Malaysia

Magical Mulu
National Park

Gunung Mulu National Park is an amazing World Heritage Site tucked away in the remote jungle of Sarawak on the island of Borneo. It is world renowned for its impressive and extensive cave systems, of which over 300 kilometers have been mapped. It also houses a wealth of rainforest biodiversity, much of which is unique to the region. The park is also blessed with some amazing karst formations (rock formations created by the dissolution of a soluble layer of rock). Numerous contrived natural rock sculptures can be found within the caves, and towering razor sharp rock spires can be found above ground. The unusually high concentration and wide variety of natural wonders in the park makes it an amazing place to explore.

We started our adventure into the heart of the jungle from Libang. In the morning we took an hour long bus ride to Medamit, the literal end of the road. From there we intended to take a longboat upriver. However, there turned out not to be a standard public transport option going upriver. Instead you had to coordinate a boat ride with an individual (typically in advance), but we lucked out and the Malay lady sitting across from me on the bus was able to hook us up with her husband who ran a boat up the river. She called him from her cell phone and somehow though the static and language barrier we arrange a tentative ride upriver.

We waited at in Medamit for a couple hours and entertained trying the street vendor meat on a stick there. It was remarkably horrible, basically deep fried chunks of fat with hardly any recognizable meat in them. Yum yum. Eventually, Enjong's husband showed up. His name was Siga, and he was an older Malay man of small stature and soft nature. We talked with him to try and pin down the details and costs of getting to Mulu National Park. However, the language barrier confused the issue and he ultimately just talked us into figuring it out at his longhouse later. He got his longboat ready, loaded our big packs into it, usher us on board, and we took off. It took us about an hour of continuous motoring upriver to reach his longhouse [TOP: Siga motoring the longboat upriver].

As it turned out Siga was the head of the Kuala Medalam Longhouse [ABOVE: Part of the Kuala Medalam Longhouse]. Longhouses in rural Malaysia function as an entire village and have many members living under a single expansive roof. Siga's longhouse was around 100 meters long, 15 meters wide, and 2 stories tall. It was home to roughly 160 people he said. The longhouse was an interesting blend of rough forest cabin like features and more modern frills. The flooring was linoleum pinned down with thumb tacks to an unfinished wood floor. The living room had a full entertainment center with TV and speakers, but the bathroom sinks had no faucets and drained directly onto the bathroom floor. Rustic as the longhouse was, it was actually better than I expected considering its remote location and infinitely nicer than sleeping in the jungle.

After we got settle we sat down with Siga, and grabbed some paper and a pen to figure out costs. From our earlier conversations we had gathered that it would be something like 200 Malaysian Ringgits for the boat ride to the Headhunters trail head, and then we would be on our own from there. However, the National Park actually required you to hire guides to escort you though the rainforest, which raised the total price to 1050 MYR. It was only about $150 US each, but was much more expensive than we anticipated. We only had roughly 500 MYR and 250 BND in cash with us, and we would not be able to get more cash until Mulu at the earliest. It looked like we might be in a bind, and might have to head back to civilization to get more cash. Our last hope was that Larry, Siga's son and our guide for the Pinnacles, would be willing to accept credit card payment. But, we could not call him till that night so we just waited and hoped it would work out.

While we were waiting to call Larry, Siga encouraged us to go check out the large primary school complex nearby. The school boarded around 120 students from a number of nearby longhouses, and covered grades 1 though 6. At first Mike and I just walked around and checked the place out waving and saying hello to the kids who were busy cleaning the school from top to bottom [LEFT: A longboat at the school dock]. They all seemed friendly and most knew the basics of conversational English. "Hello", "How are you?", "What is your name?", and such. Eventually though, we decided to do something a little more active to see if we could engage the kids more, so we went back to the longhouse and got my Frisbee.

When we got back to the school Mike and I went out on the field and started tossing the disk back and forth. Instantly the kids were casually interested, but they were tentative to come join. We offered to several of them to join in, but they shied away. However, we eventually hooked one kid and he got into it. Then within seconds there was a small horde of kids wanting to play with the Frisbee. The ice had been broken.

It was great, just simply a giant game of 500 without the scoring. I would toss the Frisbee up and the mass of kids would run after it jumping in the air trying to catch it and pouncing on it as soon as it landed. Then the kid who caught or got the Frisbee first would make an attempt at throwing it back to me. Some of them just caught on naturally, but others needed some more practice at their Frisbee throwing technique.

Ultimately, the structure of the game deteriorated into a free for all and I just steps aside to let the kids run around like crazy and just throw the disk in whatever random direction occurred to them. While they entertained themselves I talked with Bob, one of the school teachers, and he asked me more about Frisbee. Neither he nor the kids had seen one before and he was curious to learn more about it. Eventually, he called the kids over and had them give me the Frisbee so I could demonstrate for him and the kids proper Frisbee throwing technique. I gave a quick 60 second impromptu lesson on the correct hand grip, orienting the Frisbee so it is concave down, sweeping the disk through a smooth flat throwing motion, and then snapping your wrist at the end to add extra spin and distance [BELOW: Me giving Frisbee throwing lessons, photo by Mike Garre]. Then I gave the disk to Bob so he could try it out. His throw was very decent for a first one ever. As soon as it landed the kids were off again racing all over the field.

At that point Bob invited us to join in a game of Takraw (a sport that is a cross between Soccer and Volleyball, and is played on a Badminton court). I was familiar with the sport and had played enough to remember that it required a lot more leg flexibility than I had, so Mike and I decided just to watch. While we were watching a bunch of the kids came over and joined us watching the teachers play Takraw. Or rather they watched us watching the game. Both Mike and I talked with the kids for a while and asked them about various aspects of their school. The kids in turn asked a number of questions about us, like our age and such. One especially talkative 6th grader named Revey dominated most of the conversation as he seemed to be the most confident with his use of English.

Eventually, I pulled my camera out and asked to take a picture. The kids were excited at the prospect of being in a picture and huddled around Mike. Then I passed the camera to Mike and they all rushed over to gather around me [BELOW: Me with a group of the school kids, photo by Mike Garre]. Lastly, I gave the camera to one of the kids and had him take a picture of Mike and me with some of the kids. With a little hand gesture instruction from Mike the kid snapped a good picture. Then I showed the kids the pictures and a number of other ones on my camera and was absolutely swallowed up by them crowding around me to get a look. Their overwhelming enthusiasm was amazing.

Bringing the Frisbee to the school turned out to be a brilliant idea. Playing with the kids and especially trying to teach them proper Frisbee throwing technique was the highlight of our stay at the longhouse for me. Who knows maybe the school will end up getting some Frisbees for the kids now. That would be cool.

Anyways, at dusk we said "Terima Kasih" (thank you) and "Selamat Malam" (goodnight) to the kids; they taught us the later. Then we left the school and walked back to the longhouse. When we got back Siga called Larry for us and fortunately we were able to work out with him that we could pay him by cash advance when we reached Mulu. It was a big relief for us. Then Enjong made us a traditional Malay dinner. Shortly after eating both Mike and I crawled under our respective mosquito nets and called it a night.

The next day we got up early and loaded up the longboat to head farther upriver. Siga was again our main boat guide, but he enlisted the help of a front boatman too. Something that seemed unnecessary to me at first, but I soon learned why he was required. From the longhouse we powered upriver for a solid 2 hours to reach the Ranger Station at the park boundary. There we checked in and then continued upriver with Siga [RIGHT 1: Mike and me in the longboat headed up river].

There was a major split in the river just after the Ranger Station, and from then on the river just kept getting smaller and smaller with more and more obstacles [RIGHT 2: Siga using his machete to cut a vine out of the way]. There were frequent gravel bars which required the motor to be pulled out of the water. Siga would rev the engine to full power and speed into the shallow sections, then pull the motor up at the last second and let momentum plus the front boatman pushing with a long stick get us past them. In addition to the shallow gravel bars there were lots of downed trees in and over the river. The ones suspended above the river we simply ducked under, but the barely submerged ones presented a more interesting obstacle [RIGHT 3: Partially fallen trees creating obstacles].

To get past them Siga would run the motor up to full power and get some momentum built up. Then the bottom of the boat would bounce off the log and slide over it. Just before the back of the boat reached the log he would lift the engine out of the water and the front boatman would push the boat forward with his long stick. Then when we slid off the log on the other side Siga would drop the motor back in the water and rev the engine to keep us from drifting back into the log. The timing had to be right on and the two boatmen had to work in harmony to pull the maneuver off successfully.

The most difficult of these tree obstacles was one where 3 trees had fallen in the river one next to the other with not quite enough space between them to drop the motor back in. We were confronted with this obstacle after coming around a bend and Siga only hesitated a half second to get a directional hand gesture from his front boatman before charging ahead. The bottom of the boat bounced off the first log and turned the boat little to the right, then bounce off the second log and turned back left, then we scraped over the third log and eventually coasted clear of the obstacle. It was an impressive feat and spoke volumes of their river knowledge and longboat handling abilities.

In the end we were able to navigate much farther upriver than normal. Siga and the front boatman got us about 4 kilometers upriver past the actual Headhunters trailhead and saved us an extra hour of hiking. The last twisting and obstacle riddled section of dark river above the actual trailhead was difficult and slower going, but by far may favorite section because of the amazing and untamed scenery. It felt like we were exploring some remote uncharted jungle river, which although not true still felt cool.

We unloaded the boat into a little clearing in the rainforest and then ate lunch before heading off up the trail to Camp 5. We started out just hiking though the rainforest with nothing I could discern as being a trial [RIGHT 4: Mike and Siga hiking through thick Jungle]. Siga got turned around and had us switch directions and backtrack a couple times, and I was just starting to get worried that we might spend endless hours wandering aimlessly thought the jungle when he found the actual Headhunters trail.

Once we were on the trail the going was pretty easy, but very muddy. Along the way we stopped to check out a cave that the river passed through and even sampled some wild fruits. My favorite fruit was the Mawang [RIGHT 5: Mawang fruit cut open]. It was like a large wild mango that had a husk similar to a coconut. The flavor was a combination of mango and orange, and the texture was like a less stringy mango. It was delicious. We ate several and Siga packed along more to bring with us to Camp 5.

After filling up on fruit we press onwards and encountered the Monkey Bridge [RIGHT 6: The Monkey Bridge]. It was just a bridge made entirely from ropes tied between two trees that spanned a small river. The design was actually quite good and formed a diamond shaped tunnel across the river that was remarkably stable. The only difficulties were that the walking surface was only 2 ropes tied together, about 2" wide, and that I had to crouch down to get my backpack to fit through the tunnel without hitting the ropes overhead. Once we were past the bridge it was smooth sailing all the way into Camp 5 and we made it there in good time.

At Camp 5 we met Larry, who was much younger and larger in stature than his dad, and he showed us to our bunk room. Camp 5 was amazingly nice considering its location and had all the major amenities. But, it was built with only half height walls to preserve some semblance of being a simple jungle shelter. We settled in quickly, unloaded our gear, and picked it clean of blood seeking leaches. I had 8 on me, but none found flesh. Mike had only 1 on him, but it got him. Then, I took a quick swim in the cool refreshing river before Larry made us dinner. Unexpectedly, all meals turned out to be included with our guide up the Pinnacles. So, we just ended up hauling lots of instant noodles and water into the jungle with us needlessly.

At dinner we socialized with Judith and Yoga, a young couple from Singapore, who were also being guided by Larry. Together the 4 of us plus 3 guides would be climbing the Pinnacles in the morning. Larry wanted to get a good early start to make sure we got up before the turn around time of 11:00am, so we all turned in relatively early.

The next morning at 7:15am Judith, Yoga, Mike, and I set off up the trail with Larry, Raymond, and Steve as our guides [ABOVE: Raymond, Steve, Larry, Yoga, Judith, Mike, and me; photo by another guide]. The trail up the Pinnacles went straight up 35 degree slope of slimy rocks held together by a solid mat of twisting tree roots for 2 kilometers. From there the slope increased to around 50 degrees and we navigated a series of fixed roped and 17 metal ladders ,which were permanently bolted to the rock, for another 400 meters [LEFT: The steep upper section of the trail to the Pinnacles view point]. If you did not used the fixed aids the route actually provided for some fun easy rock climbing, which I indulged in.

In the end we topped out at the Pinnacles lookout at 10:30am, and were the first group to the top. The Pinnacles were awesome soaring spires of razor thin rock. The impressive blades effortlessly shot up though the jungle vegetation. They rose up to some 40 or 50 meters above the jungle floor. Their solid grey rock surfaces completely void of vegetation stood out starkly against the lush green backdrop [BELOW TOP: Mike and me overlooking the Pinnacles, photo by Yoga; BELOW BOTTOM: The Pinnacles shining in the sun]. The good view of these astonishingly jagged rock formations was well worth the steep hike.

We ate lunch on the top and snapped a number of pictures before heading back down to escape the growing crowd of people on top. Going down went quick, but it gave my quads and my knees a major workout in the process (I would be very sore for several days afterward). In the end it took us 2 1/2 hours to go down what we went up in 3 1/4 hours. It was a good thing we made good time too, because not long after we got down a torrential rain storm soaked the area for about 10 minutes.

Once back in camp Mike and I stripped off our gear and donned swim suits to take a refreshing dip into the river [BELOW: Mike and me swimming in the river]. The cool water felt amazing after the long hike in the humid jungle heat. That night Larry made us Wild Bore for dinner with the Mawang Siga had collected for dessert. It was a good meal and not long afterwards I was fast asleep after the big day.

In the morning we packed up and as a group headed out of the rainforest toward Mulu. The trail to Mulu was much larger and more manicured than the Headhunters trail so the going was easy. We hiked out the 8 kilometers to the river in good time. At the river we had to take off our shoes and wade through a small tributary creek in order to reach the longboat that would take us downstream to Mulu [BELOW LEFT: Mike wading through the creek].

It was a bigger boat than Siga's longboat and we piled 10 people into it. Then we raced off down river. With the help of the current and a much larger mostly obstacle free river we made it downstream almost without incident. Only once the big longboat bottomed out on a shallow gravel bar and ground to a halt. But, out three guides jumped out and with a lot of pushing, pulling, and heaving were able to rock the boat lose and get us on our way again [ABOVE RIGHT: Raymond, Larry, and Steve straining to free the longboat].

When we arrived in Mulu we had the boat drop us off at the Royal Mulu Resort. There we were able to get the 500 MYR cash advance to pay Larry for his services. It only cost us an additional 70 MYR in fees to get the cash. After we squared with Larry we decided to treat ourselves to staying somewhere nice, and thus checked into the resort. The room we got was really big and well furnished, but we were happy to downgrade the next day and just go for the cheap dormitory accommodations at the National Park headquarters. Once we moved our base of operations into the park headquarters we set about exploring the many expansive caves in the region and the diverse rainforest ecosystem.



We started out by going on the Mulu Canopy Skywalk. It is the longest tree based canopy walk in the world at 480 meters in length. Starting from the Ranger Station we met our guide, Jerry, and one other pair going on the walk. Then we leisurely walked the several kilometers along a boardwalk to the start of the canopy walk. Along the way our guide was impressively able to pick out in the mass of green surrounding us numerous interesting bugs and reptiles, which he pointed out to us. Several different types of stick bugs, a lantern bug, thorny grasshoppers, millipedes, forest spiders, big horned beetles, a green shield bug, a big green lizard, and a small flying lizard to name a few [ABOVE RIGHT: Thorny grasshoppers; ABOVE LEFT: Lantern bug; LEFT: Green shield bug]. He also shared lots of interesting information on the both the fauna and flora of the rainforest. There is even a tree in the rainforest whose sap is fatal to humans if you get it in your blood stream.

The canopy walk itself was constructed largely from standard aluminum ladders bolted end to end. A series of wood block was lashed high up on the tree trunks and small platform built off these supports. Then long sets of rope strung from tree to tree. The ladders were then laid flat and hung from long ropes in such a way that they were formed into small suspension bridges. Then to finish it off boards were laid down on the ladders and lashed to them to form a walking surface. The whole system looked to be somewhat of a rudimentary design, but it seemed effective.

We traversed the canopy walk in pairs (the labeled maximum capacity of the bridge sections) and simply admired the lush and adaptive canopy vegetation along the way [ABOVE RIGHT: Me on the canopy walk]. Near the end though our guide pick out a tiny bright green snake sitting coiled up on a big leaf waiting for lunch. The snakes head was about the size of a raisin and he was likely less than a foot long, but his vibrant green color made him a cool sight [ABOVE LEFT: The tiny green jungle snake].

After the canopy walk we met up with a different guide, Michael, who would take us to see the pair of show caves nearby. First was the Lang Cave. It was a long low roofed cave with a larger chamber at the end. Inside were lots of well formed and intricate speleothems (cave formations). Majestic stalactites, stalagmites, columns, and flowstone were found throughout the cave and densely concentrated in the larger chamber. It was a visual treat and beautifully illuminated through artificial lighting [BELOW: Flowstone in Lang Cave].

Second we ventured into the enormous Deer Cave. It is the largest cave passage in the world. In all it is just over 2 kilometers long, 174 meters wide, and 122 meters tall [BELOW: The expansive Deer Cave]. Its rock features are characterized by massive scalloping in the walls done by some giant ancient river. Oddly, there is even a striking silhouette of Abraham Lincoln in one of the rock profiles. In addition, several million bats also call the cave home. Inside there are enormous piles of bat guano and the huge colonies of free-tailed bats swirl overhead. Much of the walkway though the cave is metal grating to prevent the build up of guano and when the wind blow just right the stench is absolutely breathtaking.

After exploring the two caves we wandered back out to the viewing area to watch the Bat Exodus from the cave at dusk. Unfortunately thought, the weather rolled in and it started raining so the bats decided to stay inside. We ended up waiting around just to walk back in the pouring rain.

The next day we signed up to do Adventure Caving in the Racer Cave. In the morning we met our guides Johnny and Michael outside the Ranger Station at 9:00am and then set off via boardwalk to the cave entrance. It was several kilometers to the cave opening and along the way we had to hike up over 400 steps (a chore on legs still sore from hiking the Pinnacles), pass though the nifty Moon Milk Cave, and then hike back down to the rivers edge again. But, not long after that we arrive at the partially vine and root hidden entrance to the Racer Cave.

At the entrance to the cave Michael detailed a few things about what we were going to do and what to expect, and then we set off into the darkness. Unlike the show caves there were no man made walkways and no artificial lights (besides the ones strapped to our heads). I was stoked to be legitimately caving for the first time, although our guides somewhat haphazard approach to it was a little disconcerting.

The Racer Cave started with a large upward sloping chamber which funneled down into a narrow passageway at the end [LEFT 1: Mike just inside the Racer Cave]. We had to climb up a short fixed rope and then squeeze though the narrow passageway that was just barely wider than my helmet. At this point we left the last traces of sunlight behind. From there the cave wound its way through a network of small and medium sized chambers and passages [LEFT 2: Johnny admiring a large column formation]. There were several fixed ropes along the way that helped us navigate the most difficult sections [LEFT 3: Me descending a fixed rope, photo by Mike Garre].

Eventually we found our way into a large chamber with a high vaulted ceiling. Inside there was lots of guano, and a big colony of bats swirling in a tornado of wings up in a massive scallop in the ceiling [LEFT 4: Bats swarming overhead near the ceiling]. Shortly after seeing the cool bat colony we happened upon the highlight of the cave and the origin of the caves name. It was a long slow moving Racer Snake. He was light silver grey in color with intricate black patterns. The snake was about 1 1/2 meters long and roughly the same diameter as a golf ball. He seemed entirely disinterested in our presence and just slowly meandered along his way as if we were not even there [LEFT 5: A large cave dwelling Racer Snake]. Being hidden around a kilometer back in a cave the snake seemed to have lost its fear of predators, which explains its cool demeanor.

After leaving the snake to go about it business we continue on to another large chamber. Here our guides stopped to rest and let us venture off on our own [LEFT 6: Mike and me off on our guideless adventure]. It was a massive room with a large rockfall in the center diving it into two halves. Mike and I wandered around the rock fall to the right, the easy way around, and ventured into the other half of the expansive chamber. We climbed up a medium grade slope for maybe 150 meters and then reached the top where the chamber then continued on, but sloped down and away from us steeply. Instead of heading down the slope we ventured across the chamber toward the sound of some running water near the wall. There we encountered a cool mineral deposit pool of water, like those in Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone [LEFT 7: The pool water we found]. In addition there were a number of other small speleothems next to the pool which we took a gander at.

After finding the pool we headed back down the way we came to meet back up with our guides. It was cool exploring on your own and it made me think that caving could be a cool sport to get into. When we got back Johnny offered to show us the other more difficult way around to the other side of the chamber, going left around the rockfall. Mike and I both chimed in "sure" and we headed off again. We were both eager for more adventure exploring the cave.

The three of us followed a narrow corridor around to the left for a ways and then encountered a very narrow and steeply upward sloping passage. We had to get down on all fours and army crawl up the slope through the cave mud. When we reach the other side Johnny discovered we had made a wrong turn and actually had to go back. We turned around and went to go back when we discovered there was actually a large Huntsman spider with a 5 inch wingspan on the low ceiling above where we had to crawl. Not having an alternative route, we gingerly slid down the passage just inches below the giant spider.

From there we navigated into several other small chambers and eventually came out into a larger chamber which dropped off precipitously into a black void. It was another wrong turn and once again we back tracked. Fortunately, the third try proved to be the charm and we found our way through another low passageway back into the far half of the main chamber.

However, by then I was completely turned around and had no idea where we were at first until I noticed we had come out right next to the mineral deposit pool that Mike and I had found earlier. We had emerged into the main chamber from a small passageway I had not even scene when we were over there earlier. It was a disorienting experience and really hit home for me how crazy and convoluted cave systems can be. It is a little unnerving how fast you can lose your bearings inside a cave. It would be exceedingly easy to get lost and potentially almost impossible to find your way out. Regardless, the sport does still have some allure for me, although I think I would go about it in a more structure manner to ensure I made it back out.

Once back in the main chamber we walked back the easy way to meet back up with Michael and then headed out of the cave. On the way out though we saw the largest Huntsman Spider yet, with a wingspan of around 6 inches it was the same size as Mike's head. Of course we had him pose for a picture next to the spider just to prove it [LEFT 8: Mike and very big Huntsman Spider]. When we finally wound our way back out of the cave I was very happy to see daylight again [LEFT 9: Resting just outside the cave after caving]. All totaled we had spent a good 2 hours exploring the black depths of the earth, and it was plenty long enough for my first time caving.

Once we got back outside the cave at noon, we ate lunch at the cave entrance and then huffed it back to the park headquarters. Then Mike and I just lazed around for the afternoon until it got closer to the Bat Exodus time. Eventually, we made the several kilometer boardwalk trek to the viewing area again and waited once more for our black winged friends to depart their home for feeding time.

The weather once again threatened, but this time held out for us. The Bat Exodus was not as impressive visually as it sounds, but it was still an intriguing display of bat behavior. Large groups of bats would stream out of the cave in a long undulating line high above our viewpoint. They did this for the safety of numbers to help protect them from lurking bat hawks. The shear quantity of bats, several million of them, which left the cave in this manner within a span of maybe 20 minutes is amazing. But, their substantial height above us made them appear just as flowing lines of black dots against the sky [RIGHT: A long line of bats heading out into the forest].

After watching the bats we walked back again to the park headquarters and fortunately beat the rain out by just seconds. We were within 100 meters of the dormitory when we heard the rain approaching through the forest. It was only by the means of a dead sprint that we were able to beat the rain out and make it to the dormitory mere feet in front of the wall of rain. It rained long and hard that night and in the morning the headquarters grounds were partially flooded and the river level had come up several feet.

That morning we finished out our adventures in Mulu by going to see the two remaining show caves. We took a boat upriver to the caves to save time since we had a flight to catch at noon. First was the Wind Cave, which had a long low ceiling passageway that extended deep into the hillside hooking slowly to the right. Near the end the path diverted through a small opening in the wall and emerged out into the massive Kings Chamber [BELOW: Kings Chambers with a walkway visible on the far side and columns in the middle]. The Kings Chamber was chalk full with many impressive examples every conceivable type of speleothem. It would be a caver's dream to find a chamber like this, and it was the single most impressive chamber we saw in the park. Unfortunately though, we were trying to catch up to a tour guide who had left some 10 minutes before we reached the cave, so we cruised though it in a slightly hurried manner.

From the Wind Cave we headed over to the next show cave, but along the way we ran into Larry again, who was waiting for a large group of German tourists that he was guiding. He offered us some tea and biscuits which we happily consumed. Then we met up with the guide for the second cave, it was Michael again.

The second cave for the day and last of the show caves in Mulu was the magical Clearwater Cave. The cave did not have much in the way of cave formations, but it had a wide glistening river flowing silently though its darkness. The river arced around a towering pile of rocks from the collapsed roof of a massive chamber, then extended down a very long straight corridor, and ultimately exited the cave into the jungle through a mostly submerged and vegetation covered opening [BELOW: The long silent corridor in the Clearwater Cave]. The lighted cave walls reflected softly in the flowing water and gave the cave a magical ambiance. It would be an awesome place to do some blackwater rafting, but that will have to be saved for some other time.

After finishing the Clearwater Cave we raced back to our longboat shuttle and they gave us a ride back downstream to the bank of the river across from the airport. We scrambled out the bow of the boat onto the shore and then walked through someone's yard to get to the airport terminal. Then we caught a medium sized prop plane from Mulu to Miri to finish out our amazing adventure in the jungle [BELOW: The Pinnacles from above, photo by Mike Garre]. Interestingly, the plane did not have a flight deck door or even a curtain, so you could see into the flight deck and out the front window. My inner engineer found it pretty cool to watch the pilots at work.

It was an outstanding and multifaceted adventure that I thoroughly enjoyed. For not having a guidebook, much of an idea of what to expect, or any concrete plans our random near blundering adventure in the jungle and around Gunung Mulu National Park turned out excellent. It transformed our time on Borneo from potentially being a dud into a real highlight on the trip so far.

As always,
-Russ

[Pictures from MALAYSIA]