Exploring Ranau & Vicinity, Part 1

Introduction

Most tourist will go no further than Kundasang. Understandable as Kundasang has much to offer. For those who is able to spend more time in the area, the neighboring Ranau district has many interesting places and activities too. After checking out of Umea Glam, we moved our base to Hounon Ridge Farmstay & Camping as we explored Ranau and the vicinities. We treated ourselves to foot spa after the hike up Maragang Hill, fed some deers & fawns, completed the canopy walk at Poring Hot Spring, and hiked a beautful hidden river canyon!

As I started writing, I realize that this segment was getting too long, and I decided to break it up into 2 parts.

Lunch Inside a Bus

After clearing our tents at Umea Glam (and a few farewell photos), we drove towards a themed restaurant called BW Bus Restaurant, about 15mins away. You basically dine in an old Hin busses with the ever present Mt Kinabalu as the backdrop.
It was good that we arrived early, as towards noon, the crowd picked up and a long queue formed at since there were limited seats.

Fish Spa @ Bombon Kg Marakau

We pitstopped in Ranau town to drop of our laundry before heading to a river “tagal” (or Bombon. The tagal system means that the river has been earmarked by the local community as a “preservation”, where for example no fishing is allowed to ensure the unique ecosystem can be handed down to the next generation).
Large tame Koi and Empurau freely swimming in the Mansahaban River.

According to one of the river “ranger” I spoke to, the fishes were originally wild, but the local have been taming them for multi generation. The bright colored ones are from cross breeding of local koi with Japanese koi. The fishes are free to come and go as they wish, but they will generally congregate back at this location for food (also because they are already used to humans). The way the river ranger handled the fishes, was like watching someone petting a dog!

Hold pallet within your grasp, and the fishes will suckle in an attempt to get to the food. (tip: mix some water to the food pallets, mash it up and place it between the web of your toes to have the fish suck at your toes!)

Deer Farm @ Kg Marakau

Annabel was feeling pretty lethargic after the early morning hike and surprisingly didn’t want to join us in the river. After some coaxing, she was keen to drop by a deer farm nearby, a recent attraction in the area. Since there was no other guest when we arrived, we were allowed into the enclosure to get up close with the deers (there were even a couple of fawns). These guys started lining up along the fence and tailed us the minute our car pulled up. My guess, they knew they would get some treats soon.

Hounon Ridge Farmstay & Camping

Before we knew it, our shadow has started getting longer and it was time to head over to where we would be putting up for the night. The “shortcut” that google routed us turned out to be not accessible by vehicle, hence we had to take the longer route. The road towards Hounon was also pretty badly in need of repairs with multiple section seeing damage from landslides and sinking sections. Nevertheless, we arrived, quickly checked in and still managed get some daylight to explore our home for the next 2 nights. Since it was Kaamatan holidays, it was pretty busy with rooms and camping site fully taken up. We were lucky to secure a room for the night when someone cancelled at the last minute.

The in house cat was a good therapy for the girls missing Miko. Ginger loved the attention and fell asleep on their laps.

After a nice hot shower & simple dinner at the on ground Cafe, we kicked back and sat on the terrace enjoying the view (and cool breeze). Girls did some reading, while I nursed the bottle of Lihing procured back in KK.

TLDR

Places of interest

• Lunch @ BW Bus Restaurant – RM5/pax for entry which can be used to offset meals. You will be enjoying your meals in repurposed air conditioned Hin busses, while soaking in the view of Mt Kinabalu. The fusion menu was decent, nothing stood out but not much to complain about either. Come during offpeak hours, ie before/after the lunch crowd. Seats are limited and it is a pretty popular place.
• Laundry @ Dedadory Laundry, Ranau – a drop off only laundry, charging RM15/6kg (wash and dry), with RM3/kg thereafter. Depending on the customers on that day, it could be ready for collection in half a day.
• Fish Spa @ Bombon Kg. Marakau – a small shallow section of Sungai Mansahaban, where you can interact with tame fishes. Entrance will cost RM5/pax, which includes a small packet of fish pallet ( to feed the fish). Friendly river guide are on site, who will guide you as you interact with their charge.
• Deer Feeding @ Payau Farm Marakau – this is actually a pretty small open air deer farm. Ownerhas opened it to public, charging a fee of RM5/adult. Feed are also available (I forgot how much, but its minimal). He is a very friendly young man that is more than willing to share his knowledge of his deers, and also the community.

Lodging

Hounon Ridge Farmstay & Camping – They offer two different type of lodgings here. Rooms (limited) in the lodge, and a nice camping ground (controlled capacity) for those who prefer to rough it out. They do offer basic but serviceable camping equipment for rent (tents, mats, sleeping bags, etc). Book early as its a very popular location, beautiful ground offering execellent view of the southern Mount Kinabalu. While we were there, the cafe was overwhelmed, leading to slow service and many items on the menu sold out.

Misc Tips

• The locals seem to prefer whatsapp call over regular call. Quite a few of the businesses we got in touch with only took our calls via WhatsApp, but ignored regular calls.
• For your laundry, request to weigh it post launder, especially if you are sending it post your adventures (wet clothes add to the weight).
• There are self service laundry for cheaper, but highly recommend a drop off laundrette as it’s just slightly more (ie RM3 surcharge per load). In our case, she was willing to update us as soon as our wash was ready for collection.
• As you head further inland, expect road to be less maintained, ie you could be driving on gravel for certain stretches instead of tar, especially if there that section experienced landslide/sink holes.
• Also, roads are less likely to have street lamps, so plan your travels during daytime. Remember again to check for sunset especially, as it gets dark in Sabah much earlier (vs Peninsula).
• Google map/waze can be wrong, pay attention to signs on road. For example, the route Google proposed to bring us from Kg Marakau to Hounon was not accessible by car, and there was a makeshift handmade temporary signboard that highlighted this, clearly telling me this was a regular mistake. When in doubt, stop and ask the locals. Sabahan are all round friendly folks.
• Depending on where you put up for the night, there could be no/limited food options. Make sure you have emergency backup – biscuits, bread, hot cup, etc.
• At Bombon Kg Marakau, do make it a point to interact with the river guide. They have so many interesting stories that they are happy to share with you.