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Typical tropical rainforest scenery on the way
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In 1920 a local man called Thomas Damit Ngang first beat his way through the jungle at Mulu National Park, clearing a path through the thick undergrowth to the summit of Mulu Gunang, also known at Mt Mulu, which is
one of the highest points in Borneo. In 2014, along with Tof, Max and Rene - my three travel companions - we followed in his footsteps on a three day trek up the mountain.
Day 1
Leaving our hostel in Mulu village around 8am, we met with our guide Jerry, a local guy in I guess his fifties who has walked the route hundreds of times and was super fit with it. All being quite independent travellers and mostly experienced hikers, we wanted to go alone really, but the park is tightly managed and seemingly always in search of ways to make money so we had no option. Fortunately Jerry remained just out of sight the whole time; there if we needed him, but generally letting us do our own thing.
We set off at 8.30am, going along flat wooden boardwalks for the first mile, before forking off down a flat gravel track for a couple of hours. We walked along fallen trees over a couple of streams, before removing our shoes to wade two rivers, just knee deep. The scenery was amazing, this was proper tropical rainforest, commonly referred to as jungle when it's dense like in this case.
There was a mixture of very old and exotic looking trees, some with huge buttress roots, many with vines hanging down, sometimes covered in moss. I wondered whether Tarzan was around. The paths were sometimes muddy, the undergrowth vivid green thanks to the high rainfall.
We crossed a larger river at which point becoming acquainted with some friends who would plague us at times over the next few days - leeches. These little insects are generally the size of a small earthworm and live in search of blood - in this case either from wildboar or humans, they weren't picky. They either hang on leaves waiting for you to brush past, or just climb up your shoe and onto your leg. Whilst they're generally not dangerous, having your blood sucked out isn't too pleasant so we kept a regular watch out for them, flicking or pulling them off with our fingers when spotted. The first time I found one I was a little shocked, but after a while you get more used to the little blighters.
We continued on and soon started ascending the foothills of Mt Mulu, the path clearly marked. We were now mostly walking on roots with some rocks and a few muddy patches, grabbing small trees to help balance and pull us up. Max, a German who was the youngest in the group, decided to make his own way on ahead whilst I stayed with Rene who was quite fit, and Tof who in his own words is very unfit and doesn't do sport. I swapped my light rucksack with his heavy one as I could see he wasn't going to make it to the camp in daylight, and in turn built up some future beer credits from him!
We reached Camp 3 (1,300m elevation) around 5.30pm - a very basic wooden hut which for some reason was left open on one side, and along with four or five other people settled down to stay for the night. After a basic rice and tuna tea and some messing around with the camera and torchlights, it was lights out at 9pm for everyone; a bedtime as a night owl that I could barely comprehend.
I travel light generally so didn't have a sleeping bag or suchlike to take and despite hearing otherwise the park office didn't hire them, so underestimating how cold it would be I ended up sleeping in my clothes in my thin silk sleeping bag liner on the bare planked wooden floor. Tof lent me a thin blanket, and in desperation I zipped up my waterproof jacket and wore it over my legs - what a bodged mess. I'm not sure how much I did sleep thanks to the cold and discomfort but it wasn't much for sure, and for once I couldn't wait for daylight. Rene stepped it up one more level again sleeping with his lower half in his empty rucksack which made us all laugh.
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Tof on the first river crossing
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...then the leaches he had to remove straight after
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| First night's digs - cold |
Day 2
The water tanks at the camp are filled by rainwater from the roof, and with a rusty steel roof comes orange tinged water. We were told it was safe once boiled though still tasted horrible afterwards - beggars can't be choosers though. After this and our instant noodle breakfast we set off for the summit, a long day ahead.
The track soon got steeper and we spent a lot of time going up and along ridgelines, with only an occasional gap in the trees to see the stunning views of the jungle below. We sometimes walked all together, sometimes as two groups. It was tough going, again treading on roots and rocks all the way, and all slipped over a time or two. Three and a half hours later we arrived at Camp 4 for lunch - the hut where we'd later be spending the night - and after boiling up some more drinking water, eating some more noodles, and now carrying just the basics in our rucksacks, at 1pm set off for the summit.
The whole walk there was a constant soundtrack from insects, mostly cicadas, which was sometimes a drone, sometimes melodic, occasionally metallic, or in cases like techno rhythms. The track got even steeper and we had to climb the odd aluminium ladder, as well as pulling ourselves up on plenty of ropes, knotted every foot or so for grip.
After an hour or so it started raining, then it rained harder, then it rained so hard I couldn't imagine rain could get any heavier. Due to the altitude we were at, the sound of thunder came from below rather than above was pretty novel. Thankfully it was still warm as long as we kept moving, so after sheltering for a while we headed for the last push to the top. I can only describe the final part as epic - climbing steep rocky and muddy gullies, whilst pulling ourselves up on ropes as it continued to bucket down - it was so sureal that it felt like we were in a movie.
Eventually though we all reached the top, hurrah! Mount Mulu, 2,375 metres (7,795ft) elevation, done. A great feeling.
After all that rain, a couple of minutes after getting to the top we saw some gaps in the skies. It then started clearing progressively quicker, then after quarter of an hour it was sunny and clear all around. After such heavy rain it was so bizarre, as if the whole event had been scripted by Hollywood. We weren't complaining though. The views were tremendous, with misty valleys to one side, mountains behind, then the plains far below, all clad by trees. Well worth all the effort.
By sunset we'd made it back to Camp 4 (1,800m elev) where we then spent the second night, and an equally uncomfortable and restless night at that, though thankfully at least this hut had four walls.
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Day 2 - heading for the summit - Max
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Day 2 - heading for the summit - Rene
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| Tof, Rene, Me and Max at the Summit |
Day 3
After the high of the day before, It was all downhill from here.
The following morning we set off at 8.30am heading back to base. In theory walking downhill is easy, but on a rutted slippery path such as that we were on, it was anything but, and it took us nearly as long going down as it had up. The worst part was the constant repetitive impact on the knees which were aching like mad by the end of the day. As we were going back the same was the scenery was the same, equally amazing. However the weather took a toll for the worse again just after lunchtime, and we once again got socked to the skin, whilst picking off numerous leaches as we went.
We reached a stream and filled our bottles straight from it, no additives required - a pleasure of being in such a remote area. Eventually reached the flat valley bottom, a big relief. We were now so wet that we hopped in the river for a swim fully clothed, lying back and looking up at the tall limestone cliffs in front and behind, appreciating that we were in such beautiful exotic jungle.
At dusk after nine and a half hours of walking we finally reached our accommodation, and everyone sat down with a big sigh of relief. We'd done the normally four day, 33 mile (53 km) trek in three days and could really feel it. A shower, clean clothes, and a beer were both greatly appreciated and deserved, and the thought of a proper bed that night very welcoming.
Whilst the mountain wasn't as high as the Indraha Pass which I hiked in India a few months ago, the terrain here was a lot more challenging and the weather more severe. It was a fantastic experience, one of my trip highlights in fact, and a great end to our week at Mulu National park.
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Day 2 - nearing the summit
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Wasting time with a torch and camera
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The very unique Pitcher plant, common
on Mt Mulu
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My Mulu, 2376m
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Mt Mulu from camp 4
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| Almost biblical scene at sunset, day 2 |
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