#SabahOkBah - Lahad Datu Road Trip

As some of you may be aware, Beyond Pitas started the #SabahOkBah campaign recently in support of our tourism industry in Sabah. The campaign has been covered by The Star Online, Astro Awani and other news portal. To go one step further, we decided to walk the talk and organize a trip. Naturally, Lahad Datu became our destination of choice. We wanted to see how the town and her people fare since the February 2013 Tanduo incursion.

Most of us or at least for me, had never set foot in Lahad Datu. I have relatives who live there but there was never a compelling reason enough for me to visit. You see, to get there by road from where I am which is in Beaufort, I would have to traverse a distance of 493 km! That is like travelling from Johor Bahru to Teluk Intan. A distance that emcompasses almost half of Peninsula Malaysia.

We were fortunate that State Tourism and Environmental Minister, Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun through Sabah Tourism Board (STB) was supportive of our venture and facilitated our trip. Through them, Borneo Nature Tours hosted us in their award winning Borneo Rainforest Lodge (BRL) which is situated in the Danum Valley Conservation area. We were ecstatic to say the least.

Lunch meeting with Datuk Masidi, Philip Golingai and Gordan Yap.

We decided to travel by road to Lahad Datu so that we could cover or uncover other tourist attractions along the way. So on the wee hours of a Wednesday morning, we converged at STB’s office building in Gaya Street. Our tour started positively because the building that houses STB presently, is by itself a historical landmark. It was built pre World War II and used to house the postal service. During the war, Jesselton as what present day Kota Kinabalu was known, was heavily bombarded by Allied forces in an effort to dislodge our Japanese occupier. The building is one of only three buildings that survived the carnage after the war ended. It did not survive unscathed but it was restored to its former glory.

The Sabah Tourism Board Building - the former colonial postal service building.

Around 6:30 am, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that BRL had actually sent their 7 seater van to Kota Kinabalu, all the way from Lahad Datu. The driver is a pleasant and agreeable gentleman who asked us to simply call him Jay. So began our journey from West Coast of Sabah, through the interior and ends at the East Coast of Sabah in Danum Valley; A 423 km journey according to Sonny’s MyTrack apps on his new Samsung Note 4.

Jay was a good conversationalist and he knows when to and when not to engage us. He would cheer us on and motivate us when we were getting tired from the long drive which was embarrassing because all we had to do was sit back and enjoy the scenery while he did all the heavy lifting. There was never a dull moment during the journey and his boss would periodically call in the to check where we were; I am sure to ensure that his employee and guests were safe. Such was the level of professionalism in the establishment and we would continue to witness this throughout our stay in BRL.

The journey towards Lahad Datu was an awesome experience by itself. Most often, travellers would ‘sleep out’ the journey and only wake up upon reaching their destinations. Therefore limiting their Sabah experience. Our advice is, don’t sleep! There are many scenic landscape along the way that are not well publicized in brochures, simply because there are just  too many of them in the Land Below the Wind. Take for example, the following breathtaking view;

Kg Puhus, couple of km from Tamparuli. 450 metres above sea level.

Fog shrouded road in the early morning. This is around 8am. 

Our second pit stop was Pekan Nabalu. This is a well known pit stop for drivers to rest, use the public toilet and to take pictures of Mount Kinabalu.

Panoramic view of her majesty Mount Kinabalu at Pekan Nabalu, district of Kota Belud. 

While you are at Pekan Nabalu, you can recite the Kadazandusun ancient incantation to respect the spirit and protect Mount Kinabalu and its surrounding natural forest.

Tangkayau’d pinipin Liver of the earth
Tundu-undu winorun Heart of the universe
Ilo Nabalu That mountain
Ilo gayodngaran That great name

Our third pit stop was the town of Kundasang; The vegetable and dairy capitol of Sabah. The manangement of Nabalu Lodge & Café Resort had graciously offered to host our breakfast. 

Nabalu Cafe. 

Nabalu Lodge is located within walking distance to the town centre of Kundasang and the well-known Kundasang War Memorial. The memorial is well publicized and often visited by Australian and British visitors to pay homage to their fallen heroes.   

At the café, we were served Asian and American breakfast. We were tickled with delight when they served us hot milk with a chocolate spoon. Everyone started twitting and instagramming the novelty.

I love the chocolate spoon so much that I forgot that I was lactose intolerant.

We found out that besides baking their own cakes, the establishment also make their own chocolate. They also conduct classes on chocolate making.

Oh! That's not the chocolate I was talking about but she's an eye candy don't you agree :P. That's Risma twitting how great her breakfast was. 

Chocolate on sale. Made by the establishment on site. 

Yummy looking cakes!

Angry bird cake lol.

Risma taking pics of the chocolates on display. The guy in black T is jay. Somehow he always managed to avert his face when I took pictures. 

The scene inside Nabalu Cafe.

The chocolate 'factory' located adjacent to the cafe. It's cheekily named CocoaNabalu :P

Chocolate making. Our team members Risma and Missah tried their hands on making chocolates and were promptly chased out :P

It's only bread Sonny!

Studio Chalet at Nabalu Lodge.

Nabalu Lodge offers rooms and studio chalets. While waiting for the ladies to embarrass themselves in chocolate making, I decided to check out the rooms. They are well maintained, clean and comfy. The staff is professional and helpful. The rates for the accommodations are as follow:

Room Type                         Rate                       Inclusive Breakfast

Nabalu Room                       RM250.00             2 adults
(Queen/Twin Bed)

Studio Chalet                       RM450.00             2 adults
(King Bed)                                                         2 children

Credit card accepted.

After about an hour at the lodge, we bade goodbye to the friendly staff and headed to our fourth pit stop, Desa Cattle Dairy Farm. The farm is also located in Kundasang, not too far from the lodge. We decided to skip the memorial park because we were short on time. The farm is located high up on a plateau. It has become a tourist attraction over the years from its humble beginning as a cattle ranch. Its popularity is evident when we reached the place. You have to buy a ticket to enter of course, it is a source of side revenue for the farm. The ticket sells for RM4.00 per person. The first thing you will notice is the pastoral landscape; The acres of very very green grass and cattle roaming in herds. We felt like we were in New Zealand. Granite rocks jutting out from the ground among the grass making it a favourite location for photo shooting. 

I took a picture of Risma taking pictures of a photographer taking pictures of a couple. We literally gate crashed (see the gate?) their photo shoot but they didn't seem to mind though.

There were many visitors at the farm on that day. Loads of West Malaysians!

It was a beehive of activities at the farm on that day.

Christmas deco in the property. People taking pictures with the 'Christmas trees' as their backdrop. Abu Ameen of Isma will be frothing in his mouth if he sees this lol.

The fog cleared just enough for us to have a glimpse of the peak of Mount Kinabalu.

Milking contraption. We didn't stay long enough to see any milking process as we were rushing.

Long queue to buy fresh milk and yogurt at the farm.

What is a tourist attraction without a souvenir stall?

Unfortunately, we were rushing to get to BRL in Lahad Datu. Hence, we couldn’t stay long to see the other activities at the farm but on the way out of the farm, we saw people taking pictures with the cows. On the way to Lahad Datu, we drove past Sabah Tea plantation which is another tourist attraction but we had to skip it. Oh well, next time. 

Next, I will be blogging about our wonderful stay at Borneo Rainforest Lodge.