Sungai Luanti, Ranau

By Khairiah.

Hello everyone! Today I am gonna share some travel experience in my hometown Ranau, Sabah. I can post about all the exciting places to visit in one post, but I will just post about one place at a time, to keep the excitement moving! Ranau is really a suitable place to visit if you love the nature.

First off, let me take you to Luanti River, or Sungai Luanti where you can have fish spa massages in the flowing river. Sounds too good to be true? :)

Sungai Luanti is about 15 - 20 kilometres away from Pekan Ranau. Or about 3 hours away from Kota Kinabalu. With the entrance fee of RM3 per adult, you can have 15 minutes of playing with the fishes :) They are very big, mind you! So, it is normal to hear people screaming. hahaha...

see, they are very big!

you can choose to only put your feet into the river or have your whole body soaked together with the fishes. but you have to pay extra for that. besides, you can also buy fish food to feed them while playing with them. These fishes are called ikan pelian in local dialect. They are purposely bred for this service. The river is protected under an Act where nobody should go fishing here. in Dusun language, it is called "tagal" which means the same, tidak boleh memancing atau menangkap ikan.

From one angle of the river

It is sooo hard to resist the urge to jump and swim in the river!

they also have facilities like toilets, changing rooms, a pool, cafe, and stalls selling Sabahan hand-made craft. they also allow people to have picnics, but at the far end of the river where the group of fishes are not residing. Here, they also have a high hanging bridge - jambatan gantung. If you climb up there you can have the view of the river from above. :)

but i have to admit the river is not as clear as how i remember it the last time i came for visit. Maybe the effect of rainy season has got anything to do with it? i don't know but let's just all embrace the beauty of nature. :)