Sabah Bah – Highland Excursion (Kinabalu Park, Kundasang Memorial Park)

Yes! The time that we’re waiting for! We drove all the way to Kundasang from Tamparuli for 1 and half hour. For your information, Kundasang is located 90km away from Kota Kinabalu town. Why Kundasang? The view all the way there are totally fantastic and absurd! For real! And it is also your window to the highest peak in Malaysia or the 20th most prominent mountain in the world! One tip that we can give you at this point of time is the peak of Mount Kinabalu are best view at dawn and just before dusk. So, it’s best if you could stay overnight in Kundasang Town to get this lifetime experience and bring back with you the memories. Not to forget numbers of stall selling ‘Sinalau Bakas’ too. :d. If you are currently wondering what ‘Sinalau Bakas’ is, go figure!

Kinabalu Park
Right before we reached Kundasang town, we saw the Kinabalu Park sign and decided to turn our steering wheel towards this place. The main attraction of the park is non other than the majestic Mount Kinabalu and this where it stands proud. This is basically the entrance for those mountain climbers too. We were made to understand that as this is one of the most popular destination, visitors who wish to climb Mount Kinabalu are required to make reservations at least 6 months in advance to avoid disappointment! Wow!  The number of visitors are only limited to 135 pax daily.

Just for you to know, a very minimal amount of RM3.00 been charged to Malaysian adult as an entrance fees. We decided to drive up to Kiau Gap View Point and unfortunately, the peak of Mount Kinabalu was not visible at that time. The view-point area has a decent parking space and observation deck too. We would said, very comfortable and well maintained.Since Kinabalu Park was established as one of the 1st National Park in Malaysia and Malaysia’s 1st World Heritage Site designated by UNESCO in cognizance to their roles as one of the most important biological sites in the world, this is definitely a place for you to learn about the natural history at Kinabalu Natural History Gallery. There’s also a World Heritage Site monument right in front of the museum.The view of the public parking space and the main road heading to Kundasang Town from the park headquarters.Kundasang War Memorial
This memorial is located at the foothills of Mount Kinabalu and right in the middle of Kundasang Town. To be specific, it is located near to Jalan Kundasang Bandar and right behind of the shop lots. Therefore, it make it more easier to spot on! An entrance fees of RM2.00 will be charged for Malaysian adult and RM10.00 for Non-Malaysian. This memorial has been restored way back in 2005 to the original beauty as it was, through the brainchild, dedication and effort of this Thai pensioners, Mr. Sevee Charuruks. Wait, just before we climb the stairs, what is this war memorial is all about? This Memorial Park is was built dedicated to those Australian and British servicemen who died as Prisoner of War (POWs) in Sandakan as well as the infamous death marches to Ranau during the World War II. To be frank, we didn’t know that the march of death did happened in the land of Sabah. It’s a very moving place in history! War did so much pain but only a little gain.From outside, it looks very mysterious with all those pines and additional fog covering the place. Just wait before you steps inside! It is beyond beautiful and we never thought and imagined that a war memorial could be breathtaking as this one. The memorial is made up of 4 separate gardens on different levels which is the Australian Garden, a formal English Garden of Roses, a Borneo Garden with Wild Flowers of Kinabalu and at the top-level is the Contemplation Garden with a reflection pool and pergola. Mum’s was soo speechless seeing all the beautiful fresh flowers around. She just falls in love with the gardens. We even spotted numerous number of plaques dedicated to the servicemen and also the local citizens of Sabah all around the parks. The Australian GardenThe Contemplation Garden

The breathtaking view of Kundasang TownIn overall, the scent of  fresh flowers lingers in the air and the serene atmosphere makes the Kundasang War Memorial an ideal place to contemplate and remember the heroes of the war. Again, kudos to Mr Sevee Charuruks who fought to bring back the ‘broken’ place into what it is today, a beauty. In short, this is definitely a place that you should put in your list where it give all of us a brief reminder that war is never good and it’s hurt and to remember those who sacrificed their lives for the freedom of others.

Simply us,
Zara AB & FF
ZaraAB Travel #zaraabtravel
Husband & Wife All Around the Globe