Thursday, October 09, 2008

Places of Interest in Sabah: Poring Hot Spring, Ranau

The front office/admin centre at Poring

The signboard showing the Poring admininistration centre

Signboard showing the map of Poring Hot Spring area

A modernised "canopy walkway" at the entrance to the Park proper

The Rock Pool ala swimming pool at Poring

Some of the individual sheltered pools


A visit to Kinabalu Park will never be perfect without swinging by Poring Hot Springs.

Situated 40 kilometers (25 miles) slightly northeast from the Parks HQ, Poring is located in the lowlands—a contrast to the Parks HQ. De-stress and soak away the sores and aches of your muscles in the spring’s hot sulphuric minerals, deemed to have healing properties and very popular among the locals.

Other than the natural hot spring main attraction at Poring Hot Springs, there are also other interesting areas in the park to be visited such as the butterfly farm, the Poring Orchid Conservation Centre, the tropical garden, the Poring canopy walkway, and the Rafflesia flower site.

Butterfly Farm

Poring Hot Spring’s butterfly farm is in fact the first butterfly farm in Borneo. It features a garden, nursery and hatchery for education, research and preservation purposes.

Poring Orchid Conservation Centre

This centre houses the largest collection of Sabah orchids as well as rare endemic orchids. Some 1, 200 species of orchids are available at this centre.

Tropical gardens

Get a glimpse of mousedeers and deers frolicking in the garden with the company of vividly coloured birds in the aviary.

Poring canopy walkway

This canopy walkway is a must visit for anyone who ever sets foot in Poring Hot Springs. Take a stroll amidst the lush canopy of the Menggaris tree—king of the forest—the walkway is 157.8 meters long and 41 meters high.

The Rafflesia flower

The world’s largest flower, the Rafflesia, doesn’t come around very often. Luckily, in Sabah, we have the largest concentration of Rafflesia population. This rare and exotic flower takes up to 15 months to bud, yet only lasts 7 days in bloom. The park will post a notice to announce a blooming or budding Rafflesia flower.

Poring Hot Springs is open daily from 7am to 6pm.

Getting there

Poring Hot Springs is situated approximately 136 kilometers from Kota Kinabalu (3 hours drive away). One can choose to either go by bus, take a taxi, or rent a car to get to Poring Hot Springs

Essentials

For a satisfying trip to Poring Hot Springs, visitors are recommended to bring some vital things such as rubber sandals/slippers, change of clothes, towel, and swimwear.

For extra information:

Poring Hot Spring & Nature Reserve
Tel: 088-878801
Fax: 088-878801

Source: Sabah Tourism


Also Read: National Park Vacation at Poring Hot Springs

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