Mulu -- Arrival Day

Arriving in Mulu was special and amazing.  The planes to and from Mulu are full of tourists, and there are five flights a day, and each plane is roughly the size of the planes between Vancouver and Victoria airports. There were 18 rows of two pairs of seats.

We were met by the hotel shuttle, an open window trolley style bus with a friendly driver. The bus was functional, and had seen many many miles. I think my favourite part of the three kilometre ride to the hotel was backing over the Bailey Bridge to get onto the hotel property.

The check in staff at the hotel were prepared for our flight, as they are for every flight. They have padded clipboards for each party, with reservation details, room passes and relevant handouts. To help relax guests after their hour-long flight, each person is offered a long-stemmed slender glass of chilled lime and cucumber juice. It was wonderfully refreshing.

Rooms are in two-storey blocks of 20 to 28, dotted along a long wooden boardwalk. We were in room 133, in Block 6, near the gym and spa building. Our part of the boardwalk was close to the river, and hugged a cliff for a short while. As well as lighting the boardwalk at night, the cliff had dramatic lighting to highlight its features.

Our room was wonderful -- spacious, comfortable beds, dark wood furniture and light coloured chairs. The bathroom was separated by glass, and dark wooden shutters.  It was huge, and had both a soaker tub and a shower.  We had a lovely private balcony. Such a restful spot.

Instead of lolling about, we took the shuttle (they leave the hotel at the top and bottom of the hour, and there is the trolley-bus as well as a pair of vans) to the park, to start our adventure.

To show that you’ve paid your park fees, each visitor is given a hospital-style plastic wrist band. Different colours are issued on different days, and the expiry date is written in permanent marker. We initially got orange. Since they have bats imprinted along with the park name, they had a Hallowe’en feel to them.

Our first walk was one of the unguided walks -- the Botanical Loop. It’s almost one kilometre down the main boardwalk, and 1.5 kilometres long.  

We saw marvel after marvel. Anita saw a dozen different butterflies in the first 15 minutes, and I marveled at the hanging vines. It was my first experience seeing the sights that I saw in Tarzan movies in my youth.

Amazed, and intrigued, we signed up for a canopy walk in the morning. 

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Just a few pictures.  First, the hotel grounds

A butterfly that stood still long enough to take its picture

 Something in bloom by the visitor centre in Guning Mulu National Park