Kicking Back In KK

Kota Kinabalu, Malaysian Borneo (map)

In this blog: late night boy racing, a train from Leeds, some pool and plenty of chilling out

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Kota Kinabalu (KK) waterfront 2014

Before WWII, Jesselton was a small coastal town of wooden shacks and palm leaf cottages administered by the British as part of it's British North Borneo colony. After being bombed to pieces during the Japanese occupation, it got rebuilt and is today called Kota Kinabalu (KK). It's a prime example of how far the world has come since then - a clean, green and modern if not slightly anonymous-looking city, with all the shops and amenities anyone needs and could be in anywhere in the developed world. Whilst a little short of character and sights, it was a pretty laid back city and a good place to kick back and catch up for four days after a busy couple of weeks on the road.

In fact kick back was an understatement - with a nice garden room out the back of our hostel to hang out in, the travel gang of Max, Rene, Tof, and I barely seemed to move for the four days. I also found myself following their lead of living life three hours behind; getting up late then having breakfast at 11, lunch at 4, dinner at 10 and going to bed at 2am. Yes, KK was another holiday from a holiday, something that's needed every so often. 

Sure I lazed about a fair bit, used the internet, and chatted to some other hostel guests but as ever I couldn't just sit and relax - the first day it was head down for seven hours writing blogs, another full afternoon I spent sorting out and uploading pictures from the past few weeks, another morning making a quick video, and the final morning doing some research and planning ahead. Yawn. Somehow the other guys didn't seem to have nearly as much to sort as I and once again I questioned whether I put too much time into these words and pictures, who knows but I think I'll appreciate it all in the future. It was also good to Skype some friends and family over a couple of evenings, something that doesn't happen often enough due to the need for decent wifi, and the awkward time difference whereby evening at home is the middle of the night for me.

There was still plenty of time for playtime though.

Food and drink

The first couple of evenings we went to a small open-fronted local cafe-bar where they sold the cheapest beer in town, full of curious friendly locals and playing nothing but music videos on the TV by this awful rapper called Pitbull. We walked through the Filipino market one night - an obvious sign of the many immigrants in town since the Philipeans isn't too far away, where as well as all the other usual produce strange looking fresh fish were laid neatly in piles by the many vendors, all shouting over each other to sell sell sell. 

We ate in a local Indian owned restaurant near the hostel almost every lunch and dinner time, getting to know the staff so well they'd come straight over chatting away like old friends. They served fantastic roti's - the Malaysian version of the Indian bread, stuffed with egg or meat and even sweet versions covered in condensed milk which numerously looked like KKK hats on a plate. After a few days the limited variations of rice, noodles meats and veg dishes got a little dull and repetitive though, and a trip to a pasta cafe nearby was a welcome break.

In the local caf with local Jesse, German Max,
Canadian Rene and Belgium Tof

Boy racing and beaches

Through a friend of a friend of a friend, German Max met a local Malaysian guy called Jesse, a 26 year old guitar teacher with long black dreadlocks who proved to be a really nice guy. Most evenings he was kind enough to take us out to a few local spots around the city which we'd never have visited otherwise, and we got to see KK in a different way to most cities. The second night he drove us to a pool hall a few miles away in the suburbs - a large modern place above some shops popular with locals, where somehow I became king of the table winning about five games in a row - most unusual and finally proof that all that time in my youth playing pool at my local Colin Park Club was not in vain.

Max had heard talk of illegal late night street racing in KK and was keen to experience it. He talked Jesson into taking us along after pool and at around midnight we rocked up at some traffic lights by an suburban cross roads, and with a few beers and snacks in hand found a spot beside the road to watch. Malaysia has two native car companies which are also occasionally spotted in the UK - Proton and Perouda, and it transpires that the modified car scene is pretty popular here with the main cars being the Proton Saga - a family-sized box of a car, and the Proton Savvy - its runt of a little brother. The drivers grouped together in the lead up to the traffic lights before time after time squealing away head to head and off into the darkness, in reality hilariously slow except for the odd Mitsubushi Evo or Porsche which came along and destroyed them. I felt eighteen again, and whilst it's not something I'd normally be interested in there's always something engaging about seeing a foreign equivalent of something familiar. Good fun.

Late night street racing

Watching the street racing - Jesse, Max, Tof and Rene

The city

Whilst a lot of time was spent in the hostel, we did manage to get out and about to see a bit of the city. The central streets were pleasant enough but waterfront was the place to be, where we had a look in a busy 5-a-side football centre, saw a dead boxfish lying on the pier, looked across to some nearby islands, watched some teenagers learning skateboard tricks, and joined in with the locals watching the sunset.

The last afternoon with none of the others interested I headed to the State Museum of Sabah for a look, getting a little lost on the way then randomly bumping into Rene who then came along, eventually getting there with just half an hour to closing time. We made do just looking at a couple of interesting then-and-now, and local tribe photography exhibits which showed again how much the city has grown and modernised. Outside, was an old steam train imported in the British colonial days which had a 'Made in Leeds' plaque on it's boiler; a surprising but pleasant find so far from home. 

Despite being a couple of miles from the centre, whilst walking back by chance Malaysian Jesse drove past with the other guys in the car, another strange coincidence, so he picked us up and took us to a nice nearby beach in time for another great Borneo sunset. As we left I suddenly realised my sunglasses were no longer on my head - a fairly decent pair with nostalgic value if nothing else. I checked all around, in my bag, car, on my head again, pockets; nothing. We drove back the same way and I got out to retrace my steps near the museum. Nothing. After five minutes I reached the museum and searched around outside before a local asked what I was looking for, then popped inside to the security desk, and handing my sunnies back. See, I told you Malaysians were nice people.

Pool hall

Local market

Locals at the market

Fish market

1911

Lone dog who was watching the sunset

Nasi Goreng (meat and rice) topped with an ommelette

Media Frenzy

A bumper Borneo crop of pics and video for your eyes and ears:

Photos
First of all an album of photos of Malaysian Borneo so far here (no Facebook account required to view)

Video
I've put a few random clips on YouTube of Borneo so far (will be part of a lovely edited video one day!)

Black Gold

Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei (map)

In this blog: a village on stilts, a shrine to the Sultan, some crocodiles, and hitchhiking to a six start hotel

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Royal Regalia Museum - the Sultan's bling closet

'What did you know about Brunei before you came here?' asked three guys from the Brunei tourist board, doing a survey on the street to ascertain why so few people visited the country. 'Errr, only that the Sultan of Brunei is a very rich man, that he had a huge collection of cars, and that all their money came from oil' I replied. It turns out I knew more than most people for once since Brunai is such tiny, unassuming and slightly mysterious little country, hidden away on the north coast of Borneo.

Like a few other countries on this trip, I had no prior intention to visit but since it was roughly on my way I thought it was well worth a stop for a couple of days, despite many people asserting that 'it's boring, don't bother'. Even if it was boring I wanted to experience it and say so myself, but as it happened I was far from bored and enjoyed it thoroughly. On the surface I can see what people mean, but if you scratch below it a bit there's some good sights and an interesting if not slightly barmy story behind it.

Arrival

Tof (Christophe), my Belgium travel mate and I were the only ones from our gang who were interested in visiting Brunei, so we said goodbye to the other guys for now at Mulu National Park and with the lack of any roads from Mulu took a half-hour Air Malaysia flight which seemed to land as soon as it took off, landing at Bandar Seri Begasi - the capital city of Brunei. Whilst bordering Malaysia, it was immediately obvious from the air that Brunei was a different country, with wide dual carriageways and posh developments clearly visible from the plane window.

We arrived at the very impressive new airport terminal and had to inconveniently walk half a mile along the grass verge of the main road to get to the bus stop - public transport seems to be a bit of an afterthought in Brunei since most locals just drive, both being wealthy enough able to afford cars and because fuel is so cheap due to lack of taxes (and maybe a bit of subsidy) - £0.25/litre petrol and slightly less for diesel.

We checked into the only hostel in the country mid-afternoon, and went for a wander around town. Like flies round dogpoo, we were drawn to the sight of Burger King for a big fat cheeseburger - the first time on this trip since I generally like to eat the local food, but a nice change anyway. The streets were very quiet for a capital city and very clean, modern and pleasant - maybe that's what tourists dislike; it's slight lack of soul.

The waterfront area was a nice place to hang out, watching brightly painted wooden speedboats taxiing locals across or along the river, after which we walked along the rickety wooden boardwalk of part of Bandar's most interesting sight - the 'floating village', which I'll come back to later.

Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque

All Hail The Sultan!

The following day Tof and went for for a wander to the local sights. The Royal Regalia museum was both immensely boring yet very revealing and interesting at the same time - it's basically a shrine to The Sultan Of Brunei - the king. Brunei has been ruled by the same royal family since the 14th century and was once a large kingdom covering all of Borneo, but continually shrank over the centuries to it's current size, only avoiding being swallowed up by Malaysia when oil was discovered. These days Brunei is a similar size to Cornwall both by area and population, but hugely rich thanks to the oil and gas wells at the town of Seria. The implementation of Sharia law in the country however, which was publicly announced the day I was departing seems a little worrying (which includes stoning and amputation as punishments), and has been denounced by the UN.

Everything in thiss huge marble and granite shrine/museum was about the Sultan, from the gifts on display that he'd received from various leaders, to the huge carriages he'd travelled the streets in during National ceremonies. The place was totally over the top, a little propaganda- like, and quite revealing in many ways. On display were various gifts he'd received, including from tiny countries like Laos, or banks like Standard Chartered who'd given intricate silver engravings and diamond-encrusted gold pens - friendship or after something I pondered? It was interesting to read about how Britain has always had such a strong relationship with Brunei, and how the country was a British protectorate until 1984, with our government managing it's security and external affairs. The museum was so huge we wondered whether we'd ever find our way out, but eventually we were back on the streets with a new hero in life. I jest, but the Sultan is generally very well regarded in Brunei as ruler, especially thanks to the lack of taxes and generous benefits the citizens receive. As well as you can regard the 30th richest man in the world, with a collection of over 5,000 cars anyway.

We walked to the impressive Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque; the focal point of the city and an important place in such a strong Muslim country, and took a brief look inside, impressed by the beautiful vaulted ceiling. Nearby, I stopped at a tailors for some repair work, since I'd managed to completely rip the crotch of my shorts climbing Mt Mulu a few days before. The Indian owner fixed them up a treat in no time whilst I waited, whilst commenting how much he prefers living in Brunei than Delhi. 

The Floating Village

The most interesting sight in Bandar for most is Kampong Ayer village - a large group of colourful wooden buildings built on concrete and wooden silts in the mudflats; a unique and really remarkable sight.

Kampong Ayer village

Speedboat tour along the river along with travel mate Tof from Belgium, left

The Sultan's palace

We'd read the best way to see it was by chartering a speedboat, so after standing on the waterfront with a driver waving furiously at us to attract our custom, we did exactly that. It was a bit bizarre though as once we'd agreed a price and set off, he slyly informed us that because the tide was out he could get around very much of it. We started off instead by going for a cruise down the mangrove tree-lined estuary, almost immediately spotting a smallish crocodile in the mudflats, then later both rehesus and proboscis monkeys. We passed the Sultan's £200m, 1,700 room palace which was very impressive even if only the roofline was visible, before turning the corner to see another huge palace under construction, apparently a gift to his third wife.

On the way back we spotted another crocodile slipping from the mud banks into the water, floating along with just it's eyes and ridged back visible. The boat driver told us to move into the centre of the boat whilst he stood up with a paddle in his hand. Tof and I looked at each other in bemusement, whilst the guy assured us crocs don't attack as long as you stand tall and stand your ground. Reassuring!

When the boat finally got us back to Kampong Ayer village, the driver told us to hang on tight before opening up the throttle, going flat out down an alleyway between some houses to avoid getting stuck on the mudflats, so he said, or maybe just for a bit of fun. This 'floating' village neither floats or is a village - actually more of a city, with 40,000 people living in simple wooden houses interconnected by boardwalks and all the amenities like shops, businesses and police stations available. With the evening pulled in and the boat ride finished, we spent an hour or so walking along the rickety wooden boardwalks having a look, passing friendly locals, and stopping to admire quirky little things. It's a really interesting place which despite the wealth of the country, seems set to stay.

White Elephant

We decided to get out of the centre the next day to see more of Brunei, so took a bus to the National Stadium. It was a huge site of Olympic proportions, with a football stadium, indoor stadium, sets of tennis courts and so on. But it was absolutely dead, and was slightly baffling why such a small country needed such a place. We took advantage of it anyway, and went for a swim in the Olympic-size swimming pool for an hour so so, which was empty bar three other people. Whilst impressive, the whole site was a bit of a ghost town, it's purpose not obvious.

Hitchhiking to a six star hotel

Public transport in a Bandar is pretty ropey as I mentioned, and after our swim it wasn't obvious how to get to our next destination - the 6* Empire hotel, just for a look mind. Bruneians like Malaysians are very nice people, so when Tof came up with the idea of hitchhiking there I thought why not. It took a while for anything to happen, and just as we gave up, Kay and Rai, a 19 and 20 year old brother and sister stopped and offered to give us a lift. 

They were really lovely people, and said they were bored and had no plans for the evening. So not only did they go out of their way to drop us at the Empire as planned, but they came in as well and we had a look around for a while. It was a very impressive place, with a grand five story lobby with marble, hardwoods and brass everywhere, beaches, cinemas, and even a pool just for kayaking. Nice toilets as well! We'd planned to have a look at a theme park nearby afterwards, so without us even asking Kai and Rai took us, stopping at a little cafe in the way where they bought us a fresh coconut each to drink and a small spicy chicken and rice dish. The theme park turned out to be closed, but they'd planned to go to the cinema anyway and asked if we fancied it. Sure! At midnight, after watching Spider-Man 2 (which we treated them to), and being chauffeured around in their nice little Nissan, they dropped us back at our accommodation and said goodbye. I was astounded by how friendly and hospitable these two people were, and slightly baffled by how it all happened, but it did, and it was great

I quite liked Brunei, even if two and half days isn't nearly enough to make a sound balanced judgement on a whole country. But in terms of what I saw, maybe it was me just being obtuse, wanting to like something that other travellers didn't for the sake of it, or maybe it really did have someone to offer. It might be more the case that I went in which such a low expectation that anything above that was bound to please. Either way, Brunei was well worth a diversion for a couple of days.

The 6* Empire Hotel

Tof, along with Kai and Rai who gave us a lift

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Cost of a typical day in Brunei:

£2 curry

£0.25 rice

£0.50 tea

£2.75 Burger King 

£0.50 bus

£1 swim

£3.50 cinema ticket

£3.50 cinema ticket for Rai

£1.25 popcorn

£5 hostel dorm

TOTAL

£20.25

Sky High

Mulu National Park, Malaysian Borneo (map)

In this blog: a three day hike up a jungle clad mountain

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Typical tropical rainforest scenery on the way

Typical tropical rainforest scenery on the way

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.

Tof on the first river crossing

...then the leaches he had to remove straight after

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.

Day 2 - heading for the summit - Max

Day 2 - heading for the summit - Rene

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.

Day 2 - nearing the summit

Wasting time with a torch and camera

The very unique Pitcher plant, common
on Mt Mulu

My Mulu, 2376m

Mt Mulu from camp 4

Almost biblical scene at sunset, day 2

Cave Men

Mulu National Park, Malaysian Borneo (map)

In this blog: DIY rafting, the sight of three million bats, and the world's biggest cave passage

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It's funny how with nothing but a stretch of water and our imagination, four grown men can de-evolve into a bunch of teenagers.

This was in Mulu National Park, where still with Rene, Max and Tof I was experiencing the wonders of it's caves and jungle. Our hostel was close to a waist deep river, and after our intermediate caving session we went for a bathe to relax. The current was strong enough to take us downstream without being dangerous, and after a while Max came up with the idea of floating down to the park office, a quarter of a mile away. So we did. We soon found the water was too shallow really, and bashed ourselves constantly on submerged stones and logs, with a constant shrill of painful encounters echoing from all directions. 

Me, Tof, Rene and Max with 'the banana boat', in
front of the hostel, with Mt Mulu behind. Good times.

The water deepened and a couple of us clung onto some vines hanging down from a tree into the water, floating on the spot for a while. Tof spotted a huge piece of bamboo stuck in the river bank and yanked it out, and before we knew it to the tune of hysterical laughter, the 'banana boat' was born - a natural version of those inflatable things people ride behind speed boats at package holiday beach resorts. There was just enough boyancy in the bamboo that we were all able to claim a spot, straddling this piece of wood like you would on a greasy pole. For ten minutes of so we managed to float downstream, once again getting caught on the odd rock or tree before we reached the jetty, where we lifted it out and walking barefoot along the road, carried it back to the hostel much to the amusement of all the locals. We even stepped it up another gear the following day, cutting the bamboo into sections and lashing it together with some rope we found to form a raft. There was great anticipation when it launched, only to find it was barely capable of taking one of us. Oh well.

It was so much fun, so carefree and spontaneous, one of the benefits of being with a group and a great memory of this trip.

Deer Cave

Whilst Mulu National Park was all about adventure activities for us - our German/ Canadian/ Belgium/ British bunch of lads - it would be rude to visit without seeing it's main attraction - Deer Cave - the largest cave passage in the world.

Deer cave - the largest cave passage in the world

We wandered along wooden boardwalks through the thick jungle of the park, and after leaving the wooded area to see the rocky cave entrance my jaw dropped and seemed to stay dropped. It was truly awesome, the scale of what I saw beyond what my mind could comprehend, a bit like a natural Wembley Stadium inside except bigger and more impressive. We went inside along the nicely laid out paths, stopping for a bit of explanation along the way by the guide, who also showed us some fireflies. On the cave roof we could vaguely make out a large dark area which turned out to be large groups of bats huddled together, this explained the carpet of dry poo all around the cave floor, and the near overwhelming smell of ammonia in the air which was pretty unpleasant. A spot of a Tiger Balm around our nasal passages did the trick.

Neither words nor photos can do Deer Cave justice, it's one of those places when you just have to be there to be able to experience it.

Bat Exodus

A few hundred metres from the cave entrance was a viewing platform set up by the park where people congregate around 4.30pm every day. The reason? To watch the daily exodus of around three million bats leaving the cave to search for a spot of dinner.

We took our spot and waited patiently, before relatively small groups of bats started leaving. A Chinese-Australian girl held her shutter down constantly, taking hundreds if not thousands of shots to everyone's amusement. Gradually the groups started getting larger and more regular, until finally we saw one constant stream of bats exiting, looking like a stream of chimney smoke except morphing and moving in a wave-like pattern. Occasionally a separate group with leave the pack, spiralling off to one side in a circular motion like a spaceship. A mile or so from the cave, the stream dispersed into smaller packs, as the bats go off in different directions looking for fruit or insects, depending on what type of bat they are. 

It was an incredible sight that wowed everyone there for good reason, and only added to the experience of visiting Deer Cave. Quite some day at the office.

Bad exodus - we watched about 3 -4 million bats leave, on
their nightly hunt for food. An incredible sight.

Going Underground

Mulu National Park, Malaysian Borneo (map)

In this blog: flying into a remote national park, an session of basic caving, then seven hours of adventure caving.

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Miri airport with Chrisophe and Rene, waiting to board
the MASair prop plane to Mulu

Scenery on the way - thick jungle and huge rivers - typical Borneo

Huge palm oil plantations as far as the eye can see criss crossed with light brown dirt access roads. Wide and wild dirty brown meandering rivers with oxbow lakes left on the side, abandoned by nature. Gently rolling hills of ancient tropical rainforest, untouched by humans. That was the amazing view through the window on the half hour flight from the city of Miri into Mulu National Park.

I prefer to travel by land or water where possible as not only are flights bad for the environment but they somehow seem to cheat you of the experience of part of the journey. In this case though with no roads to Mulu - a small village deep in isolated forest - and only an expensive day-long boat ride as the other option the over-priced flight was the only practical way into this enticing National Park, which we'd come to for two things - caving and hiking and boy did we get them.

We, means our travel gang of Rene, Max, Christophe and myself (see previous blog), and after arriving at the tinpot little airport, we walked half a mile up the road and found a ramshackle hostel which was a bit of a dive, but had the most incredible views all around of the jungle and mountains and nice owners. Max decided he was going to sleep in his 'waterproof' hammock by the river, so we helped him set it up in the precarious position he chose between two trees overhanging the waters edge, but in the end it rained so much every night he didn't stay there once, nice idea anyway. 

Blackout

Mulu has a huge range of activities to offer, but is very pricey not to mention confusing in how they offer it. We went to the park office, and after some time finally came up with a plan for the next week, the first stage of which was a three hour introductory caving session in Stonehorse cave. Just an hour later we were walking up the valley on neatly made wooden boardwalks through thick tropical rainforest and looking at some of the exotic insects, before climbing steep steps to reach the cave entrance. Whilst for pleasure, this session was to prove we were capable of going caving both physically and without turning into hysterical wrecks. I'd been in a few tourist caves before, and also done black water rafting, but never proper caving so whilst I thought I'd be OK with it, I really didn't know.

It was fun. There was nothing too challenging, just some basic rope work to descend some muddy inclines, and the odd stretch across rocky gaps, clipping in our caribinas onto guide ropes at times. At one point our guide Kenneth spotted a fresh snake skin which we picked up and felt, finding a texture just like latex. Thankfully it's former owner was no-where to be seen. We also saw blind cave crabs, and a whole load of bats hanging from the roof. We got back to surface safely, and all graduated from the University of Caving, ready for the proper adventure the next day.

Adventure Caving

I'm deeply schematically these days of any organised trip that is described using the term 'adventure'. Thanks to health and safety, the only true adventure these days is that which you make yourself where there's some element of the unknown or even a little danger. But in this case for once, the word really did seem to live up to its meaning.

Our caving guide from the park loaded us into a longboat - a local style of boat which can take about eight people through very shallow waters. We went upstream for half an hour towards the caves, passing very basic rickety wooden houses built on stilts along the way, with one of the helpers having to get out every so often to wrestle the boat when we got stuck on the riverbed in low water. Reaching the cave entrance we kitted up and headed underground. The first section was quite spectacular, set out for general tourists with lighting and proper walkways, but what we were interested in was a bit further in and after going through a gate, the headtorches went on and the proper caving began.

It started fairly easily with open passages and dryish flat ground, before things started getting a bit wilder. We soon discovered that whilst the guide was there to help, we were definitely on our own when it came to picking the spots to walk on, working out what to grab, what to watch out for. At times the headroom got quite low, it was sometimes steep, slippery, muddy. The passage often narrowed and turned sharply. We went up and down, left and right, scrambling on rocks where necessary. We all slipped a few times but to no consequence but a sore bum and a smile.

The adventure caving gang - me, a Canadian, Rene, Max, 
Nina from the park, Tof, one of the guides

Rope descent

Heading into a medium sized 'squeeze'

We reached the first of two 'squeezes'. I'd always imagined a squeeze in my mind to be like the neck of a bottle and horizontal, but what we had to deal with was so weird and distorted it was almost too much for the mind to comprehend - a near vertical opening roughly eighteen inches wide, which we had to descend by holding onto knots on a rope whilst blindly searching for footholds with our feet. It wasn't scary but it was pretty tough, and I was the first one of our group to do it, after the guide had lowered our rucksacks to the bottom. It didn't look doable, but slowly and carefully we all made it, with a big grin on our faces and lots of banter at the bottom. 

We went in for another hour or so, seeing huntsman spiders, lots of bats, some swiftlets, strange stalagmites and stalgatites, sinkholes, roof openings, drips, and rocking rocks. The next squeeze was shorter than the first, but a lot tricker as it was a bit like going through a postbox backwards, and this time I did actually get stuck. Lying on my belly on this ledge, my right leg was jammed forwards without enough space to move it back. Again it wasn't scary, just awkward and even a little bit funny, and eventually I, and everyone else got through, eventually getting to the underground river - the longest in the world at around 180km. For the next mile or so we waded in and out of the water, sometimes waist deep. At one point the cave opened up into a huge chamber with an equally large pool, and a couple of us swam for a while - the only time I've ever swum wearing a helmet and torch!

After over seven hours underground on our three mile trip we finally reached Clearwater Cave on the other side of the mountain, a huge and majestic space in itself. Caving had proved to be a fantastic experience, neither claustrophobic nor scary, and way more challenging and adventurous than I'd expected.

We had to go through that! Near vertical, tight and slippery.
Great fun then!

About twenty metres further down, still breathing in

Huntsman spider

Cave river we had to wade through for just over a mile

Deer cave - the largest cave passage in the world

Oiling The Wheels

Miri, Malaysian Borneo (map)

In this blog: catching up, and hanging out with other travellers in an otherwise boring city

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The river at Miri, the closest we got to local sights

Malaysian Borneo has huge oil and gas reserves, and the city of Miri is a hub for all that sort of thing. That doesn't mean loads of dirty-faced men and tankers filling the streets, just that there's a load of money around and whilst being a clean, tidy and modern place is pretty dull with it with few discernible things to see and do. Everything is centred around a pleasant wide street of shops, malls and restaurants. A good spot then for a couple of days catching up with pictures and writing, sorting out the next leg of the trip, and hanging out with other travellers. This is therefore a bit of a general update without any of the mad stories like you might have got from India - Malaysia is a much calmer and more organised country in comparison.

My travelling gang on-and-off since arriving in Malaysia now comprised Rene, a 24 year old French-Canadian self-confessed computer programmer who's into every sport out there and has been travelling for about the same length of time as me, Christophe from Belgium - a laid-back 30 year old music-obsessed 'computer nerd' with a sense of humour that often has us in stitches, and Max from Germany - a 21 year old traveller in-between college and uni, always organised, thinking ahead and looking for the perfect way to see or do everything. We all have a similar outlook and get on pretty well, so it's been a lot of fun hanging out and travelling as a group for a change.

As soon as we arrived in Miri, we met three young Americans who are in Borneo for a year teaching English in schools and we went for a few drinks with them at the popular Ming Cafe-Bar nearby. It was obviously a popular spot for all the ex-pat oil workers as there were loads of foreign faces who obviously weren't there as tourists, and we had a lazy fun evening there chatting with these high-achieving Americans from the hostel - one of whom was on a year out from studying Stem Cell research and unbelievable clever, very interesting to talk with. The following night we went out for dinner with a different gang, this time three Malaysians on holiday from Peninsula Malaysia (the country is divided into two), who were ultra creative and funny, and with their local knowledge we went to a hidden-away food court where all the locals eat. I had a Chicken Porridge, which despite the odd name isn't what we see as porridge, but instead rice that has been boiled for hours until it has a mushy consistency, and was surprisingly tasty.

First night out in Miri: L-R - Canadian Rene, Belgium
Christophe, American girl, myself, American guy

Second night out in Miri: L-R - The three Malaysians,
German Max, Christophe, Rene

Teh Special C - the local speciality of tea, condensed milk,
and syrup, served with ice and very nice

Talking of food, the food in Malaysia is mostly localised versions of Chinese dishes, since Malaysia has so many Chinese immigrants - with all dishes based around noodles or rice, meat and vegetables, and either served 'dry' on a plate or all together as a soup. It's not often spicy, and the flavours relatively simple. Whilst it's all very tasty it can get a bit repetitive, and I must say I much preferred Indian food with it's mix of spices, greater variety and tasty breads. It's quite common for Malaysians to eat out at the large number of simple local food courts that you find, where £1 (5 ringgit) will buy you a decent meal, and I've done the same the whole time here so far. Beer-wise - being a Muslim country there are no local beers so you only find imported tins such as Tiger from Singapore or Tsingtao from China, and they're pretty pricey with it.

After having rooms to myself the whole time in India, with costs now quite a bit higher in Malaysia unfortunately it's been back to staying in dorm rooms at hostels some of the time to keep the costs down. At Dillenia Guest House though I really didn't mind, as we had a perfect spot run by the delightful Mrs Lee. With a dull city, but digs with free breakfast, aircon, wifi, and computers to use we barely had a reason to leave, turning into a bunch of hermits for most the time we were there. A shopping mall, a couple of food courts, a bar and a look at the river was as adventurous as it got. And do you know what, as great as it is to be out and about seeing the world, sometimes a slice of normality is quite welcome.