine trees and blue morning glory
flowers along the roadside.
Sutera Sanctuary Lodge
Reception office.
Liwagu Restaurant. Nice
ambience.
You will
arrive at Kinabalu
Park HQ at
about 10.00am. From here you can see the
mountain more clearly and closely. It is still early for you to check
in, but during that time, there are a lot of things that you could do.
You can go to the information center and get all the information about
Mount Kinabalu
and Sabah
Parks, know more
about the flora of Mount
Kinabalu in the mountain
garden guided walk or maybe go to their
mini-theater to watch video show about Mount
Kinabalu. A fee of only a
few ringgit is charged for each activity. You can buy a "package"
ticket for all three.
There are two
restaurants and a
small sundry shop in Kinabalu Park HQ.
You can have your meals in the restaurants and buy climbing equipments
in the shop. The shop only provide very basic climbing equipments that
is mostly used by the climbers. Liwagu
Restaurant and Kinabalu
Balsam
Restaurant have a very nice
food and ambiance, and they usually
open up
until 10.00pm at night. The two restaurants serving both western and
oriental food. You do not have to worry about your dinner then. If you
want to save money, you can also cook your dinner yourself in your
hostel or chalet. They have a very basic kitchen utensils for you to
use.
Fireplace
are
provided in some chalets and firewood can be purchased from the
Reception office
at Kinabalu
Park HQ, but it is
a good idea to bring old
newspaper and candle or a lighter as well as matches from Kota
Kinabalu. The park has its
own generator and electricity is
provided 24
hours a day.
Check
in to your
hostel or chalet must be done in the Reception
office of Sutera
Sanctuary Lodge. After
checking-in, most of the climbers will
have
their afternoon break, ease themselves before the strenuous climb on
the next day.
For the nature
lovers, there are about 10 mountain trails in Kinabalu Park HQ
that you cold
spend your time on. There is always something of interest along these
paths and a number of walking trails have been developed around the
Kinabalu Park HQ
ranging in length from 20 minutes to two to three hours. These
trails are marked on the trail maps available at Kinabalu Park HQ.
Remember that
times given are approximate and vary greatly depending
on how fit you
are and how often you stop.
MINIMAL
IMPACT CODE
Kinabalu
has
many rare and endangered plants and
animals. It is important that you do not harm, disturb or remove them.
Do
not encourage
trade in living plants and animals,
or items produced from threatened natural resources
When
walking,
stay identifiable paths and follow your
guide.
When
near
animals,a avoid making undue noise or
movement, or doing anything to disturb them. Use binoculars rather than
trying to get too close.
By assisting in these small ways, you will help to promote responsible
tourism for the future. Remember, you are one of the fortunate few to
visit this place. Don't spoil the experience for others.
Take
nothing but
photographs and fond memories, leave nothing but footprints and smiling
faces.
SORY icannot english language
bahasa melayu
pak misal kami ingin ngadain ekspedisi ke gunung kinabalu dari pihak anda
dari banyak option, bolehkah kami membuat manajemen perjalanan sendiri tdk mengikuti isi dr paketan and?
shwand gadong
Posted at 12:09am on Friday, May 23rd, 2008
a'salam, naik gunung adalah satu pengalaman yang pasti tidak akan dilupakan. satu distinasi yang menarik.
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