Tamparuli is a small town on the road from Kota Kinabalu toward Mount Kinabalu, about thirty kilometres from the coast. It is the last place of any size before the road leaves the plains and begins to climb into the Crocker Range, and it behaves like one: a busy main street, a market, lines of shophouses, and a lot of hungry traffic going both ways. The town is known across Sabah for its suspension bridge over the river, immortalised in a song that every Malaysian of a certain age seems to know. It is a modest thing, but it has an honest charm.
The rider's interest is in the road. Leaving the coast, the highway runs flat and straight for a while, past rice paddies, villages of stilt houses and roadside stalls selling fruit, before it starts to rise. Past Tamparuli the bends begin, the temperature drops, and the Kinabalu massif can appear ahead, a long grey wall above the clouds on the clear mornings that often come before the haze. Be careful on the straights through town: motorbikes, pickups, children and the occasional dog use the road in their own way, and the speed limit drops with little warning. When it rains, which can be sudden and heavy, the road gets slippery fast.
The people here are mostly Kadazan-Dusun and Bajau, and the area has a cheerful, plain mix of markets, churches and mosques. The weekly market is the place for local produce, from jungle ferns to tapioca, and smoked fish, and you will find rice cakes and cheap noodles in the stalls. Try the fresh pineapples and the sweet, thick local coffee. A short break here costs very little and gives you a look at ordinary life in Sabah.
Kota Kinabalu, with almost half a million people, is the big city and the best place for repairs or big shopping, and Kota Belud and Tuaran are close by for smaller needs. For fuel you will find stations in and around Tamparuli, but fill the tank before you climb: the road ahead is long, and prices up on the mountain are higher. Start early, as the afternoons are the wettest part of the day.