Mulu National Park Sarawak - Penan & Rainforests

On the way to the Wind Cave, the boat stopped by a riverbank for visitors to visit a Penan settlement. I was quite excited and looked forward to see the Penan longhouses. 

Penan was unknown to the world before early 1980's. This little tribe in Sarawak was brought to world attention by Bruno Manser, a Swiss environmental activist back in the mid-1980's. He stayed with the Penan and organised several blockages against timber companies. After he emerged from the rainforests in 1990, he was involved in activities related to the preservation of rainforests and human rights of indigenous people especially the Penan. He later founded the Bruno Manser Fund in 1991 which is active even to these days. Unfortunately, he disappeared during his last journey to Sarawak in May 2000 and was never found. He is presumed dead.

Quite to our disappointment, we did not find any traditional longhouse but instead we saw "modernized" version made of reinforced concrete structure and brickwalls. The State Government has since the era of Bruno Manser started program to relocate Penan who used to live a nomadic life to permanent settlement. This has allowed the Penan to enjoy better public, education and health amenity. The Penan here are given the option of pursuing new survival skill by engaging in the making and sale of handicrafts or to roam the forest nearby and hunt for whatever little wildlife that they can find. I think the government should not be faulted for their effort in elevating the quality of the life of this indigenous people. At every stage of human struggle for better life throughout history, certain thing unfortunately is lost whether by choice or circumstances because of the change of environment.

Modern Penan Longhouse.

Stores selling handicrafts and souvenirs.

This man sells three blowpipe darts for one buck.

The Mulu National Park itself also organizes many activities to cater for a variety of visitors (Read here) such as trekking, adventure caving. But the more popular ones are the Canopy Walk and the Night Walk. We decided against doing the Canopy Walk which was scheduled in the afternoon because of the intense sunlight that we may have to expose ourselves to. Instead we decided to take a botany walk around the park's nearby trail.

Massive trees which are accessible within 10 minutes walk 

from the Park Office.

Hammerhead worm, cricket and grasshopper seen along the trail.

Millipede, butterfly larva and lizard.

Floral seen along the trail.

Mulu National Park, Sarawak - Clearwater Cave

The tour itinerary ended with a visit to the 4th and final cave, the Clearwater Cave. We reached this cave after 10-minute boat ride from the jetty at the Wind Cave.

To some, particularly the senior citizens, access to this cave would be most challenging because of the need to climb more than 200+ steps built along the forested hill slope before reaching the cave entrance.

A tea break was scheduled at the jetty cum resting platform
before the assault to the Clearwater Cave.

Climbing the staircase.

The Clearwater Cave System is reckoned to be the longest inter-connected cave by volume in the world. According to our tour guide, the length of the cave route that has been surveyed is now 250 Km.

Ceiling opening caused by sinkhole.

Plants inside the cave tilts towards the cave 
entrance to gain maximum exposure to 
the sunlight!

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This unusual feature found on the rock surface is formed with the initial growth of a certain kind of algae that feed on its surface. Soon when the rock surface is subjected to water current, the invaded parts are washed off leaving these multitudes of jagged surface!

A bottomless pit.

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The subterranean river is said to carry around 20 tonnes of dissolved limestone out of the cave every year!

Subterranean river inside the cave.

The whole group - with the Chew's family from West Malaysia.

The tour concluded with lunch at the jetty area. Some would not leave until they have gone for a dip in the cold water in the river!

After my visit to the Gunung Mulu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since year 2000, I have no hesitation to recommend it to individuals who are interested to explore nature, cave systems, floral and fauna.

Mulu National Park, Sarawak–Wind Cave

Two more caves were explored in the second day - the Wind Cave and the Clearwater Cave. Unlike the first day, the tour commenced with a boat ride along Melinau Paku River from the Park Jetty to the foothill of Wind Cave.

Melinau Paku River viewed from the air as the plane approached

the runway for landing.

Boat took us from the Park Jetty to the foothill of Wind Cave.

From there, we walked a flight of walkway and staircase towards the cave entrance. This cave in fact is part of the Clearwater Cave System. Though the cave is small, it contains a fair amount of interesting formations of stalactites and stalagmites, flowrocks, helitites and rock corals.

Staircase leading to the cave entrance.

Cave Entrance.

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One part of the cave passage is very narrow and barely wide enough for one person to pass through. The air current as it passes through this narrow passage gains speed and causes a windy sensation as one walks through it. This is why the cave is called The Wind Cave.

Narrow passageway.

This area is called The King's Chamber because of a stalagmite
that resembles the image of a king!.

Robust and safe walkway and staircase within the cave allow
visitors to move around with minimum risks.

Walking toward the cave mouth  after touring the cave.

Cave exit.

Mulu National Park, Sarawak - Lang Cave

Adjacent to the Deer Cave is the Lang Cave. Lang Cave however is a much much smaller cave compared to Deer Cave.

Though it is small, it is nevertheless compensated by the the extensive and peculiar formations of stalactites and stalagmites. They are truly amazing to behold.

This cave also contains worm traps made by the cave worms to catch small insects. These thread-liked strains suspended from the cave ceiling are made of sticky substance much like the spiderwebs. Unlike the glowworms we saw in Waitomo Glowworm Caves in NZ (Read here), they do not emit light.

The cave entrance as viewed from the inside.

Mulu National Park, Sarawak - Deer Cave

We drove 455 Km from home to Miri to attend the IDMC Conference held at the Meritz Hotel. It was my initial plan to drive to Kuching from Miri after the conference with overnight stops at Bintulu and Sibu. But after considering the 825 Km distance, uninteresting landscape coupled with a lack of attractive sites to explore in the towns along the route, we decided to consider exploring Mulu National Park instead. 

After talking to the travel agent, Brighton Travel & Tour introduced by the Hotel, we booked the 3D2N tour and the return plane ticket, Miri-Mulu there and then.

In Mulu National Park, we visited four caves, the one most interesting and memorable would be the Deer Cave. Deer Cave is said to have the largest cave passage in the world.

Deer Cave Opening.

Massive cave passage.

Water seeps through the soil above the cave and finally falls from

cave ceiling creating a sensation of "raining" inside the cave!

The guide was quick to draw our attention to the 
cave mouth which depicts the silhouette of  the 
image of "Abraham Lincoln"

Cave-in that happened long long time ago. 
Had the cave-in not happened, the cave 
passage would have been extended 
to much longer route!

The single most awesome experience would be sitting at the viewing platform to watch the bats flying out from the cave opening in the evening in groups of thousands and thousands. It was estimated that there are 2-3 million bats living in the cave and they consume around 15 tons of flying insects every night!

Never Say Die!

It's CNY season, my wife, being a good daughter made it a point to visit her mother in BP. She took a short break from her role as "confinement lady" for her new granddaughter, Olivia to make this trip which lasted a mere 48-hour duration. Still, we achieved much. We visited the matriarch, had a session of card game with my grandnephew & grandniece and attended a reunion lunch with a group of ex-convent girls.

The bus ride from Singapore to Batu Pahat on 29 January 2017 would have been smooth and fast if not because of the delay caused by the long queue of Chinese tourists waiting for clearance at the Malaysian Custom. We had to sit in the bus for an hour even though we were cleared within minutes at the counters reserved for Malaysians. The Singaporeans in our bus unfortunately had to queue with the Chinese tourists.

After that incident, the otherwise uneventful bus ride was somewhat spiced up by the live update of the epic clash of tennis giants, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the Australian Grand Final. I was sure that Nadal would clinch the title when he was leading 3-1 in the final 5th set. Then all of a sudden, good fortune was on Federer's side. He was then unstoppable and won the next five games to win 6-3. I dropped my jaw at the turn of event.

At age 35 and without winning a title since 2012, Federer's latest win proves he is truly the greatest among all tennis legends. His tenacity and "Never Say Die" spirit is indeed admirable!

The victor and the second best!

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At the CHIJ (Convent of Holy Infant Jesus) Batu Pahat reunion, the ladies were adamant that the odd man be invited to join their reunion lunch. My role was to be their photographer!

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The card game started with a loan of two bucks from my grandniece. In the end, I was back to zero. No gain no loss!

Passing On

As soon as I arrived at Sam's place from the Changi Airport on 25 January 2017, I was offered to hold my third grandchild for the very first time. She was then exactly three weeks old. It was an incredible feeling to cuddle this little baby girl, the first child of Sam and Rachel. 

Olivia as she is named is so incredibly adorable and cuddle-friendly. Many thought came to mind as I held the baby. I paused and remembered that my dad who on the very same date eleven years ago had left this world! He would have been happy to know that another great grandchild has been born!

I have this sense of satisfaction knowing that the "baton of life" that was passed on to me from my parents which I then pass on to my children is now continued to the fourth generation. Two Chinese characters, "傳承" which essentially means "passing on" came to mind - two words that probably motivate the Chinese across the world to stubbornly and continually maintain the Chineseness from generation to generation.

Throughout the stay, I had the opportunity to hold and cuddle the baby for lengthy time to my heart's content.

"Surely, two of the most satisfying experiences in life must be those of being a grandchild or grandparent" - Donald A. Norberg

Full Month Celebration.