Another day, another cave

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Day 297: Wednesday 22nd April - Another Day, another cave

I’m feeling incredibly lethargic today. All these early mornings and long walks are catching up with me. I think about returning to bed and having an easy day, but decide against it and stick to my original plan for today, which is to visit Niah caves. The Niah Caves National Park is one of Sarawak’s smaller national parks, and is situated 100km from Miri. The park’s claim to fame is its role as one of the birthplaces of civilisation. The oldest modern human remains discovered in Southeast Asia were found in Niah, and were estimated to be 40,000 years old.

Getting to Niah is the biggest headache about the visit. By public transport, two different buses are needed and then finally a taxi to take you to the entrance of the park. Before I settle to get there this way, I try at Highlands, my old hostel, to see if they have a tour (transport only) to Niah today. I believe this will work out almost the same price at the end of the day so it is worth a try, but today they have no tour going. So, I make my way to the local bus station and catch a bus first to the long bus station. Here I connect with a bus to Niah Junction, for a two hour journey and then transfer to a taxi for the final 15km to the park entrance. Thankfully, all my connections run smooth and there is no waiting around at all, so the whole journey only takes me two and a half hours.

Once inside the park, I first have to get across the river. The boat trip may only cost 1 Ringgit (20 pence) but that is not the point. It is possibly the most pointless boat journey I have ever taken. It is all of about 20 metres across the river. Why can’t they put a rope bridge in, it can’t be too hard?? Across the river, it is a 3 kilometre walk to the caves through rainforest. The first significant rock formation I reach is the Trader’s Cave, which is really an extended overhang rather than a true cave. This is where the birds’ nest and guano traders conducted their business in days gone by. A few minutes later the mouth of the Great Cave comes into view. At over 60m high and 250m wide, it is a spectacular cave entrance and deserves its name. The passage at the back of the Great Cave leads to a large chamber, where shafts of sunlight stream down from large holes in the cave roof. From here, you enter a totally dark passage where it is essential to have a torch. Mine is playing up after dropping it into water in one of the caves in Mulu National Park the other day so I stick close to a Dutchman, Johun who is walking through the cave complex at the same time as me. After emerging from the darkness, it is a short walk further to the Painted Cave, where I hope to see some ancient cave paintings. I know they are here somewhere, I don’t know if my eyes can’t adjust to the light or what but I fail to spot them.

The Niah Caves aren’t as impressive as those at Mulu and aren’t as well artificially illuminated or presented. The Great Cave is impressive enough but after Mulu and considering the way I’m feeling I can’t help thinking my time today would have been better spent taking it easy in Miri. Probably the best part of the day has been meeting Johun. We chat on the way back to the park headquarters. He is on a 6 week holiday in Borneo visiting his parents who live in Miri. His dad has provided a driver at his disposal today and when Johun kindly offers me a lift back to Miri I jump at the chance. I get dropped off at the long distance bus station to get a ticket for Kuching after I’ve returned from Bario. Normally, I would just turn up on the day and get on the next bus, but having seen how full the buses were in Sabah I’m not going to chance it. After buying the ticket, I wait around in the bus station for an hour for a local bus to turn up. It doesn’t, or rather it does but it doesn’t stop to let me get on. The whole bus system is rubbish, possibly the worst in any city I’ve been to. Why build a long-distance bus station out of the city and then service it infrequently with local buses?? Come to think of it KK and Sandakan were the same in Sabah. All it does is force you to get a taxi in/out of the city, which is what I end up doing. The taxi driver rips me off by 5 Ringgits (£1), leaving the meter on after we’ve already agreed a price. I thought I had a good idea what the price should be, I just didn’t bargain hard enough. A frustrating experience getting back to Miri, after the free lift.

I had said I would meet Katie back in Miri - she was returning from Mulu today. She said she was staying at Minda, where I checked into yesterday, but I can see no sign of her. She had mentioned a Filipino night she was going to go to. It sounded interesting but then again I have mixed feelings anyway even if I could find her. I have another early start tomorrow and have to sort out what I’m taking to Bario and more than anything I need an early night. Speaking of bed; a few Malaysian’s have arrived today in my dorm, one of whom is the size of a house end. He asks if he can have the bottom bunk where I am sleeping and swap for the top one. I’m taking no chances, I saw a smashed top bunk in KK a week or so ago and reckon this guy could accomplish a similar feat. I don’t want to become the meat in a bunk bed sandwich so I take the top one. Cut down on the Nasi Goreng (Fried rice) mate and get climbing the Pinnacles.....that’ll sort you out!!

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