The images of the long house that I posted yesterday were actually shot on this morning.
I slept past sunrise but still managed to get out with the camera within the first half hour of daylight.
I wandered around the long house, admiring the water lilies in the garden, and the impressive stature of Mount Kinabalu. With the Sabah Tea Gardens located at roughly the same altitude as the Botanic Gardens we visited yesterday (about 1500 metres), the peak of the mountain looks mighty impressive. Unlike say, Mount Everest which doesn’t look that impressive due to it being surrounded by mountains of almost equal height, Mount Kinabalu is quite the anomaly in this region. There is nothing even remotely close to it in height anywhere nearby. Most of the nearby mountains reach to perhaps 2000 metres, so there’s no way you can mistake Kinabalu!
The family portrait looks like it was taken against a printed backdrop, but I can assure you, it wasn’t! This was taken from the restaurant at Sabah Tea Gardens, and the balcony is positioned deliberately to give you a perfect view of the mountain while you have your breakfast!
After breakfast, we headed off in the minivan to Poring Hot Springs, in search of the Rafflesia flower (Rafflesia arnoldii). This flower is unique to South East Asia, and holds the title of being the largest flower in the world. Whilst the largest specimens recorded have exceeded 100cm across, the one shown here was just a “little” one…. about 40cm across.
Whilst there, we also came across a three-horned rhinoceros beetle. Can’t for the life of me understand how it got it’s name, but there ya go. 🙂
One of the groundsmen was quite happy to pick it up and move it into the sunlight so I could shoot it. Me? Not sure I would be that bold! Whilst it seemed placid enough, getting on the pointy end of one of these things doesn’t strike me as a passtime I want to engage in anytime soon. There is nothing in this photo to indicate size, but this cuddly little bundle of fun was about 10cm from the round end to the not-so-round end. And if you aren’t on the verge of a mental breakdown yet… should I mention that they can fly?
Having observed the Rafflesia (from a viewing platform, about 3 metres away from the plant, hence why I was unable to put anything beside it to show a sense of scale), we headed off up the hill to do the “canopy walk”. This consisted of a series of rope bridges suspended across the rainforest canopy, which afforded the viewer a lovely view across the jungle.
When the temperature is a constant 30°-32° Celcius and humidty sits around 70-80 per cent, it doesn’t take a lot of exertion before you are drenched in perspiration.
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The poring hot springs are a series of natural pools fed by underground mineral water sources. And yes, the source of that water is indeed HOT! There are plenty of pools to choose from, as well as some tiled baths that you can fill to your desired level and temperature. You can then sit and soak for as long as you please.
After lunch, we headed back toward Sabah Tea Gardens, but stopped at a river nearby to experience the absolutely cringe-worthy skin-eating-fish.
I’m sure they have a nicer name for them, but that’s what they are.
Fish that like to eat the dead skin cells right off your legs!
If that makes your skin crawl, you’re not alone! It’s a weird sensation (quite ticklish, actually), and not something you’ll forget in a hurry (assuming you go through with it).
As nauseating as the thought was, I felt I had to do it, simply because I probably won’t get another opportunity any time soon…. and I’m one of those people who travels because I want to get immersed in the culture of whatever country I’m in. Unlike the family we would meet on our second-last day in KK. We’ll get to that….
As you can see, I was totally loving the experience. Yeah… totally.
Max on the other hand, had no qualms about going in whole body! He actually went SWIMMING with the fish feeding on him. Sadly, I’d put the camera away at that stage and didn’t get any shots of it.
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