White Water Rafting at Padas River Kota Kinabalu
My first water rafting experience was at Gopeng river, and it was bored (due to low water level and small rapids, I have to admit I yawned during the journey)
So, when I plan my trip in Kota Kinabalu, I come across Padas River, I decided to give it a try.
Where is Padas River?
It is located at the north of Kota Kinabalu.
Let me describe my day to Padas River water rafting.
I have to say it is a long journey. It start @5am, and I reach hotel @6pm, total 13 hours for the whole trip.
5am- Driver pick us up at hotel, and then we travel by van to Beaufort Train Station. This journey take around 1.5 hour.
7.15am- We reach the train station. The train will depart @7.40am. Therefore we had a quick breakfast opposite the train station.
7.45am- Sometimes the train will delay, however it is important to make sure you get on the train because there is only one train one day.
This is a great train. It is the one and only transport for the locals to go other places. The railway is build next to Padas River, and so do the villages. And this train is slow, the average speed is 50/60 km/h; no air condition, and there are two types of car. One type is with seats, and another type look like the photo below, it is for locals to put things, and you may sit on the floor.
This is a great train. It is the one and only transport for the locals to go other places. The railway is build next to Padas River, and so do the villages. And this train is slow, the average speed is 50/60 km/h; no air condition, and there are two types of car. One type is with seats, and another type look like the photo below, it is for locals to put things, and you may sit on the floor.
Interior of the train, you may just sit on the floor, and the door is not closed
The train
Around 11am: Finally we reach the starting point, a village (and I forget the name). Our tour guide introduce that the village was a head hunter village (of course now no more). And along the way we can see the the teh tarik color river water level is high today, and it create strong rapids.
Maybe not too obvious in this photo, but trust me! The rapids is strong, and you can even hear the sound here.
1130am: After safety briefing, gear up (helmet, life jacket, paddle), time for Adrenaline Rush! Today water level is level 4 (maximum water level in water rafting is 6; you can only find it in New Zealand)
1130- 2pm: I had no idea about how time goes when I am on the river. When we flow to the river part with strong rapids, we have to paddle strongly and deeply to avoid the raft turn upside down.
Of course, at this point, teamwork is very important, sometime I did hit my friend's paddle because we are in the different direction.
There are some rapids where we can just enjoy; sit back and relax! (this is the time to rest my hand!)
Around 3pm: Train is here again, time to go back! It is the same train and another 3 hours journey back to station. After that, take van back to KK city.
6pm: We reach hotel at KK city.
Our 13 hours rafting journey come to an end.
This tour is very worth to go because I experienced nostalgia train tour, and exciting water rafting.
This is not the ordinary water raft tour!
