Bako National Park

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On tuesday I was pretty happy to find out I could book a dorm bed ($5) for thursday night at Bako National Park. So thursday morning I caught the 8am public bus to a town where you catch a 20 minute boat ride ($3) out to the national park.

Once I had signed in and paid the park fees ($3.40) I decided to walk a couple of the trails with an english girl, Michelle who I had met whilst waiting for the bus in Kuching. We walked for about an hour and a half along a diverse trail to the Tajor Waterfall. It wasn't much of a waterfall and there wasn't a lot of flowing water but it was a great place to take a dip in the cool water and wash the sweat away. We were also nibbled at by small fish which provided us with a few laughs. From there we walked another hour to Pandan Kecil beach where Michelle had to head back to the headquarters to catch her boat whilst I walked down to the beach and had a nice refreshing swim and relaxed for an hour. On the way back to the headquarters I spotted a few probiscus monkeys not far from the boardwalk. I took a couple of shots but seeing my camera doesn't have much of a zoom my pictures are not very good.

That night I decided to go on the nightwalk ($3.50) with the rangers. The walk went for a couple of hours and we saw quite a few animals. So if you are staying here the night, definately do this walk. There are also wild pigs that hang around the canteen in the evening and nightime. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of them when I had the opportunity, and by the time I woke up the next morning they had gone into the forest.

The next morning I walked along the beach near the headquarters taking a few of the different rock formations before heading back in the opposite direction to Paku Beach. This very good walk took about an hour and I was lucky enough to come across 6 of the wild pigs crossing the trail while heading up the hill. I hung around the beach for about an hour before returning to the canteen for lunch. We got a small group together to share the boat ride back and then caught a minivan back to Kuching. I really enjoyed the park and it is well worth spending a couple of nights here, especially for nature lovers. Also Kuching has proven an ideal place to base myself whilst exploring the attractions in the area. Tomorrow I have to get up early to catch the boat to Sibu.

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