Malaysia and Thailand

Dec 20 2008

The small Fokker 50 plane took off from Miri and flew low enough that we got a good view of the land below us. We flew over field after field of Palm trees grown for their oil. The plane flew. We followed a broad, muddy river with unbelievable twists and turns through jungle forests to the hills surrounding Gunung Mulu National Park, our destination for the next three days. We had a choice of transport to get to Mulu. We could take two 4 hour fast boat rides and a 1 1/2 hour longboat ride to the park or we could have a scenic 1/2 hour plane ride for not much more money. After speaking to an Aussie man who made the long boat trip with his young son, I think we made the right choice.

Mulu NP is a 529 sq km Unesco-listed site that is one of the most popular destinations in Borneo. The attractions are its mountains to climb and its caves to explore. We passed up hiking to the top of Mulu peak, a four day hike, and the Pinnacles, a tough three day hike. We have decided we are past the point of choosing a multi-day hike where we have to carry all our own gear and food. We chose to visit the caves that riddle the limestone mountain range within Mulu.

The majority of tourists in the park visit the Show Caves inside the sheer limestone cliffs near the park HQ. One half-day walk visits the Deer and Lang's Caves and another half-day walk includes the Wind and Clearwater Caves. For the more adventurous there are additional cave explorations to do but we ran out of time. Our morning flight allowed us to visit Deer and Lang's Caves with a guide that afternoon. It is a 3 km walk along well maintained boardwalks to the entrance of the caves. These interconnected caves are 2160 M long and 220 M deep, forming the world's largest cave corridor. Both caves had huge caverns filled with stalactites and stalagmites of every shape and size. Since it is the monsoon season with daily rainstorms, water comes through the roof in a continual stream at several points. Deer Cave has two artificial looking downspouts, called "showerheads". All you needed was some shampoo to wash your head under one of these spouts.

The reason the visit to Deer Cave is scheduled for the afternoon is to time the end of the visit with the daily exodus of the two million bats that roost in the roof. There are 12 different species of bats living in the caves. They wake from there resting spots at dusk to gather in swarms before flying into the jungle to feast on insects. Near the entrance to the caves is an information center where everyone congregates to watch this phenomenon. There were good posters giving background information and large TV screens to watch the activity of the bats transmitted by remote cameras inside the cave. We waited patiently for the bats to appear. We could see them stirring from their roosts but they were not congregating at the entrance of the cave. Finally we had to give up. It was getting dark and even if the bats did decide to make their move, we would not be able to distinguish them in the dark. We walked back to our lodging, pleased with our cave visit but disappointed not to see the Bat Exodus. There was no alternative but to return at the end of the next day, which we did to no avail. It rained as we waited for the exodus and the bats won't come out in the rain, whimpy souls! We even returned for our third and final night but once again it rained and the bats were a no-show. At least all that walking gave us a good appetite for dinner. The personnel at the Park HQ told us that the bats often miss a night if the conditions are not just right. They can even miss a week or more, living on their own body fat and lowering their body functions until they are in a semi-hibernation state. They had missed 6 or 7 days by the time we left so we just have to believe the stories of the mass exodus. They did not perform for us.

Wind and Clearwater Caves are a bit farther from the Park HQ. We took a 30 minute longboat ride up the Melinau River, stopping on the way to visit the souvenir stands at a small Penan settlement. The Malaysian Government has decided that the nomadic Penan people would be better served if they lived in permanent settlements as logging and civilization are depleting their traditional hunting grounds. This had not been an unqualified success. The villagers are still living in poverty and there is little employment. The men are allowed to hunt in the Mulu forests but they must travel long distances to get any game. The women earn a little money making and selling crafts to Mulu tourists. The quality of the beading and rattan weaving was good but we were not there to buy souvenirs. We were on a cave expedition. We left with no purchases.

The openings to the interconnected Wind and Clearwater Caves was on the side of a sheer limestone cliff, reached by a staircase of 200 steps. The Clearwater Cave system totals more than 51 km with more being discovered every year. We explored only a very small part. The smaller Wind Cave gets its name from the cooling breeze flowing through its cavern. There were not as many stalactites and stalagmites as the Deer and Lang's Caves, but much of the cave walls were covered by a soft white surface called Moonmilk, caused by a bacteria. An underground river runs through Clearwater Cave and spills out to form a natural swimming pool at the cave entrance. Several people, but not us as we didn't have our bathing suits with us, had a refreshing swim at the end of the cave walk.

Our highlight was turning a corner on the walkway through the cave to discover a grey-green Racer cave snake right beside our path. We all rushed to take its picture before it slowly escaped in the rocks. It lives on bats, frogs and swiftlets that live in the caves and is harmless to humans.

At the end of one of the boardwalks was a set of steps leading down to the underground river. This is the end of one of the adventure cave walks between Wind and Clearwater caves. Our guide said the waters of the river are reputed to be a restorative to the skin, taking years off your face and body. We all had to splash some of the water on ourselves, but I regret to say I still look the same. The fountain of youth is not here.

There is an alternate route to the Clearwater Caves. Rather than take the boat you can walk back. The path goes up and down two more sets of stairs and through another small cave appropriately called Moon Milk Cave. It took us 1 1/2 hours to walk back but it was a pleasant way to return.

Another morning we followed a well-marked trail to see the Puka waterfalls. It was a peaceful rainforest walk with a small but pretty double waterfall descending from limestone cliffs into a small river. We could hear bird song but couldn't see any through the thick foilage. We did see a large squirrel jump from tree to tree and I had my first leeching. I brushed past some leaves beside the path, looked down at my leg and saw two worm-like creatures on me. One turned out to be a harmless inch worm but the other was a leech, lunching on my blood. It took quite a bit of effort to dislodge it from the back of my knee but I was lucky it was a small brown leech that has no sting. The larger Tiger leeches sting like a bee, not an experience I would welcome.

Puka Waterfalls

Canopy Walk

We had time the last day to visit the canopy walk. A 483 M long walkway has been constructed 15 to 20 M above the rainforest floor. You do get a different perspective from that level in the trees. The walkway is divided into 14 sections separated by landings built around trees. It is quite safe. The walkway floor is only two boards wide but there were cable railings and netted sides preventing any possibility of a fall. Workmen were busy adjusting cables around one of the trees. Our guide said that the attachment of the cables to the tree is changed every six months minimizing damage to the tree and allowing for the natural growth of the tree.