1 hour in Poring Hot Spring

Ok, let's pick up from where I left before on my KK trip. I haven't finish even for the 1st day *sorry*

After successfully climbing a little of Mount Kinabalu (by car :p), the journey had to continue, soon. Or we wouldn't be able to reach Poring Hot Spring before it closed at 6pm. Overall, we spent almost 3 hours in the Kinabalu Park itself. Pretty long isn't? 

The final destination was Poring Hot Spring. But before reaching there, we planned to stop in between for Pekan Nabalu and Kundasang War Memorial. Pekan Nabalu is a small town selling fresh fruits and vegetables and according to Berry there is also a vantage point for taking beautiful photo. Well, as time was not on our side (or I would rather to consider as we timed ourselves poorly), we just let our car passed by without stopping at Pekan Nabalu and agreed we would stop by when we return later. But it never happened. This is the only memory of Pekan Nabalu I have. The right and left side of the road were occupied by these stall alike selling about the same thing as each other.

The Kundasang War Memorial suppose to be at about 10mins driving from Kinabalu Park according to the info I obtained. Kak Min (Garmin) also confirmed this. But somehow, even when the driving continued to exceed 15mins, the sign board was nowhere to be seen. The junction Kak Min instructed us to turn looked like leading to an uphill construction site, so we passed. When u are in hasty, everything seems to go wrong, no?

We proceeded without Kak Min's help as this famous Poring Hotspring seemed to not exist in her database. It was totally unacceptable to me knowing it is one of the must go place when in KK although it's a little way out of town. So, we just relied on sign board. According to my math knowledge, the sign board here tells that Poring Hot Spring is 38km away from Kinabalu Park. Correct?

When driving 60km/h, I take a very conservative speed here, we should reach after 38mins. Please tell me I'm right. Thank you for agreeing on me :)
Well Sayra was not driving with that speed, we were on average 50km/h. So, it should become 45.6mins driving. Now, tell me where we did wrong for arriving after almost 2 hours driving from Kinabalu Park? We weren't driving 19km/h, in fact we didn't know how to be patient with that speed!

Ting! Now I remember, we did stop for A WHILE to take this photo :p

How can one resist this beautiful scenery as background in photo? Well, I can't :D


and this :p

and this :p

So at 5pm, we reached Poring Hot Spring. The counter guy told we have only 1 hour inside and only the hotspring area was still open. The Butterfly Farm, waterfalls, Bat Caves and canopy walkway had closed :( I blamed myself for the poor time management. Missing all those was the price I had to pay *sob...sob...* No wonder the girl we met inside souvenir shop was shocked when we told we were from KK and not overnight in Poring. This place is far friends, there is a homestay around here for u to stay and have ample time enjoying this park unlike me.

Nevertheless, we made the best from what we had. 1 hour in Poring Hot Spring! I was grateful to reach this place safely.

For your info, this hot spring is still part of the vast Kinabalu Park. It is situated further up Mesilau, the another starting point for climbing Mount Kinabalu which have more challenging trek than Timpohon. And there is another admission fee of RM3 for entering this Poring Hot Spring.

 That's how big the Poring Hot Spring area is.

At the entrance, I was welcomed by hanging bridge, crossing over Mamut Stream where the water is not suitable for drink nor bathe. It could contain higher sulphur content than permitted for such application. Let's go straight to where the hot springs are.

There are few hot spring sections u can choose depends on your liking and privacy. For us, this private cubicle that fits 2 person looked inviting, considering the long drive we just had. It would be amazing to get soaked in the warm water for half an hour to reduce all the body aches for a fresh drive back later.

But our preparation for that day just allowed us to soak our FEET here. We didn't bring any change cloth.

Let's roll up the pants and dip our feet slowly into the hooooooot water. Phew....syok!

Besides these 2 tubs, there are another 2 tubs where u can enjoy this natural hot spring.

Situated slightly elevated from the rest of the tubs is the point source of the hot spring. It is securely guarded with railing to prevent visitors from entering and using it. The water at this point might not be suitable to be used directly prior some treatment. I wonder whether there is any treatment. Chemically to reduce some sulphur or it went to some heat exchanger to lower its temperature to an acceptable level. I don't know.

After that, we had no option than to leave the park as it was almost 6pm. We didn't want to stay any longer either since Sabah gets dark earlier than Peninsula and Kota Kinabalu was still many kilometres away. We also ditched the plan to go to Kampung Luanti for fish massage. So, that's how we spend our 1 hour in Poring Hot Spring :D

So, if u plan to go towards Ranau and return to KK on the same day, start your day as early as possible so u can at least reach KK late evening. Driving at night on winding road without street light at most of the time is dangerous and not advisable. Trust me. Berry warned us but we were trying to be an adventurous duo hehe...

Here is some info on places I missed today. Please do not miss them like I did ok? Then, share your experience to me :')

1) Kampung Luanti
2) Kundasang War Memorial
3) Pekan Nabalu 
  

This is how beautiful the sky was when we left Poring

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