Day 718 - Trekking the hills of Mt Kinabalu

The 5 of us get up nice and early this morning to insure we were back from our day's walking before the afternoon rains. As we couldn't afford to climb to the top of Mt Kinabalu we decided to make the most of the gorgeous park we were in and tackle some of the trekking trails in the foothills. We set off on the scenic Liwagu Trail that wriggles its way alongside the Liwagu river, accompanying us with its moving melody as the cool mountain waters crash over the rocks on its way down to the ocean. While the walks we did today were as beautiful as what we saw in the Cameron Highlands, it was more smooth-going and no where near as difficult. This meant we got to relax and look around a bit more, and we didn't end up either on our butts or on our own special trail!!!There was a choir of birds following us for the 12km round walk we accomplished today, and we saw lots of strange looking insects and plants to keep our minds off our feet. At a lookout point we had a great view of the mountain that will elude us for now and a close up of the snaking waterfall we had seen on our drive yesterday.After reaching the official start of the mountain climb (and sadly turning away) we headed down hill on Bukit Ular Trail till we found a good place for a picnic lunch. Wandering down the Kiau View Trail on our last leg of the day Rita spotted a huge snake slithering along the trail (which only Liv and her managed to see) and Adam saw a teency tiny (but VERY ferocious!) snake curled up under a leaf.

We completed the walk much faster than anticipated, and said goodbye to Helen and Skev who are moving at a much faster pace than us, and spent the afternoon and evening as balcony bums. While sitting and reading our books overlooking the mountain landscape the clouds literally engulfed us - we watched them slowly creep up the valley and then meander on by leaving the sky crystal clear for yet another killer sunset.

Adlibing the foothills.