Adventures at Kundasang - The Boleh Family Adventures

Introduction

Kundasang is synonymous with Mount Kinabalu, the tallest peak in South East Asia. Standing at 4095m, it can be visible on a clear day all the way from Kota Kinabalu. Besides Mount Kinabalu and the surrounding Kinabalu park, Kundasang has many other places of interest that will appeal to thrill seekers all the way to the weekend crowd. Kundasang will mark the start of the more adventurous part of our trip, where we will hike up Maragang Hill to catch the sunrise before covering other adventures as we explore further east.

Introduction
Street Art & Breakfast Scene of Kota Kinabalu
Car & Breakfast
Alcapa Club
Desa Dairy Farm
Umea Glam Tent
Maragang Hill
TLDR

Street Art & Breakfast Scene of Kota Kinabalu

My internal alarm clock woke me up early and I headed up again to the top of the apartment to catch a late sunrise. Clear skies meant the peak of Mt Kinabalu could be seen at the horizon.

Since it was still early, I had the streets almost esclusively to myself. There were a couple of murals, art installations and grafitti that caught my eyes as I zig zagged through the nearby streets and alleys.

Humanity’s greed destroys nature, causing many animal to lose their home and eventually “vanish”

How ironic to see this shop with it’s shutters down.

Joining the early morning dim sum crowd at Fook Yuen Cafe & Bakery. It was a popular dim sum place, but for me the Ipoh ones wins hands down.

Car & Breakfast

We collected our car (striking blue Vios) which we will be using for the next few destinations. We managed to squeeze in our 3 larger luggages & a couple of smaller ones into the booth. Before leaving KK, we stopped by Yee Fung for a quick bite. There was a crowd, but service was quick and wait time was short. Laksa King (with large tiger prawns) and Ngiu Chap was pretty good. The Laksa taste a little like the lemak laksa we get back home.

Our striking blue Vios for the week. Got a pretty good deal, and car was well maintained. Contact at the bottom of post

Regular Laksa, Laksa King (with Tiger Prawns) & Ngau Chap (Beef Noodles)

Tummy filled, we started our drive towards Kundasang. Mt Kinabalu rose majestically across the horizon, and loomed ever larger as we got closer towards our destination.

Alcapa Club

The road was a little busy as Sabahan was out in force to enjoy the long weekend as Kaamatan fell on Tuesday. Nevertheless we made good time, and arrived at Alpaca Club, in slightly more than 2.5hours. Alpaca Club is a mini petting “zoo” featuring only 1 animal, the Alpaca. When we were there, only 1 of the Alpaca was let out for photo and for us to interact, with the rest inside their enclosure.

Desa Dairy Farm

Another place on our list was the Desa Dairy Farm. Its a sprawling farm with cows wandering in a swathe of green fields at the foot of the Kinabalu mountain. We wandered around the picturesque grounds as we sampled their produce (yogurt, soft serve, etc), participated in bottle feeding some calf and enjoyed the cool evening breeze.

Desa Dairy Farm is located at the foothills of Mt Kinabalu

Feeding grass and bottle milk to some calf

Umea Glam Tent

With an early morning sunrise hike planned the next day, it was time to head back to our lodgings. We booked ourselves into a dome tent for that glamping experience. Umea Glam is a small glamping establishment located right beside the Mount Kinabalu Golf Club. All their 4 available dome tents carries a Nordic name, with ours being Navrik. After a quick dinner, which we tapao-ed from the neighboring restaurant, deGlass, it was time to catch what sleep we could as we needed to be up at 215am the next day.

To access the glamsite you will need to walk through (~200m) a dirt path, that borders Mount Kinabalu Golf Club.

Our maiden stay inside an igloo tent, for a “glamping” experience

Maragang Hill

The sunrise hike up Maragang hill would be the first proper sunrise hike for the girls. Waking up took some time, but we did it and arrived at the registration point in time. Susie, our guide tells us that it would take between 1 – 1.5 hours to cover the 1.6km or so hike to the peak. We hopped on the back of the 4WD that shuttled us to the trailhead. The 15mins ride was an added bonus as the girls really enjoys riding at the back of the 4WD. We started our hike around 4am, and made our way steadily up to the peak. Temperature felt to be a chilly 13C, but a few minutes into the hike, we were all shedding our jackets. We reached the platform at peak right before the blue hour. While waiting for dawn, girls sat down and enjoyed a hot bowl each, a perfect remedy against the cold early morning wind blowing across the platform. We were close enough to Mt Kinabalu, that we could see headlamps of hikers at the top of the Mount as they made their way towards Low’s peak.

Short compilation of our hike

Here are some are photos taken at the peak. The locals built a large platform that can easily accomadate 100 people at a time, and you can comfortably walk around, as you enjoy the sunrise and look up at the magnificent Mount Kinabalu. Do remember to come in some warm gears as the platform is completely exposed (and it does get chilly whenever the wind blows).

Enjoying a hot cup at the peak. The warm soup is a perfect remedy for the cold wind

We couldn’t see the sun rising, as it was pretty cloudy that day. Nevertheless, the hue of the brightening skies was still a very colorful affair.

Mount Kinabalu can be clearly seen from the platform at the peak

It was time to head down after a few photos around the platform. By then, Annabel especially was also feeling the effect of the chilly wind and was chasing us to head down. As we headed back towards the trailhead, we revisited some of the scenic spots we skipped heading up (since it was dark then).

We had the pleasure of bumping into some hikers celebrating Kaamatan which fell on that day, and they brought along their traditional costumes.

Having fun at one of the rest stop. Clowning around to entertain the girls.

We did it, and we have certs to prove it too!

Love the photo of Mt Kinabalu taken somewhere inside the Kinabalu Golf Club

We headed back to our tent to attempt a short nap, shower & pack up.

TLDR

Places of Interest

Dim Sum @ Fook Yuen Cafe & Bakery. Dim sum and toast was just ok for me, though online reviews were very favorable.
Breakfast @ Yee Fung Laksa. Highly recommended, especially the Laksa & Ngau Chap.
Dinner @ deGlass. They have a steamboat buffet option on top of cooked meals. Service for cooked meals was slow, while the spread for steamboat looked decent.
Alpaca Club – costing RM15/adult, RM10/child for a 20mins session inside. You are only allowed outside their enclosure, with limited Alpaca brought “out” for photo and interaction (when we were there only 1 was let out). We found this place highly overrated, experience there did not commensurate the amount we paid.
Desa Dairy Farm – RM5/adult, RM4/child. 3 slots available 8am, 11am, 2pm. Side activities like calf feeding (via feeding bottle), milking process viewing, enjoying delicious Gelato and other milk based products, walking on the farm grounds.
Maragang Hill Sunrise Hike – 330am till complete (allocate 5 hours to complete). Info on their website is complete https://maraganghill.com.my/

Lodging

Umea Glam @ Kundasang – a small glamping site, with 4 igloo tents available for rent. There are 4 igloo/dome tents at Umea. Navrik and Abisko are located behind the other 2 tents. You will also need to walk about 200m on forest trails from the carpark to the tents. Hence, avoid high heels, roller luggages, etc. Note that it will get hot in the tent during the afternoon.

Car Rental

Car rental (vios) via MK Group Tour & Travels. Car was in good condition, and got a good price of RM160/day. Would highly recommend them as they were prompt, and accommodative to changes and request.

Misc Tips

Book your entry ticket into Desa Dairy Farm. Crowd seems to be higher in the morning, while it was lighter in the afternoons. That said, items at the Cafe has a higher chance of being sold out in the afternoon (milk, yogurt, cakes)
You get good clear view of the valley from deGlass.