Since it’s Qingming Festival and I still have some days to spare on my visit back to Kota Kinabalu, my mum suggests that we visit my grandparents’ tomb at Kudat. My mum was born in Kudat and she moved to Kota Kinabalu when she was young and then to Sandakan where she met my father. My 2 elder sisters were born there. Somehow my family moved to Kota Kinabalu after that and this is where me and my brother were born. Kudat is a small town at the northern part of Sabah. We all hated to go Kudat when we were young as it is a very boring town and the only thing we remembered about Kudat is the abundance of coconut tree there.
Pass by Tamparuli town, famous for the suspension bridge.
A one lane bridge below the Tamparuli suspension bridge. The trip to Kudat takes around 3 to 3.5 hours. We didn’t stop at Kota Belud and continue our way. There seems to be massive road works before we reach the Kota Marudu junction as the road is in bad conditions.
You can find a lot of stalls by the road on the way from Kota Belud to Kudat selling their local products. You can buy banana, tapioca, pumpkins, fish, vegetables, corn and even souvenirs from those little wooden stalls. Most of the stalls here also sell barbecued corn. There are 2 choices of corn to choose from, one is jagung pulut (pulut corn) and jagung manis (sweet corn).
The corn tasted very nice, sweet and hot although it looks unappetising.
We reach Kudat around 12 pm and visited grandparents’ tomb in the middle of the hot sun. Then drive to Kudat town and nothing seems to change much here. There are some business activities around the market area selling salted fish and dried sea products and only few shops open as it was Sunday.
After some rest and lunch at the local kopitiam, we proceed to Bak-Bak Beach. This unique beach is made up of mostly stone and you can find some interesting sea life among the stone.
Weird looking sea grass.
Is this a starfish? They like to hide under the stone.
There are also other beach around Kudat but some of the beach are located in secluded area. So many beaches but so little time to explore.
Before you reach tip of Borneo, you will pass by Kalampunian Beach. This beautiful beach is long and wide with smooth sand. You can have the whole beach for yourself as it’s far away from town and the place is deserted. It may change in the near future as there are now few chalets operating just beside the beach and I can see some tourists walking on the beach. Maybe i should spend a night here on my next trip.
Blue sky and a clean beach, perfect!
Some boats left by the owner at the sea.
Spent 30 minutes on the beach before continuing to Tip of Borneo. Tanjung Simpang Mengayau is also known as the Northernmost Tip of Borneo. Simpang Mengayau means ‘lingering junction‘ as it is here that the South China Sea lingers and meets the Sulu Sea flowing from the east. You can see some dramatic landscapes around the area.
There is a warning sign prohibited us from getting down to the area. But everyone seems to ignore it, including me.
A tree deeply rooted to the cliff here.
Sunset at the northernmost point of Borneo. Too bad the sky is cloudy
A fishing boat passing by.
It’s getting dark and the wave become stronger. Got to leave before the sea water pull me into the sea.
A moon start to takeover from the sun. Everyone already left the area.
One more before I call it a day. Start the journey back to KK town in the dark.
