JIPP'S WORLD

…….The World Without Borders

Murug Turug – The Trail of Waterfalls

Written By: jipp - Apr• 21•24

Another place of interest that I went to while I was based in Sabah was Murug Turug. I liked to believe that this place was newly discovered, or it was not open to public until a few years back when pictures and videos of a unique-looking waterfall which was half hidden behind a wall of rock flooded the local social media walls.

But then, I had come to discover that it had always been there all along, and people had been coming to it for so many years. A friend of mine who is now in her forties told me how she got traumatized by a near-death experience when she almost drowned herself to death while having a picnic with her family at the waterfall when she was still a kid. To add to the perspective, she was not even from any of the kampongs nearby.

So, after searching the place on Google Map, I was quite surprised that the entrance to the trail was very much near to the main road from KK to Ranau. I had been driving on that very road for so many years and yet I didn’t know nor noticed the existence of the entrance to one of the most famous waterfalls in Sabah.

So, after parking our car at the designated area, we went to do the registration where we were introduced to our local tour guide. Then we set out to the beginning of the trail where the towering Mount Kinabalu was welcoming us from a far distance and creating such a majestic postcard view.

It was going down all the way in the first few kilometers. It was more like traversing along the newly graveled road which reminded me of volcano trails that I’ve been to say – in Indonesia or probably at Mount Fuji in Japan where the loose rocks would propel my feet further down with every step that I took. The rocks were so loose even the best of shoes wouldn’t secure a good grip on them.

Once we hit the bottom of the valley, it was going up all the way to the peak. I mean, after doing so many climbs and hikes, I had come to notice that every trail is very fair where every descent will be balanced out with just as much ascent especially if the trail ends at the same spot as the starting point.

The series of ascents that followed later were quite challenging that we had to stop every now and then to catch our breaths and avoid passing out. The fact that it was easily accessible from the main road made it such a perfect training ground for those who are preparing to scale bigger and higher mountains such us Mount Kinabalu and Mount Trus Madi.

The trail took us to a number of waterfalls. Some were significant while some were not quiet. I think it was quite a dry season so the waterfalls were not at their best forms.

It was past lunch time when we finally arrived at the Murug Turug waterfall. I was quiet taken aback to find out that it was quiet crowded. A large group of students from some college were there, dominating the pool of water at the bottom of the waterfall. I had actually brought with me spare clothes and towel but just looking at the crowds had made me lose my appetite to swim.

So after settling ourselves comfortably at a shaded spot and enjoyed our packed lunch, we continued our hike and after much struggle especially in the last half kilometre – we arrived back at the entrance to complete the loop. Of course it always felt good to complete a hike and ticked something off the list.

Murug Turug might not be the most spectacular trail nor the most spectacular waterfalls, but the fact that it was easily accessible made it such a perfect place for a quick nature escapade. In fact, one can simply skip the trail and go directly to the waterfall, which only requires a minimal use of energy. But of course, it is always good to go the hard way because it usually gives you more. Heh.

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The Mysterious Trail of Aura Montoria

Written By: jipp - Mar• 30•24

So one of the places that I managed to go to when I was still based in Sabah was a place called Aura Montoria. Located in the far corner of the beautiful district of Kota Belud, I had actually heard quite a lot about it and had to put it neatly in the list of my highest priority – and yet it took me almost 2 years before I managed to get around to it.

So the day before I was to hit into Aura Montoria, I drove over from KK to Kota Belud where I spent a night at a place called Tegudon Tourism Village. It was more of a riverside camping area, with a number of huts and chalets. A local lady was there to welcome me and she ushered me to one of only a few more chalets available for the night. The walls were fully made of stitched bamboo so it felt so rustic and traditional. The room was quite comfortable to stay in and it wasn’t long before I was lullabied to a deep sleep by the sound of lizards calling out to each other and the soft roaring of the nearby Tegudon river.

I arrived quite late at night so I didn’t really get to see the surrounding. But it wasn’t until the next morning when I opened the door and was welcome by the astounding view of the river with the majestic Mount Kinabalu towering high in the far distance.

After making myself a cup of hot Tenom coffee, I took it to the river where I let myself be enchanted more by the beautiful river view. I really wished I could stay there and enjoyed the moment longer but of course I had to leave because Aura Montoria was the ‘ultimate’ destination.

Aura Montoria is actually located near to a village called Kampung Sayap. Most of the trail operators including the guides are from that village. After a quick registration and a short briefing by our guide, we set out onto what would become one of my favourite hiking trails in Sabah.

Well, it was quite a light and easy hike, except at certain spots where the ascent had required more than I was prepared for. What made the trail different from other hiking trails that I had been to before was the existence of unique boulders of rock along the way. There did not appear to be solid boulders, but more like pieces of rocks that were cemented naturally over time and formed different shapes, unique features and beautiful appearances.

Then what made it even more interesting is the existence of creeks that flow from whatever sources upstream, through rock openings and creating natural pools and waterfalls along the way. The trail takes hikers into caves with waterfalls and natural pools in them! I mean, I had no idea a place with such unique natural landscapes did exist in Sabah, or even in Malaysia as a whole.

Even more amazing was the fact that there were fish in them, shimmering against the lights when we pointed our torch lights to them. I mean, we must be some 300m from the bottom of the valley from where we had ascended and just how the fish managed to swim to such heights had remained a mystery in my head up until now. I can only assume that they must have been there since the beginning of time. I mean, they really were part of the mystery of Aura Montoria trail.

There was nothing much to shout about the peak of the trail but of course the greenery all around was so therapeutic and easy on the eye. It was descending all the way down from there until we arrived at river that formed into a beautiful natural pool. The guide told me how the water was supposed to be crystal-clear but a heavy downpour that occurred the day before had made it quite murky and not quite up to what he had expected and what he wanted us to see. And yet I could easily see plenty of fish swimming all over the pool.

It was supposed to be a hike back to the starting point right from there but we didn’t want the fun to end just yet so we decided to do a little bit of detour to a place called Green Lagoon. It was the best decision really. The color of the water explains the name. It was another natural pool surrounded by beautiful rock boulders and greenery all around. The best part of it was that, we had the place all to ourselves. The guide seemed to know how to summon up the adventurous demons in us. He asked us to jump into the river from atop a boulder.

The jump had required more guts than I had expected though. When the guide did it, it looked very much doable. But when it was my turn to do it, a sudden surge of self-doubt suddenly washed over me for a long moment I tried so hard to muster up enough courage to do it. In the end I just gritted my teeth, said fuck yeah and pushed myself off the boulder. The moment I launched myself off, everything just went into a blurry slow motion and it took like forever to hit the waters.

The feeling was amazing though and I actually let out the loudest congratulatory shout-out to myself when I resurfaced and was convinced enough that I was still very much alive. Just to make sure it was not a one-time courage, I did another jump and another and it just got better every time. It felt like I was thrown back to my childhood time when I used to go to the river near to my village where I’d jump into the river from even a higher spot. But of course that was long time ago when everything in my being was still very much light and functional. Heh.

So after spending almost a couple of hours enjoying our time at the Green Lagoon, we hiked back to the starting point to complete the loop where we were given the finisher certificate. By then it was way past lunch time so we drove back towards Kota Belud and later to the hectic and noisy Kota Kinabalu.

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Mabul Again

Written By: jipp - Mar• 10•24

So my job had again required me to go to the island of Mabul on the far East corner of Sabah. Flying into Tawau from KK on an early morning Air Asia flight, a bus was there to pick me up at the Tawau airport and took me to the town of Semporna where I had to get onto an hour of boat ride before reaching the beautiful island of Mabul.

It was my second visit to Mabul after my first visit back in 2018 so I basically already knew what there was to expect. I stayed at the famous Mabul Water Bungalows Resort – at a chalet on the island and not on the floating portion of the resort which was probably too expensive for me to stay in.  But then, the chalet was located at my favourite spot of the whole island. I remember during my first visit to Mabul when I got so fascinated by the landscaping of the very spot which was dominated by coconut trees and well-tended spread of sandy beaches. It really reminded me of some tropical-themed filming set of a movie that I had watched or something.

The chalet was quite spacious, and the bed was made for at least two persons – but of course there was nothing wrong with having the bed all to myself. Not that I was not used to it anyway. At least I had some extra space to roll myself around – half or fully unconscious. The room opens up to its own veranda – and the veranda faces down to a dirt road which is the route of the buggy car service that transports visitors from the chalet area on the land to the floating portion of the resort. The beach was not immediately reachable from the chalet. In fact, I needed to do a little bit of walking before I could reach it, which was good because I remember staying very near to the beach at Tioman island where I could hardly bring myself to a decent night sleep against the continuous sound of the splashing sea waves. There had to be some distance from then on.

My stay at the Mabul island was a mixture of activities. For the first time in my life, I got to do some diving, albeit a closely guided one. We started off with a little bit of briefing on the diving techniques, the safety and the do and don’ts.  Then we did some basic practices at a pool before moving on the real diving. Being a first-timer like most of the rest, things were quite messy, but it was easier than I had expected. I kept telling myself that if I were to do my first diving, I’d do it at Mabul, and that was exactly what happened. We were guided to do the diving up to 12 meters deep only, yet I caught sight and was visually mesmerised by so many wonderful things that the famed Sulu Sea had to offer, although I was quite sure it was only a very tiny portion of the whole lot.

Then of course there were the snorkelling sessions.  It was not my first time doing it, in fact I had already done it quite a number of times – at the Andaman Sea in Thailand, then at Perhentian and Tioman islands on the East coast of the Malaysian Peninsula etc. – and yet none of those had had me mesmerised as much as the ones in Mabul had. I mean, the visual experience as I swam slowly across the azure clear water was amazing. To say it was visually captivating was an understatement. And it was only the training ground I couldn’t imagine how much more the underwater in the wider and deeper areas could offer. The world-famous Sipadan island which is located quite nearby is known to offer the sight of some of the most diverse marine life in the world. It all reminded of my long overdue plan to get myself a diving license so that I could go diving at the Sipadan island at least once in my life. I really hoped I could get myself around to it sooner than later now.  

I also made my time doing a full circle around the island, walking across the villages and be enchanted again by the friendly locals just like they did when I first visited the island. Nothing much seemed to have changed, and it still came to my thoughts that the locals really deserved better. I mean, the island is raking in a lot of incomes from the booming tourism, and the locals are a very part of it so it is only right to give them what they deserve. It’s very saddening to see how a big portion of the villages still looks quite of a slum, and a majority of the locals still seems to be struggling with their day-to-day lives.

So the visit and stay at Mabul island was wrapped up with half-day island-hopping, during which I climbed again to the peak of Bohey Dulang to enjoy one of the best island views that anyone could probably get in the whole country. Probably still in the process of bouncing back from the after-effects of Covid-19, it was a lot less crowded than it was when I first did the climb to this beautiful island peak. It was a continuous stream of people back then, right from the bottom to the top and back. It was also a lot less crowded at the peak this time, so taking a picture without the crowds inter-framing wasn’t really much of a struggle this time.

Well, all in all, the trip to Mabul Island and the islands around it turned out to be a very enjoyable one. I mean, it was always a good feeling coming back to a place knowing that there is no guarantee there will ever be another (visit) to it in the future. One thing for sure though is that – Mabul will always be there, waiting for anybody who is lucky enough to get a chance to come to it and enjoy what it has to offer. Thank you Mabul!

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