Mulu Day 4 -- Merry Christmas

Christmas morning arrived with the promise of chocolate. Four years earlier, I carried a pair of Terry’s dark chocolate oranges around Kenya to savour on Christmas morning. They were no longer spherical by the time I presented them, so I did not repeat the measure on this trip.

Instead, Anita had hoarded a Lindt dark chocolate bar acquired at London Drugs before her departure. It was divine. She was better, but not well. A slow day was in order.

We had not yet explored the pool, so today was an ideal time to try. It's a fair size -- maybe 20 meters long, 8 meters wide and a consistent 1.2 meters deep. The temperature was perfect, and most other guests let us have it to ourselves. Bliss. I got hungry so we ordered potato wedges and a watermelon citrus drink. Even more bliss.

Dinner began at 6:30, and it was a special buffet for Christmas. Many of you know that we wax rhapsodic about the Christmas Brunch at the Fairmont Norfolk in Nairobi. It was an incredible event with fabulous food, amazing surroundings and sweet music. I highly recommend it.

Well dinner at the Mulu Marriott didn't disappoint. There was traditional Asian foods, traditional turkey, roast beef, trimmings, salads, and a barbecue!  The chef learned of our food limitations, and brought me a plate of stir fried vegetables and Anita some gluten free pasta with a marinara sauce. It was perfect. Anita had a chocolate mousse as her amuse bouche; I found some veggie sticks. Neither of us had room for the beautiful desserts.

Christmas was a quiet day, and we really enjoyed it.

Mulu Day 3 -- Part 2

I left you at the village by the river. Ocean had been using the blowpipe; the Scottish-Australian dad had a go, and did well (hit the target). By this time, many tour groups were at the village. We left before the crowds, wanting to get to the caves before the masses.


The first stop was the Cave of the Winds, not to be confused with the Wind Cave near Kuching. All caves get their air flow from temperature differences within the cave. Hot air comes in through the mouth, and meets cold air within the cave. Those of us that learned our Laws of Thermodynamics from Flanders and Swann know that heat passes from hot to cold, so when hot air mixes with cold, the cold soaks up the heat and there is often movement as they mix.


In the Cave of the Winds, there were interesting crystals formed as bacteria or micro-organisms fed on the calcium in the limestone. This gave the limestone features a fuzzy appearance.


There were also curtain stalactites, where formations came down from the roof in sheets. Any minute, I was expecting an orchestra to play.


Again, it's difficult to describe the scale of these caves. Meter-wide walkways looked like matchsticks in the distance, and people (the hoards coming in as we were leaving) looked like miniatures in a diorama.


The hoards weren't really hoards. We were there in low season. However, at times it felt like every hotel guest was on the river at the same time as us. The Scottish couple that we met on the way in from the airport had a vantage point on an old trail and said afterwards that at least ten boats followed us, each with at least ten tourists. We had two tourists (Anita and I), a guide and a boatman in our longboat. Luxury.

Although the Cave of the Winds had some movement, there wasn't a lot. The air was close, and it was both hot and humid. Anita started to feel unwell again, so after a brief rest at the base of the Clearwater and Lady Caves, she decided to opt out of the final cave visits.

Ocean and I climbed the 200 steps to the cave entrance on our own. First, we went to the smaller Lady Cave because the other group there at the time opted to go to the Clearwater Cave first. The Lady Cave has a stalagmite that resembles a woman, particularly when a light is cast from a certain direction. Some people say it looks like a Muslim woman; others say she resembles a Catholic Mary. I thought she looked most like a peasant.

The Clearwater Cave is another spectacular show cave. It's high, deep and in every respect, enormous. There's a river running through it with wonderfully clear water. I passed when offered the opportunity to dip my hand or foot in the water. Perhaps it's deeply ingrained in me that mountain water is cold. I know this water had to be warm, given the fact there was no fog from cold waters evaporating in Equatorial air. Intellectually, I knew the water was warm. Viscerally, I thought it was likely to be cold.

As Ocean and I were leaving, I got a taste of what it must be like to be a high season visitor. A constant stream of tourists were making their way in, stopping at the stations of the tour. With Ocean as our guide, I never had the impression that the information was rote or the same as given to everyone else. He talked to us like he was sharing the wonder and splendour of the phenomenal places.

When we rejoined Anita, she had not regained any strength. The thought of a three hour trek to Camp Six was not appealing, and we decided to return to the comfort of the Mulu Marriott. It meant missing the Pinnacles, but better to be comfortable when ill.


The boat ride back to the hotel was about half an hour. We reclaimed our bags, checked back in and got the discount for returning guests. We also were assigned a room in Block Two, as Epau was concerned about Anita having to walk too far. Epau is the tremendously wonderful woman on reception that has a smile that can brighten the dullest day. She always had an answer to our questions, remembered us, and asked about our adventures.


While Anita slept off her nausea, the Scottish-Australian family (dad, mom, teenaged son and daughter) made their way to Camp Six. Rather than scale the Pinnacles, they were off to the Headhunters Trail.

New Year's Day in Kota Kinabalu

After a long day in the van, driving three hours to and another three hours from, the Sabah Agriculture Park, I lobbied hard for a quiet day. I wanted to do nothing more than replace my lost snorkel.


Anita reluctantly agreed. We looked into the possibility of renting bicycles, but the tourist information bureau lady wasn't sure if the rental place was open. She called on our behalf, and either “got a wrong number or they were very hung over.”


When going down the road to find it, we found a massive multiblock street market. It's a regular Sunday morning feature, and there’s a wide array of things for sale. For a few minutes, we stood behind the fresh pineapple juice stand. The vendor takes the top off a pineapple, screws in a large screw beater and turns on the portable mixer until the fruit is juiced. Add a straw and hand it in its natural container to the customer.


There were stalls for shoes, kittens, hats, tote bags and dozens of other market type things.


We were also in search of breakfast, so we went to a permanent store and bought a delicious fruit smoothie. Anita wanted to taste mine before committing, only to learn they ran out of mango after mine.


We went to our usual mall to visit the grocery store (more oatmeal, apples and instant noodles) then, after emptying our bag in the hotel room, headed to the newest mall for Nando's.  The Imago Mall was massive, glitzy, upscale and full. Overwhelming is another good word for it.

Nando's was on the outside breezeway, out of the crush of traffic, and was a welcome sight. The menu was slightly different from our Nando's in Millstream Village or Langley. We had chicken tenders rather than a kabob each. Unfortunately, they were out of spicy rice, so Mediterranean was an acceptable substitute. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal.

The dive store was a little more difficult to find. The wonderful folk on Sea Tango, who took us snorkelling days before, said there was a dive shop on the second floor of Imago Mall. The concierge said they were mistaken. Down Under Diving was in the next building, behind 7-11. She drew us a map.

We found a door. It looked blank. Anita tried upstairs. It looked so shady that I refused to go up the stairs. We went into 7-11 and asked. The clerk was confused. We went out the other door of 7-11 and found it!  Yippee!

According to Anita, I bought the most expensive snorkel in the store. I wanted one that was similar to the one I lost. I also wanted some plastic connectors so that I wouldn't lose another one. The bill was higher than I expected. Sigh.

We took a grab car back. Grab is a service like Uber, and we've had great success with it.  Then we spent the afternoon on the Internet and watching The Intern.  It was a charming movie, one that I can heartily recommend.

Dinner was at Madben’s, and we found the menu limiting. They sprinkled bread crumbs into the salad dressing, so Anita could not eat her Caesar salad. She enjoyed two bowls of creamy pumpkin soup. My eggplant penne was delicious and a good portion size.


So, for a quiet day, it was not completely quiet. But we did rest. A lot.

Mulu Day 3 -- Part 1

It's Day 2 of our Showcaves and Pinnacles Tour through Borneo Adventure and Day 3 of our time in Mulu.  I gave ourselves a day at either end of the tour because it was such an incredible destination.


Ocean met us at the hotel, his smile as broad as ever.  Starting in the Deer Cave the day before, Anita had tummy upset, and began vomiting at regular thirty-minute intervals for five hours.  Ocean accompanied us to the clinic, found a doctor and stayed with us while the rehydrating IV did its work. He then made sure we got back to the hotel safely.


We had checked out, since we were planning to spend two nights at Camp Six, so we needed to check back in. Again, the hotel took this in stride, and assigned us room 103 in Block 2 because it was less of a walk to the pool, reception (the only place you could get the spotty wifi) and the restaurant. Epau, our always smiling reception clerk, called later to make sure we were settled and to let us know that our room rate was reduced since we were returning guests.


Continuing with Day 2 of the tour. We loaded into our longboat and headed upriver. The sky was partly cloudy, and there was enough sun to warm us as the wind (from the powerful outboard motor pushing us fast) whipped our faces. The river twists through the broad valley, past houses on our left and park on our right. Some houses have semi prone ladders or steep steps down to the river. My favourite was a log notched with stairs. Of course NO ONE has railings. I tried to imagine clambering up with my hands full of groceries.


Our first stop was at a village. Anita had cycled there on Day One, after our Botanical Loop walk. The hotel had bikes in the lobby area, and a guided cycle was listed in the activity guide. She was the only one interested, so guide Phillipe was found and off they went. Here we returned. There was a village Christmas tree at the far end of the village, made from a cone of large poles. The top third (top 12 feet) was festooned with metallic garland. The middle third was also decorated and the bottom third was bare.

At the village, Ocean told us the residents belong to a hunter-gatherer tribe, accustomed to living in the jungle and acquiring all their necessities naturally. The government wished to change that living style and built long houses as incentive to settle down. The first set of houses were wood, and through accident, they burned down. Same story with the second set of houses. Before the third set was built of concrete, many people built their own wood houses on the riverbank, out of wood. The government continues its encouragement to get people to move into the concrete homes.

Many villagers were showing us their crafts, offering wares for sale. There were many stalls of beaded work -- bracelets, five by seven wall hangings with Christian blessings, etc -- and rattan weaving in sizes from placemats to table runners.

There was also a blowgun station, where Ocean practiced his skills while we looked at the stalls. He was really good, getting a bullseye early on, then consistently hitting the monkey outline in the head. We left our money in the boat, so declined the offer of one ringet a try. The Scottish Australian family’s dad gave it a go, and hit the target on his first try!

Did I forget to say we saw the family here too?  Yes, we were living parallel lives.

Borneo Day 3: Fairy & Wind Caves

The driver that took us to Bako National Park picked us up again to take us on our next series of adventures -- to the Semenggoh Orangutan Area and to the Fairy and Wind Caves.

I’ve posted pictures of the Semenggoh Orangutan Area separately, with captions. I won’t add more here.

Our second stop was the Fairy Cave.  I have no idea of where the cave was, other than outside of Kuching, and about half an hour from Semenggoh.  It was in farmland, which in that neck of the woods, means in a light industrial area. I think we passed a lot of cemeteries, but I can’t remember if they were nearer the cave or the orangutans.  

Kuching cemeteries came in many styles. Some were like those in Dili -- tiled memorials above the ground. These, unlike Dili, often had a broad wall, rather like a mantle clock, that would tie graves of family members together.  We also saw some Western Christian cemeteries, with crosses marking graves.

The Fairy Cave was delightful, and required a certain level of fitness that we both possessed. The entrance was atop a tower of 200 steps. Then, inside the cave, there were more steps, windy climbing pathways and various places to discover. It has a wide mouth, so there was plenty of plant life. And there were wonderful formations of stalagmites and stalactites.

At some point, someone planted a three-foot plaster fairy to help cement the name of the cave.

Please take some time to look at the pictures below.

The Wind Cave was entirely different. It had several openings, so it had greater opportunity for air circulation. It was considerably smaller, and therefore much darker. It was also bat habitat, so it had its own smell. Bat equals guano equals smell.  

We met no other visitors in the Wind Cave, making our journey more of an adventure.

Even though the cave itself was smaller, it was still large. Never was there an opportunity to feel the cave ceiling or walls. The walkways never felt like they were a highway down the centre of the cave, nor did it feel like they were hugging walls. The sense of space is difficult to describe. The Wind Cave was more comfortable than cavernous, whereas cavernous barely describes the enormity of the Fairy Cave.

Time for photos.

The new stairs, also known as the entrance to the Fairy Cave

 

On the way to the cave entrance, there were a few trees that seemed like they were growing out of the rock.

The old stairs.  I'm really glad they have been replaced.

Mulu Day 2: Canopy Walk

We started the day with a canopy walk. The brochure says it's the world’s longest tree-to-tree canopy walk, and I believe it.

The route was a large U shape, over some creeks and a river, and near some cliffs. The whole time, we were in moderately dense canopy. Even crossing the river, it didn't feel open or exposed.

The walk was two planks wide; maybe 10 inches/15 centimetres. The railing was mesh, about chest high, with two more strings of wire on top of that, each about a foot apart.  Only two people are allowed on a bridge at any one time, and a maximum of six people on a platform. Needless to say, our eight person group was strung far apart.

Many platform trees (the ones from which the bridges were suspended) had signs identifying them, but the names were all so unfamiliar that I dint recall any of them.

Ashling, our guide, pointed out lizards as she spotted them. The other wildlife stayed far away from us.  However, the flora was amazing and diverse. Lots of broad leafed trees. Some palm; some banana.  One sign talked about a tree that blooms one day a year. That day is not consistent. Ashling was not sure of its trigger. So it's a joy and a surprise when it happens.

Also on this tour was an Australian family (father, mother, teenaged son and daughter) and young American man spending 18 months travelling around Asia. We had seen the Australian family at Bako and the orangutan place. Next, they are going on the headhunter trail hike, so we might see them at Camp 6, where our itineraries overlap.

In the afternoon, we met Ocean (pronounced O'Sheen), Ashling’s brother and our guide for the next three days. Today, our destination was the Deer Cave followed by the Lang Cave.

The Deer Cave entrance is more than 100 meters high, and we went 800 meters in. It got its name from the deer that used to go into the cave to eat bat guano. There are more than 3 million bats living in the cave, or that was the estimate at the last census in the 1990s.  There are at least 52 species of bats, a dozen of which were identified by Ashling's and Ocean’s mother. She’s a researcher from Ireland who came here to study, and met their father, a local guide.

The Deer Cave was astounding for more than its size, although that alone is remarkable. There are boulders bigger than an average garden shed that have tumbled down from the roof. Stalagmites and stalactites line the sides, various caverns within the cave and are sometimes found further towards the centre. Three rivers come out of the cave, and there’s a lot of moisture that drips within. There was one column of water that was easily falling 150 meters straight down.

Further inside the cave, there are two “shower heads”, rock formations that are a couple of meters deep that emit water in the same way as a fancy rainshower bathroom shower head. Only there’s no shut off valve or temperature control.

With that many bats in the cave, even with its enormous size, the ammonia smell from the guano is quite overpowering. In the gully of the walkway, I was wishing for a lavender sachet, or something to neutralize the vapours. It's not bad enough to skip the cave. It's just bad enough to remind you that nature has its own ecosystems, and Disney Imagineers don't copy that particular quality.

We were mostly alone on the Deer Cave, something that would not be possible in April, July, August or September. These months are the high season. Christmas is definitely the low season, and the time to visit if you want to see the sights more than other people.

As we were on our way out, two tour groups were on their way in. It gave us a chance to look across, and see how tint they looked.

Our next stop was the Lang Cave, named after Ocean and Ashling's grandfather. He was guiding an expedition of researchers into the Deer Cave in 1977, and was looking about when they were doing their work, and happened on this smaller cave nearby. Smaller is a relative term. No, you can't land a 747 jet in the Lang Cave, but you could still fit 1000 people in comfortably. The path into this cave is only 200 meters, although the path twists and turns so that the entrance is obscured and the sense of space is escalated.

Here we saw curtain stalactites, sheets of rock forming as the water drips slowly down. There were also jellyfish formations, with a solid head and hundreds of rivulets forming strands of rock.  There was one stalagmite that looked like a giant pine cone and another that resembled a frothy Christmas tree.

The Lang Cave brought us closer to the rock formations. The Deer Cave provided spectacle. All in all, it was a wonderful day.

And now for some pictures

On the way to the start of the canopy walk.

The trail is now bridges, not boardwalks.

There are bare hanging vines everywhere.

And hanging clusters of leaves.

More drippy bits

The cliff near the canopy walk

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