Day 393: Poring Hot Springs

May 1 - It is a bit vague but I understand that all we need to do is stand at the Mt. Kinabalu Park entrance and flag down a minivan going to Ranau. I know what they look like, and saw one here yesterday. What makes it difficult is that I can’t see very far down the road, so there are only seconds to flag a transport down once it comes around the curve. I let a few larger buses go by, thinking that I would rather get a small minivan, but give up after 40 minutes. I flag down the next big bus that comes careening by and we are off.

Kundasang, about 20 minutes east down the mountain, looks like a town trying to become a tourist attraction. It looks barren and under construction, but the main drag has a zillion selfie spots and people dressed in costumes like Mickey Mouse and Spiderman.

Further on is Ranau, we hop off the bus sort of at the town center. But after wandering around, looking at minivan stations, and asking questions, I realize that there is no clear way to get to Poring. I get sent several places, finally landing on a street where there is in fact a minivan going to a hot springs, just not the one I want. I ask a minivan driver anyway and he says he will take us to Poring for MYR 60, or 120 round trip. At this point I will take it, as it is already after noon.

The road heads slightly up into the mountains again, as Poring is at the edge of Mt. Kinabalu Park on its southeast side. I had marked a few botanical gardens on my phone the night before that are along this road, in the event one had a sign out about a blooming rafflesia. From what I read I knew that there was a chance at least to see one up in this area. However, no signs out, so we continue on to the Poring Hot Springs entrance. Unfortunately, it happens to also be an entrance to Mt. Kinabalu Park, so we are stuck paying the MYR 50/person (25 for Odette) just to get past the gate. Once in, find that every activity in this hot springs park requires additional tickets. But it is well organized and well maintained, so I feel like it has some value. The water park section, which includes both a series of hot springs pools and colder swimming pools, is a popular local hangout and we see no other tourists there. We chose one of the colder pools, with a slide, so that Odette can get some water fun time.

Borneo is not tectonically active, nor is there vulcanism anywhere nearby. This makes Poring Hot Springs an unusual phenomenon for this island. The explanation for its occurrence is that Poring lies along a fault line between Cretaceous sediments and the granitic pluton that forms Mt. Kinabalu. Latent heat from the pluton at depth supplies the heat, moving up along this fault and popping out in several locations.

Up the hill from the hot springs are a few other activities that are closed, including a botanical garden and canopy walkway.

There is also a research center for the rafflesia flower, at MYR 30/person, so I ask first whether there is one blooming or not. This time we get lucky, as yes they currently have one in flower.

A bit about it, in case you are wondering why it is such a big deal.

The rafflesia is found in several parts of southeast Asia, of which the most well-known is Borneo. It is only a flower, with no associated plant, and lives as a parasite on a certain type of liana that trails along the ground. In this research center, they have grown this liana in several places on the forest floor to allow sites for formation of the parasite. It forms first as a bud that sits for up to 15 months before blooming. Once it does (as above), it lasts only a week before decomposing. Hence, it is nearly impossible to predict when is a good time to see one.

There are further attractions up the hill, we just get to Kipungit Waterfall. There is a bat cave and other waterfalls further on, but it is getting stormy and we don’t continue.

Back to Poring for an terrible meal in the only cheap restaurant we saw, then back to our hired minivan for the trip back to Ranau. Once there, discover that the minivans going toward Mt. Kinabalu have all disappeared due to the late hour, so end up getting yet another taxi up the hill for MYR 60.

Odette and I go for a night walk around our lodge.