Day 17: Kota Kinabalu to Kundasang by Simi

We all enjoyed a little lie in this morning until about 8am. Diving whilst being early starts was also pretty tiring which never makes too much sense as you’re not massively active but I guess you’re breathing underwater and swimming with weights and a tank on your back.
It’s usually a good, satisfied kind of tired! Anyway the lie in was appreciated by us all.

We packed up and headed off in two different directions . Matt and Millen to collect our rental car as we were heading out to the national park for the last part of our Sabah Adventure. Arushi, Eashan and I to complete check out, collect supplies and then to meet the others at a rather tasty brunch place called October. We had both taken separate Grabs. The Bornean people are so friendly and so honest . For the second time, Eashan had something fall out of his pocket and the Grab driver came all the way back to hand deliver it to us and then dash out again. How kind!! How lucky for Eashan too!

October totally delivered.. .delicious coffees and sandwiches . I had an absolutely divine pistachio latte! Really good!!

We then loaded all our bags into the new wagon. It was super plush and felt luxurious to know we had a moving base for a few days.

The roads here in the city are pretty smooth and Matt found the driving pretty easy. People here are slower drivers and actually give way to pedestrians and obey traffic signals so that all felt reassuring !

Whilst it was only 55miles away to Kundasang where we were staying , it was due to take 2 and a quarter hours . Once out of the city we could understand why: potholes , traffic and roads of pretty high gradients - all adding to the fun! Kundasang is at the base of Mount Kinabalu which is Malaysia's highest peak and also Borneo’s. Standing at 4,095 metres above sea level , it is a UNESCO World Heritage site .
Kundasang itself is a cool highland town marketed as the "New Zealand of Borneo", sitting at nearly 1,900 metres .

As we drove into the town the heavens opened up. We had heard good things about an independent coffee shop called Anoop renowned for its stunning view of Mount Kinabalu from its terrace. However as we pulled into its makeshift car park, the heavens truly opened and the rain hammered the roof in a relentless drumroll, so loud it swallowed conversation, and sheets of it blurred the windshield into frosted glass. .. there was no getting out of the car just yet, and deffo no stunning view of the mountain. Luckily it did pass after 10 minutes or so. Lunch was damp and quick and the view was misty !

We checked into our sweet accommodation and unloaded and worked out a plan for the next few days.

We already knew we were unable to climb Kinabalu itself as it would take 2 nights and we hadn’t applied for the permit in time. However we had been keen to climb Maragang Hill which at 2,232m claimed to be the highest hill in Malaysia, offering a rugged, challenging trail with breathtaking views of Mount Kinabalu and the Crocker Range but again needed a permit for this. Sadly the website didn’t seem to be working and registering our application so we decided to drive to the National park office to sort it. It was here that we realised fully that the town is really quite spread out and as there are no Grabs how lucky we are to have a car . The office said they weren’t able to help with the Maragang permit but gave us a phone number . Following an initial phonecall with no idea who , we proceeded with what’s app chats. The Malaysians have excellent English and our Malaysian is terrible( with us only about managing some of the below phrases which we still keep forgetting 🤦🏽‍♀️)

Selamat pagi – Good morning
Selamat petang – Good afternoon / evening
Terima kasih – Thank you
Sama-sama – You're welcome
Sedap – Tasty / Delicious

We were keen to do the sunrise walk which meant being at the base for 3am. Everywhere we read said you needed the permit and could not just turn up despite our what’s app communicator telling us to come tomorrow at 2.30am to sort out all the paper work.
So as we had the car we figured we would just drive to the office . We were informed it was shut so don’t worry and we could just turn up tomorrow but we were enjoying the drive so carried on.
In retrospect , it was definitely a wise move - even with the help of google maps and Waze, it was still tricky to find …. Matt spotted a sign and we drove up a dirt track .. looking very lost, we were approached by a sweet man wearing a white vest as he stood up from his white plastic chair in a small backyard quoting my phone number!He told us the office was shut and his colleague had passed on our details . As the website was currently down we could come and do the sunrise trek tomorrow. He promptly got his calculator out and punched in a load of unfathomable numbers ; when I questioned it, the price seems to reduce by about 200 ringetts and was more in keeping with the quote we had expected! All a little incomputable! Anyway who knows what we signed up to but no money was exchanged just yet thankfully. I think he sensed my slight apprehension of this being official - we were in someone’s back yard with their washing!!He pointed to the currently shut office which looked far more official thankfully and told us to be there for 330am tomorrow !

From there we headed to a viewpoint called Sosodikon Hill to fully appreciate the New Zealand of Malaysia . At the top you get a 360-degree view of the rolling Kundasang hills and farmland, and on a clear day, Mount Kinabalu . It seems to continually be in cloud but peeked through momentarily . It was worth the stroll up there. It was so tranquil and peaceful.

With an early start ahead of us we promptly decided we needed dinner and bed. We headed to a total IG/ TikTok marketed place called the Bus Restaurant and yes you guessed it - it’s a restaurant built from converted vintage buses. I think we were so desperate to eat and get to bed and passed it .. so got sucked in.. not sure how or why!! You buy a ticket (RM5/person) at entry, which gets exchanged for food credit when you order at the counter — you’re then assigned a bus number. .. even writing about this is painful . Anyway food was decidedly average and the decor about the same .. but I guess it was better than I thought and we just needed to eat. This town is also an early to bed kind of place with most restaurants shutting around 8!

We headed back to our homestay and lights out by 930pm all set for our early start !Læs mere