Ranau has a definitive rural character to it, is laid back, has a couple of good restaurants and above all, is full of extremely friendly people always ready to stop for a quick chat with a traveller. No worries about parking here, one always finds space right where one wishes, and there are no traffic lights! PLACES OF INTEREST IN RANAU

Few travellers stopover in Ranau. Normally you would be on your way to Poring Hot Springs, or coming from there and going to the Kinabalu National Park Head Quarters, from where one can climb Mt Kinabalu. There is unfortunately indeed nothing much that would attract tourists in this little charming town, if not the restaurants. The town was built in the 70ties, as is quickly apparent, just as apparent that most of the buildings have since their construction never seen any maintenance... But as already mentioned, the people are extremely friendly and the restaurants good and thus the outer appearance is not that important!

Close to Ranau, direction KK is Kundasang, Sabah's `Vegetable Capital' and where an Australian War Memorial is located. The memorial marks the end of the infamous Death March of some 2300 mostly Australian POW, and an infamous chapter in Australian warfare: towards the end of WWII the occupying Japanese marched their POW from Sandakan all the way through the jungle to Ranau. Only six POW survived, and this because they managed to escape and were helped by local Dusun who hid them in the jungle and fed them until the war was over. Another war memorial in Sandakan, at the site of the former prisoner camp marks the beginning of the march. The journey has been retraced according to the few historical documents that survived and one can now trek along some of the stretches of the `Death March'.

A few minutes by car from Ranau direction KK you arrive at the Kinabalu National Park Head Quarters( KNP HQ), from where one can climb Mt. Kinabalu. With more than 10 km of well maintained trails the KNP HQ are also ideal for leisurely walks in the lower montane rainforest. The HQ are at more than 1650 m a.s.l. and the air is cool, making it ideal for hiking but take along a raincoat because the weather can change abruptly. The KNP HO are also a paradise for ornithologists as many of the bird species you can, with some luck, spot around the HQ are endemic to this part of the world! There is also good accommodation infrastructure and since it has been taken over by a `proper' hotel staying at the park HQ is an experience by itself! No wonder the KNP HO are Sabah's most visited destination with over 120,000 visitors a year!

Though there is not much forest cover left on the way to Poring there are some pockets here and there, belonging to local people. They have realized that Rafflesia flowers are quite abundant and will put up a signboard along the road when a flower is in bloom – which it is only for some four to five days, after nine to 26 months of developing its bud! Normally one pays RM10 – RM 15 person to see the flower,which normally involves a short trek through their orchards where one can see a wide variety of local fruits tress, vegetables and healing herbs ( if you know them…). The locals will be happy to chat with you and let you get a glimpse of their life, alas most are not very in fluent in English. If you know a couple of words in Malay you’ll make new friends! The plots where Rafflesias grow are regularly checked by Sabah Parks rangers and the locals are explicitly allowed to ask for an entrance fee if you wish to see the flowering Rafflesia. This helps the conservation of this intriguing flower- nevertheless the biggest in the world – and yet little studied plant: they could, for all we know, burn down the last pockets of forest on their property and plant durian or other fruit trees, or rice – arguably more profitable than waiting for nearly a year until a bud bursts open, and then only reap a couple of tourism dollars!