around ranau

note: regression (2011)

after our kinabalu hike, madam wong toured us around ranau. there was no commuting for us since madam wong arranged the transportation for all our travel so i can't help with with commuting to get to the place. first in our itinerary was the rafflesia nursery where tomas met his long lost brother. hehehe.

the name of the place tells us enough what to see there: rafflesias. but there isn't too many of them as we were told that it's hard to grow them. i have seen rafflesias at mt makiling but those were just palm-size and would die easily. at the nursery, i've seen 2 arms-length-size rafflesia flowers. people say they smell like meat but i wasn't able to smell them probably because of my mild sniffles. 

after our quick tour at the rafflesia nursery, we went to poring hotspring and nature reserve. i must say that it failed a few of my expectations as i was in wildlife mode at that time. seeing mini pools in clusters reminded me of pansol in laguna. not that i hate the place but i thought we would be bathing in hot springs deep within the forest. 

before we took a bath in our private quarters, we did a canopy walk, which i guess is the highlight of our poring trip. we should've gotten discounts for the trail but as my chinese-like facial features and slightly lighter skin color signified "foreigner" to the park officers, we had no choice but to pay the highest rates. lol! 

the trail ended at the kipungit waterfalls where people get to feed the small fishes with dead skin cells, which is good because a have a mat blister which have been bothering me for quite a while. after 30 minutes, it was gone. thank you fishies!

madam wong getting a foot spa

my very first fishy and ticklish foot spa

my first shot at rock balancing

kipungit water falls

oh... hello there!