Canopy Walk (2nd April 2010)

Birds Nest Fern

When the alarm went off this morning at 6.30am neither of us we too impressed it has to be said. Yesterday was a lot of walking and with the heat and humidity we were pretty tired. We managed to get up and out though to meet our guide at 7am and with 6 others made our way to the canopy walk. The LP bill the canopy walk as ‘easily the best in Southeast Asia’ and although I haven’t been on any other canopy walks in this part of the world I’m inclined to agree with them. It was fantastic. Our guide started off the tour by telling us all about his grandfather who was a witch doctor and all the magic powers he used to posses and all the plants, leaves and berries he used to use from the forest for all kinds of medicine. He then went on to tell us how he had converted to Christianity and as a result lost some of his powers but gained others, this part I wasn’t so sure about but he believed it all and that’s all that matters really.

The canopy walk

The canopy walk is 480m long and a good 20m above the ground, which although isn’t such a great distance, when you’re way up in the canopy of the trees walking along an almost tightrope it is actually quite a long way. It was really well done as well, the walk goes in a huge almost circle, we were the first group of the morning and by the time we had finished another group had set off on the walk but we never saw or heard them along the way. We didn’t see any animals or insect life but it seems in Mulu the main attraction is the primary rainforest, the caves, the mountains and pinnacles, not a lot of room left for animals I guess. It was a great walk and well worth getting up early for.

Back at the cafe we just about had enough time to grab a bite for breakfast before we decided to head off to find the morning market. It’s supposed to be about a half hours walk from the park past the airport, which isn’t actually that far, but all our previous walking had been under the shade of the rainforest whereas this was out in the open and in 35 degrees heat it was very HOT! We never found the market, apparently it closed around 10.30am but we did manage to find a nice little spot by the river where we could paddle our feet and Keith went for another swim. After a cool down we started to make our way back to the park and the conversation turned once again to his Havaianas and just so Keith could demonstrate how indestructible his destructible indestructible flip flops were he insisted on attempting a brief run in them.............need I fill you in on what happened next?! :-) He claimed it was the victory dance at the end of the little run that broke them again rather than the run, mmm I beg to differ!! :-)

Back at the park there was just enough time to visit the Tree Tops Tower before we needed to leave for our flight. The tower is higher than the canopy walk by quite a lot and it gives another very different view of the rainforest and tree canopy. Ideally I think it’s for bird watchers but for some reason it’s only open between 9 and 3 when a lot of the birds are no-where to be seen. What we did see though was a snake, not too sure what type it was but it was up in a tree a little distance from us so as long as it couldn’t move faster than us we were ok!

View from the Tree Tops Tower

Strangler fig

Our snake find

All throughout the park there are interesting notice boards giving information about the specific area you’re in and the kind of things you might see there, as well as how the rainforest actually works and interacts with itself. One of the courses I studied at Sussex Uni during my degree was Tropical Rainforests and all the info was really coming back to me. It’s a very interesting subject area and so great to see the things I learnt in the books actually for real, up close and personal.

The people I had met so far on my trip who had already been to Mulu were right, it’s a great park with so much to see and do, tiring as well though especially with all the walking we did and in the heat and humidity, we really enjoyed it.

The mountains of Mulu NP

Longhouse near Mulu NP

This afternoon we were flying back to Kuching. Mulu airport is very very small, so small in fact that there’s only 3 flights a week in and out of there with MAS Wings and those flights are like buses stopping at 3 different places. Fortunately for us, on the way to the park we were the first drop off and on the way back we were the last in the schedule, with the flight already having come from KK via Miri. There were just 10 of us getting on the plane in Mulu and all of us tourists. Once we had checked in and weighed our own bags for the check-in lady (!) we made our way through security into departures. Now as it’s a domestic flight they allow you to take water of any size and quantity through onto the plane, and any amount of cosmetics and toiletries etc etc, what they don’t allow though is Swiss Army Pen Knives which (once again!) I still had in my day pack! I tried to blag my way through it (once again) but the security guy was having none of it so I had to go back and locate my hold bag. All of our bags were still sitting where we had left them totally unattended and accessible to anyone anywhere in Mulu (!), I could have put the knife in anyone’s bag but of course thought better of it (seeing as I did actually want it at the other end) found my bag, popped the knife in and headed back (a little red faced) to departures! Will I ever totally remember about that small security issue?

Once back in Kuching we headed for the Pinnacles Guesthouse again which we had booked on the internet the night before and just as before when we were there they didn’t have our booking but believed us anyway, took our money and showed us to our room. It’s nice to be back with a little bit of air-con if we’re honest

This evening for dinner we decided to cross the river again (this time getting the correct boat) and head to where the locals seem to eat. From the main city side of the river just opposite from where the Hilton is you can see bustling waterfront activity which we guessed (correctly so) was a food court of some sort. I’m not sure how many tourists they actually get going over as we seemed to be the only ones there at the time and the people there seemed genuinely pleased and a little surprised to see us. There were actually 2 identical outdoor food courts there separated by a 5 min (if that) stroll each with 17 different food stalls to choose from. We ate at the first court and it was delicious. Keith had Mee Kumpung, a speciality for that stall apparently, and I had my usual of Mee Goreng Vegetarian, veggi fried noodles, yum!

Clearwater and Wind Cave (1st April 2010)

This morning our plan was to visit Wind and Clearwater caves, these are both guided caves again and rather than get a boat there we decided to walk. When we checked into the park a couple of days ago we were told the walk was about an hour, this morning I was told an hour and a half and as I was waiting at park HQ for Keith another guide told me it was an hour and a half plus!! We were supposed to be there at 9.30am to meet a tour but we left at 8.40am, not looking promising is it? Fortunately there’s another tour at 10.30am and only 4km and 427 steps between us and them!! I can’t wait!! :-) The pathway is really slippery which is making walking even slower but other than that the walk is really pleasant, well that and the steps of course.

Some very beautiful very large butterflies that were everwhere on our walk

A monster snail!

It was quite a trek to the caves and the 427 steps I could certainly have done without but all in all a good trek and all in the name of a good days trekking huh? Oh and good for the thigh muscles I’m hoping.

More Mulu wildlife

In the end we did miss the 9.30 tour by quite a bit but did manage to more than make the 10.30 tour and fortunately for us because the guide we had was very knowledgeable and very interesting, telling us all about the caves and all the formations we were seeing.

The first cave we visited was Wind Cave aptly named because of the wind that blows though it!! :-) The other cave is called Clearwater Cave and at the entrance there’s a unique one leaf plant that grows there which is endemic just to that cave, now that’s pretty amazing I think. It was a lovely cave to visit which had a river running through it which flowed to the outside and to the swimming area. After visiting the cave and spending a bit of time swimming or at least Keith did (I'm afraid I bailed out again), we were hoping to get a ride back on one of the boats that were around! Unfortunately though all the boats were taken and by the time we were ready to leave there weren’t any boats left and just Keith, me and another guy all alone in the forest. John, Keith’s fellow swimmer, is a sound recordist and was hoping to be able to record some great rainforest sounds on the walk back where as we were just hoping for a ride back!!

The endemic plant at the cave entrance

The caves

Another very warm tough climb and lots of steps later and we were back at camp, we had been planning on being back at camp around 1pm so hadn’t taken any food with us apart from a couple of cookies, so by the time we got back to HQ at 3.20pm we were HUNGRY! It was a great walk though, very enjoyable.

Some of the trail on the way to the caves

An emergent tree in the distance

After a relatively quick bite we headed back out to Deer Cave again to see if we can see the great bat exodus which is due to occur. We are serious hard core trekkers today!!

As time was passing very quickly we literally ran to the Deer cave 3.4km away just so we didn’t miss their exit. We managed to get there in plenty of time to find around 30 other people all waiting for the same thing. We then sat there for an hour waiting and waiting and waiting and needless to say after all our best efforts they weren’t going to show tonight either! :-(

Back at the cafe at park HQ a large group came in on a tour group and all sat down together, they all bought a beer together and all ordered their dinner together, then they were all told what their itinerary was for tomorrow together and what time to get up together, I just hope they’re not all going to be snoring together! :-)

Tomorrow morning at 7am sharp and on our last day here we’re going on the canopy walk! I hope Keith’s jet lag has improved some more by then.

Friendly crocodiles! (31st March 2010)

This morning we have decided to take a boat ride to Long Lansat which is a long house just down the river about 45 mins. The plan was to visit the long house and maybe meet with an elder medicine man who would be able to tell us all about what he and the local people use from the forest for different ailments, then we were supposed to go further down river and off on a little tributary to an area where we could walk a little and then have a swim. I asked the guides at the park just as we were boarding our little boat, if there were any crocodiles in the river, to which they replied ‘only friendly ones’!! Well that’s ok then, what are we waiting for? lets go!!

Longhouse life

I’m not sure if there was a communication problem between us and our boat driver or whether he just wasn’t up for the whole expedition, who knows but unfortunately it wasn’t quite the experience I was hoping for. We did visit the long house but it was a real fleeting visit and certainly there was no elder there for us to chat with. There were some local women at the long house going about their daily business and lots of children around but to be honest they didn’t really seem that keen to have us there and it was all a bit awkward but we bought a couple of little things and headed off on the rest of our trip.

Next on the agenda was where we were supposed to carry on further up the river and get out for a short walk and some swimming. We did go further up the river but getting out just didn’t seem to be an option unfortunately and before we knew it we were heading back to park HQ again.

The tributary

The whole trip was undertaken in a boat even smaller than the one I had been on when I was on the jungle trip, so do I need to say quite how this part of the experience was for me. Apart from the continuous adrenalin rush from the boat experience, all in all I was a little disappointed with the trip, it was supposed to be 3 to 4 hours and we were back in 2, oh well these things happen sometimes huh?

Next on our itinerary was a visit to the Puka Waterfall, around a 1.5km walk from the park, although I think actually it might be a 1.5km walk from HQ to the turn off to the waterfall. From there it was a further 45 mins or so going right into the middle of the jungle! I was wearing my trusty Tevas and Keith was wearing his ‘indestructible’ Havaianas, a Brazilian made ‘trendy’ flip flop! As we were right in the forest I was a little concerned about leeches especially as it had been raining here and of course I had left my leech socks back in the room at park HQ!

Jungle plant life

All was going good until we came across some rather soggy muddy parts of the track, this is when the first signs of the indestructible flip flops first started to show their destructible side, however, my Tevas were still going strong. Another 20 mins later and we reached the waterfalls, and although it had been raining it was still the dry season here and the waterfalls which were supposed to be three in number were actually only one right now. Keith decided he was going to go in for a swim and me being me, unless I had a snorkel or a scuba tank attached, decided that swimming just wasn’t an option, so instead I sat on the side and took the photos.

One step into the river and his indestructible flip flops were all of a sudden very much destructible and destructed quite definitely! They did what I’ve seen soooo many others do on so many other people during my trip, the centre thong came out of the base! Throughout though my Tevas were still going strong. :-)

Puka Waterfall

Pretty much as soon as Keith came out of the river and we started to tuck into our lunch the heavens opened and we got to see quite why the rainforest is so named.

We decided to make a hasty retreat just in case the rain carried on all afternoon but of course we still had an hour or so walk back in rainforest that apparently when it rained tended to rain leeches! It was a tense hours walk back (because of leeches) but after close inspection found we had escaped all blood sucking creatures, we did find 1 little critter on the walk back that I though resembled a leech but after taking its picture several times and showing it to one of the guides it turned out it was a harmless huge worm!

In the evening after a bite to eat Keith and I decided to head out on our own ‘rainforest at night’ trek! Fortunately the torch I had, had sufficient battery life whereas the torch Keith had is still in Brighton! Even with these obstacles (:-)) and with my keen eyes we managed to spot a super cute lizard, a huge stick insect, a spider of some description and a praying mantis, not bad for the novice spotter I thought.

The wildlife out on our night trek