Kampong Poring Things to Do

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Even before you reach the bath tubs in the Poring Hot Springs Park, the environment you walk through is beautiful already. You will cross a bridge over a wildwater river, you pass enormous bamboo plants and you will see lots of colourful plants and flowers.

The bamboo species of Gigantochloa levis is the kind of bamboo you cross on you way to the hot tubs. These enormous plants are also called Poring Bamboo and are the origin of the name of the area.

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The second major attraction of the Park is the spectacular Canopy Walk. After a short climb up the hill, you will find the 158 metres long walkway that is built between the treetops of the Menggaris Tree. Between several trees, long drawbridges were attached up to 41 metres above the ground.

If you are afraid of heights you should not even try to cross the Canopy Walk, but even if you normally are not afraid of heights, it still is a very exciting experience. The bridges swing when you cross them, and especially when you look down it will shock you. But if you just look forward there won't be any problem. Thereby, if you want to have a good look around in the environment, you can always do so when you are on one of the platforms between the bridges: there ARE stable. From there you will see what a great environment the walkway is built in: a completely different perspective of the jungle.

Of course Poring is mostly famous for its Hot Springs. From natural wells, hot water comes to the surface here. It is said that this water, with a lot of sulfur, has healing power and makes your skin look younger. This is why it has been very popular for several decades already. At some points the water is that hot that you can boil an egg in the water.

During the Second World War, the Japanese first build a network of baths in the open air with different temperatures to relax in the hot jungle. Later it became more popular and local and international tourists were attracted by the Springs. Nowadays there are both indoor and outdoor tubs: the outdoor baths are free to use, for the indoor tubs you have to pay.

The bad news about going to the hanging bridge is that it is HIGH up in the tree tops. So this means you have to climb up yourself a lot before getting there. You have to climb this steep set of stairs to get there. And in this tropical heat that is not the easiest thing to do. Would it be worth it? Would I dare to walk on the Canopy Walkway?......

While walking the trail to the hot springs of course I got distracted by everything I saw around me. This banana flower for instance. I know bananas, but this was the first time I ever saw a banana plant flower! I thought it was rather beautiful. It is so enjoyable to walk around in a totally new place with so many different things to see.

But lets focus now, the plan for today is first of all visit the hanging bridge. The bridge makes you able to walk in the treetops. Wow! The hanging bridge was constructed here to help with scientific research of the rain forest. This gave the researcher the unique opportunity to study the life high above in the treetops. But since a few years the hanging bridge is now also open for the tourists. And this gives the unique opportunity to see the rain forest from a totally different perspective.... from high above in the trees!

When you enter the Poring Hot Springs area, the first thing you'll notice are these huge bamboo plants. You can see in the picture how tiny I am compared to those bamboos. I thought they were so impressive.

If I remember correctly it is these bamboo plants that have given this place its name. In Malay 'bamboo' is 'poring'. Please tell me if I am wrong or right about that! Hahaha, I was too busy looking at everything around me to remember correctly what our guide was talking about ;-))

After having had a wonderful morning in Kundasang, we are now on our way to Poring Hot Spring. Poring Hot Spring is most known for its open-air Japanese-style baths. It attracts quite a few people and can be very busy at times. It also is a bit of a tourist trap. Hahaha, in my opinion anyway. But despite it being a bit of a tourist trap, I had a great day anyway :-)

There is more to see and do here than only the hot springs. For me the highlight was the hanging bridge, so that is what most of this page will be about. But I'll also give a general impression of the place and tell you about all the things you can see and do here. I'll hope you enjoy reading my personal story about my visit to Poring Hot Spring.

Poring Hot Springs is part of the Mount Kinabalu Park. The Park headquarters is situated at the southern boundary of the Park. The park is easy to reach, it is about 110 kilometres from the capital of Sabah: Kota Kinabalu.

To get to Poring Hot Springs, follow this road for a further 24 kilometres until you get to the small town of Ranau. From there is is another 19 kilometres northwards and you'll get to Poring Hot Springs.