Mulu National Park - dazzling, exotic nature
Malaysia's Mulu National Park is among the very best protected areas in South-East Asia. Created in 1974, opened to visitors in 1985 and inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2000, it is the largest national park in the state of Sarawak. It owes its standing mainly to its stunning karst phenomena and its biodiversity. The "specifications" of the underground world are staggering: the Sarawak Chamber is unimaginably vast, 600x415 metres, and the river that carved out the cave system flows for more than 200 km underground. Add 4500 species of fungi, more than 100 kinds of palm, 300 species of birds and more than 50 types of bats, and you have a picture of an exceptional ecosystem.
Flying to Mulu, homestays and park tickets
The only way to get there is by small plane, on a domestic flight from Miri, Kuching or Kota Kinabalu. Mulu's village airport is an attraction in itself, since it is just a runway surrounded by lush greenery and a tiny terminal building. Before a plane arrives the village comes alive: residents hurriedly jump on noisy scooters and race off towards the airport; many people spend 2-3 hours a day handling the planes, then go back to work around their homes and to looking after guests. Apart from a few houses, one hotel, a few hostels and cheap eateries and the National Park buildings, there is nothing in the village. Do not count on free internet anywhere. So make sure you load your boarding passes onto your phones before you reach Mulu. Once there, internet is only available via satellite links, because even the Wi-Fi at the park reception is completely inadequate, although you have to pay for it. A satellite data package is not expensive at 12MYR; look for places with large dishes bearing the "Connect.me" brand.
Most visitors stay in lodgings marked "homestay". The rooms are dormitories, although there are also family rooms where 2-4 people can count on a little privacy. Inside the park the accommodation is better, but so are the prices higher. At the "homestay" I paid 120MYR for a triple room, whereas beyond the park gate it would have cost about 350MYR. The only hotel in the area is the luxurious "Mulu Marriott Resort & Spa", which sticks out like a sore thumb here, although its architecture tries to blend in with nature. It is a few kilometres from the village, and its guests have the privilege of using a shuttle bus (running 8.45-21.30) to the park's main gate. The hotel and the airport are said to have the same owner.
Once you buy a park ticket you are "ringed": the colour of the wristband shows how long the ticket is valid. Mine, valid for 5 days, cost 30MYR. At the park canteen, the eateries near the park gates and for accommodation outside the park you pay only in cash (there is no cash machine or exchange office anywhere nearby). The only thing you can pay for by card is guided tours in the park.
Planning your routes and the Sarawak Chamber
Mulu National Park is worth spending several days in. It is best to go to the park reception right after you arrive to book the individual routes, dates and times. The staff are very helpful, will explain the character of the individual places and write down your plan on a dedicated map. At first the sheer number of options seems a little overwhelming, especially as only some routes are intended for walking on your own, while others can only be done with a guide at a set time. Then there are one-day or multi-day "adventure" expeditions. On multi-day expeditions the accompanying guide may not allow participants to tackle the final, hardest stage of the trek if he decides we will not cope or will slow the group down too much and expose it to the danger of walking at night. Some routes are strenuous and require a good level of fitness, as they often involve climbing with chains, squeezing through narrow cave passages or swimming across an underground river. The level of difficulty is shown by the fact that the 8 km between the Cave of the Winds and Clearwater Cave takes 6 hours underground.
It is worth stressing that absolutely every entry into the caves requires a guide. Many people set their hearts on seeing the largest underground chamber in the world, the Sarawak Chamber, which could hold 40 Boeing 747s. Unfortunately, the only route that includes it ends where the chamber begins. You stand at the gates of this natural wonder but cannot take a single step further. The chamber is not lit inside either, so you will not really be able to make out its enormity.
My plan for the stay included several items. First there was the "8 km loop" around the park, combined with a swim under the waterfalls. In this case remember to fill in your details on the board at the start of the trail and then make absolutely sure you record your return; this procedure helps avoid unnecessary search operations. There was also the climb up the observation tower: here the "key" is literally to collect.... the keys from the park reception to unlock the barred entrance to the tower. But do not worry, there are plenty of keys, so if you pick one up in the morning you will not be blocking other people's visits.
By boat to the caves - Cave of the Winds and Deer Cave
There were also two trips on foot and by boat to 4 caves. The narrow motorised boat, in which you sit one behind the other, travels upriver. The water is shallow, so it has to avoid sandbanks and treacherous boulders lurking just below the surface. The first item on the programme is a village to which members of the former nomadic tribes who lived in what is now the park moved. Although a more accurate way to put it would be that they "were moved". The layout of the "longhouses" that they once built from wood and leaves deep in the jungle has been recreated in concrete. Although the standard of living, hygiene and amenities are certainly much higher, none of these buildings evokes good associations. The whole place looks like a neglected communist-era state farm. At an improvised little market you can buy handmade souvenirs and practise shooting with a blowpipe. Each of the caves I visited that day was different and had its own distinctive features.
In one, stalactites and stalagmites formed astonishing compositions; in another (the Cave of the Winds), the constant movement of air produces mysterious whistles and whooshes. Deer Cave is home to a huge colony of bats, hence the phenomenon known as "black snow". It is nothing other than tonnes of black droppings that form great heaps inside the underground chambers. Fortunately they are almost odourless. The caves open onto a huge exotic garden called the Garden of Eden. Claims that you will feel as if you are stepping out of the darkness into a land inhabited by herds of dinosaurs are no exaggeration at all.
The canopy walkway and the bat exodus
Last of all came an almost half-kilometre walk along swaying walkways suspended about 40 metres above the ground. The park brochures proudly state that this 480 m route is the longest hanging bridge of its kind in the world. Here too you are accompanied by a guide.
Because this item fell on my last day, I opted for an early-morning "slot", meaning meeting at the park gates at 7.00. It turned out that overnight dozens of spiders had spun their webs across my route. Fighting my way through them reminded me of some of Indiana Jones's film adventures (ha, ha, ha....).
Of course I could not miss watching the so-called bat exodus. At dusk several million bats fly out of Deer Cave to hunt at night. Flying in huge swarms, they form ribbons, corkscrews and waves in the sky. Although it is hard to spot the "trickle" of bats leaving the cave (I had expected that!), the shapes forming afterwards are clearly visible against the sky. Some of these flying mammals travel several dozen kilometres, all the way to the sea. But it does not happen every day, because the clever bats can sense an approaching storm and then prefer to stay inside. Spectators sit in a wooden amphitheatre and watch the cave mouth.
It is well worth visiting Mulu National Park, which is one of the most important primary ecosystems in South-East Asia. Its stunning karst phenomena and biodiversity deserve a stay of several days to get to know this exceptional ecosystem. And if you are thinking about other attractions of Borneo, also read this post about the rest of the state of Sarawak and this one about the Sultanate of Brunei.
