August 21,

We awoke, had our Javas, and breakfast of Granola Muesli with hot chocolate mix. Then we did the repacking thing. Today we move-on from the beach to the mountains. Our electricity went off in the middle of packing. So we finished and waited a little bit, because we wanted to shower. But no power equals no water- even cold water. It was only getting hotter, so we spot-cleaned with a bottle of water. We loaded up our car. Our host had not returned – he left before the power went out so we left our key in the door.

We left by 1000, after we got some ice from the local store. It was 186 km which is 115.5 miles. Google said it would take 3 hrs and 45 minutes. I predicted Jeff would knock 10 minutes off this. Jeff did not make a prediction, and I realized that this just made a challenge for him… I probably won’t do this again!! 😂 The way down was back along the #3 highway, basically down the peninsula that is the northern tip of Borneo. We turned off and followed the road up into the interior toward Ranau and our final destination, Kundasang town that sits at the foot of Mount Kinabalu. The drive was mostly uphill, with some steep 10-15% grades at times.

We arrived at Ranau by 1250, so Jeff was 25 minutes better than Google. We found Ranau Smoked House and Restaurant, and pulled in for lunch. We were greeted with a menu – it was in English but we did not see the smoked meats as such. The owner must have seen our puzzlement and came over to us. He asked if he could make recommendations. We nodded affirmatively. He ordered us Stir-fried dish of local Purple Rice with pork; a Noodle Stir-fry; and a plate of Smoked Pork. Obviously, this place is not Muslim. We were also served a smokey, broth each. We talked with the owner as we were waiting for our food. He explained that much of this area is a mix of Muslim and Christians. We explained we were surprised how many Catholic churches we have seen. He asked and we explained we were from the USA. I can’t remember his ethnicity. Our food arrived and he left us to enjoy – it was excellent and had a great smoke flavor. We paid 28 RM, which was $6.63.

We left satiated and went to our place… Amazing Grace Lodge! I love the name of the place, putting Christianity out there! Even the Wifi password was: jesuslovesyou. There was a very steep grade up to the place, but we made it – pulling in at 1431, just as it started raining. We checked in and quickly unloaded. The guy who checked us in helped with the luggage. In our room, we unloaded. We have a fantastic view of Mount Kinabalu, but now it is encased by clouds! When we drove up we had a better view!! Sometimes that’s just the way it is. We stayed as it rained becoming quite hard at times.

For supper we had a bowl of instant wide noodles- pretty tasty. This was good because there was no way we were going out!