Mulu National Park - Borneo - Malaysia May 1st - 3rd, 2016

After a 5am start to get to the airport and a change over at Kota Kinabulu where we boarded a plane with only 6 other passengers, we arrived at the tiny settlement of Mulu just after midday. Having not been able to find any sensibly priced accommodation online, we turned up in the hope that one of the homestays that were reported to be there would have space for us. Thankfully it is only just the very start of the tourist season, so despite the National Park accommodation all being full, the homestay we found was almost empty, there being just one other couple staying there.

Once we had dropped off our bags we headed straight to the park HQ to register and book our tours. You have to pay an entrance fee to the park that lasts for 5 days and if you want to see any of the caves, you must be accompanied by a guide or you aren't allowed access. We were just in time to get on the first of the afternoon tours that visits both Deer and Lang caves and met the guide along with the rest of the group outside ready to set off. There are 25 caves discovered so far in Mulu, but only 4 open to the public and these, along with a couple of other walks are reached via miles of painstakingly laid wooden board walks that not only prevent tourists from trampling the forest and getting lost, but also protects them from some of the creepy crawlies found underfoot...racer snakes, vipers, scorpions, tarantulas etc. So we followed said board walk for just under an hour to the caves in one of the most humid seasons for over 4 years and even though at one point the heavens opened, few of us bothered to put a rain coat on, preferring instead to let the water cool us down.

We entered first Lang's cave, a reasonable size cave that at every twist and turn revealed spectacular formations such as stalactites, stalagmites, columns and many others I don't recall the correct name for. They were all subtley lighted and once again you walked along a board walk to avoid doing any damage, this gave the opportunity for some great photo stops and it took some time before everyone was rounded up again back at the entrance.

Next we were taken into Deer cave, so named for the deer that used to come inside to drink of the stream, salty with guano, the second largest cave in the world (the largest until one was discovered in Vietnam even bigger in 2009). Its immensity is jaw dropping, the ceilings as high as cathedrals are covered in a seething mass of bats of which there are 12 varieties numbering around 3 million in total. It's no wonder there are few mosquitoes to annoy you in the surrounding forest, it's estimated they consume up to 30 tonnes a night!! They also produce an enormous amount of guano which sits in vast mounds on the cave floor, stinks to high heaven and is nourishment for cockroaches and the like. Apart from its impressive size, Deer cave is simply beautiful, the stream running through the bottom, the sink hole opening on to the 'Garden of Eden' that lets in rays of green tinged light from above and the views you behold as you turn a corner or reach a high point are beyond compare.

All too soon we were ushered out to the viewing area where people gather around 5 o'clock in the hopes of seeing the spectacle of 3 million bats emerging for a night's hunting. Although we stayed almost until nightfall, the bats didn't come out, perhaps due the the rain which was steadily pouring down still or for some other reason we dont know. Anyway, we were told we could come back tomorrow to try our luck again and on that note beat a hasty retreat against the falling darkness and thundery storm which had developed. Too tired to even seek something for dinner, we rinsed ourselves in the cold shower and collapsed on our beds, not moving again until morning.

The morning saw us rising early to join the second of our tours to another 2 caves, Clearwater and Wind (such imaginative names) starting with a 20 minute boat ride that brought us to a local Penan village where we were encouraged to look round the local handicraft market. There were a few nice bits and bobs, some woven baskets, bead bracelets and necklaces and various wooden items, spoons, blow pipes etc, but mostly there was what I would call tourist tat...stuff made out of small, gaudy plastic beads strung together to make key fobs or friendship bracelets. Instead of buying anything we went and had a read of the informative signs about the tribe which were very interesting, they were originally a nomadic people, only settling in one place long enough to use its resources then moving on before they ran out, so allowing regeneration and future use. The people here care about their forest homes, there is no litter, no wastage of resources, they share everything they have with one another, they only take what they need and children are taught this from a very young age...an ideal society you might say and looking at how content they seem, I would agree.

After all purchases had been made we returned to the boats which took us further upstream to arrive at another board walk which led onto a 10 minute walk to a platform where there were tables and chairs for people to relax at or have some lunch and a large, inviting looking pool which we would be able to swim in later. A short rest here before we tackled 200 steps up to the cave entrances, no mean feat in the humid forest, but at least shaded by the canopy overhead.

First we entered Wind cave which by its twists and turns and various entrances allowed a lovely cool breeze to brush past us as we went up and down the walkways, culminating in the cavern of the kings, so named for its vast size and interesting formations, some along the way looked suspiciously like cauliflowers and others like jellyfish, the most interesting however were the stalagmites which were very large and apart from taking hundreds of thousands of years to form, looked like they could topple at any moment. Some of them seemed sculpted, you could almost see twisted figures entwined within, another looked just like Gandalf's Staff and seemed to stay there almost by magic, balancing precariously on the edge of a rock.

Exiting the way we had come we next entered Clearwater cave via more steps, named for its subterranean river which surfaces outside in the aforementioned natural pool and thought to be the longest in SE Asia, reaching some 107km through Mulu's substratum. Expeditions have been trying to find a connection between this and another cave system but have so far failed to make the link but have managed to plot over 400km of caves, pretty impressive when you consider they spend days at a time underground without seeing daylight! The adventurous few are able to participate in guided caving where you can actually climb, squeeze and swim your way from Clearwater cave to Wind cave, but apart from the cost, time was our prohibitive factor as it takes up most of a day. We settled with tackling more steps, another 150 or so and taking in the beauty of this natural phenomenon, the sink hole here being particularly spectacular and the shapes left on the walls from various river levels quite beautiful. This is also the only place in the world where a particular single leaf plant grows, only around the mouth of the cave, it is quite strange to see a plant that only consists of one perfectly formed, teardrop shaped leaf! There is another species that grows slightly further inside the cave and is found solely in Borneo, no wonder this is such a haven for scientists, botanists etc!

Leaving the caves, we eagerly headed back to the platform and stripped off for a dip in the cool water, as it comes straight from under the ground at this point, the sun hasn't had a chance to warm it so the only way to get in is quickly! After splashing around for a while I took a swim to the rock face from under which the water emerges and found it difficult to make any headway due to the strength of the current, a lot of water comes through here and I can't imagine what it must be like when the area is in the rainy season!

We jumped back in the boats for the pleasant, relaxing ride back to the park HQ, waving to the children playing on the banks and following the erratic flights of multicoloured butterflies with our eyes. Once there we decided we should get some lunch and proceeded to one of the several eateries dotted around, we found a table with a lovely view over the river and a fan above us and set about our food with gusto. Once we'd let it go down we started on part 2 of our day...a walk to a waterfall where we could swim once again, the nice thing about this was that you didn't need a guide, but you did have to register with security and let them know where you were going and what time you expected to be back.

Our walk there was fairly uneventful, 2/3 was on the same board walk as to the caves we visited yesterday, then you actually got to walk on real earth with mud and roots and stuff! I admit it was nice to feel slightly less mollycoddled and we took our time enjoying the peace of the forest without a dozen or more people around you. By the time we arrived at Paku Waterfall we were ready for that swim, if possible it seemed even stickier than the day before and we were dripping in sweat despite the flat, easy trail and our gentle pace. So in we got and spent a pleasant hour cooling off, relishing the cold water and talking over what we had seen so far.

Our timing couldn't have been better, just as we had dried off and were preparing to leave, voices disturbed the silence and 2 other hot, sweaty people came along the track hoping to enjoy the refreshing water, we bid them have a great time and went back along the forest path. En route we saw some interesting wildlife, some huge black and orange beetles, an eagle soaring overhead and what I later learned to be a Pygmy Squirrel, the smallest breed of squirrel in the world, it seemed to measure no more than a couple of inches in length, was the bright ginger colour of a young orang-utan and was so fast darting along that you could barely keep track of it!

Once we got back to the board walk, we decided to give the bats another chance to show themselves and instead of turning back to HQ, instead carried on towards the caves and viewing area once more. The weather being bright we were more hopeful for a show than yesterday and after finding a seat by a lovely Belgian couple who we had shared our tours with, proceeded to chat with them some more while we waited, and waited, and waited some more...! Luck was not with us, it wasn't as late as we had previously stayed but there was no sign whatsoever of any bats, just a show of Swifts keeping us free from mozzies and providing some entertainment with their swoops, dives and high speed manoeuvres. Having booked onto a night walk tour at 7pm, we had to give up and start on our way to make sure we got there in time or risk missing it.

It was a good job we left when we did, the food we had for lunch apparently disagreed with Andy and our progress was slow back to the HQ. Insisting he would be ok and was just going to go to bed anyway he told me to carry on and do the night tour and to take lots of pictures (of course!) for him to see in the morning. So, alone and having left my torch in his backpack, I waited for the guide and rest of the group to arrive, watching the lizards chase each other around only to scatter when a bat came swooping past...at least one was about then! Eventually our small group assembled and we were ready for the off, the guide was very good and clearly passionate about what he does. During the hour and a half's walk he was able to show us any number of amazing creatures, from huge stick insects (which wish they were small so as to be less visible to predators) to delicate leaf imitating insects that make a wondrous sound with their wings, a very aggressive female black scorpion defending her nest in the end of a fallen trunk to a shy but deadly tarantula. He was a fount of knowledge not only on the flora and fauna but on the history of the park and the different treks too. Our group thoroughly enjoyed our walk and I came away understanding perhaps a bit more why they don't just let people roam around on their own, some of the things you can get bitten or stung by are very deadly and although anti-venoms are available they can take several hours to reach and that can prove fatal. On that sobering thought, I made my way cautiously in the dark back to our homestay to find Andy feeling a bit better, though not too eager to hear about all the things that could have killed us while we were here! After a quick shower I headed to bed absolutely shattered and fell asleep without even a thought of creepy crawlies!