I went back to Sabah for a short break recently. Actually it was more of an unplanned trip due to a cousin's wedding, which I gladly took as a reason to purchase the not-so-cheap AirAsia flight from KL to KK.

As usual, I tried my best to maximise the time I had in KK (mainly) to take some photos. In particular, there was this place that I've heard from a friend not too recently, which is a hill station where one can view almost the whole of Kota Kinabalu, save for those hidden by the hills that stradles the city centre.

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This place is not so new, but not really mainstream either as evidenced by the blur look I encounter every time I ask anyone about it. There was some sketchy info on the net but nothing that can help me find it. So I sort of just kept the thought at the back of my mind, till the last minute. Not a very bright move...

A few friends and I were visiting the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park when I suggested that we try to find this place that I've been thinking about. Fortunately the other friend who knows the place was available on the phone for directions, but little did we know that our ride (a Myvi) was not really up to the task of ferrying 4 people all the way up!

As the title suggests the place is called Inobong Visitor & Research Centre, part of the Crocker Range National Rainforest Reserve and I presume, is being managed by Sabah Parks. To reach it we took the Penampang-Papar road from Donggongon Town and took a left into Inobong after the bridge. From here it was probably 3km till we reached another bridge which was under construction, drove further 1 or 2 km till we came upon a junction, which got us off the main road and onto an uphill gravel road. The junction was not clearly marked but there were enough to go by i.e. a sign pointing to Inobong Lampaki Cemetery, and another signboard that said something about Crocker Range Park. We knew we were on the right direction.

From here it was mostly uphill gravel road. We noticed that the authorities have at least paved the sections where the road was too steep, which would be dangerous especially on wet conditions. We passed by the cemetery, moved along, then came upon a house that looked familiar... It took us a few seconds to realise that it was the famed Sinurambi, which according to its website, is perced 1,000 ft. above Kota Kinabalu and is open for homestay visitors.

Nevermind that, we continued on driving and 100 meters on we reached an archway, which meant that we're almost there. Well, not quite. This is where the National Reserve begins I guess, and true enough we soon came upon a gate with a sign bearing ticket prices! Heh... there was no one around though.

This is also where we realised that the Myvi was not going to be able to make it all the way up with 4 people on board. Three of us got off and walked while Mze continues driving up on first gear. He gave up about halfway through, and we found him parking the car on the roadside clearing. So yeah, now we know we should have come on a four-wheel drive. But it's okay, we made it all the way up on foot and it wasn't that far from where we left the car - probably less than a km. Really steep uphill walk though.

So that's it. We made it. See the pictures below to get an idea of what you can see up there. Though I would've loved to, we didn't really do much exploring. We just rested on the viewing platform, which luckily has a tap for some really needed water. The weather was clear but quite hazy especially the view towards the sea - which was the whole point! And we were facing somewhat west in the afternoon, so maybe a morning trip would be better? Anyway, most of the photos we took turned out hazy but the experience was definitely worth it. I know I will be back next time and by then we'll make sure that we'll be better prepared.