Mulu, Sarawak, East Malaysia

The "planning" for this trip started very last-minute for the biggest Chinese holiday season, Chinese New Year. Wes has just returned from work in New Zealand on the night of Feb 2nd. Business closed for Chinese New Year at noon on Feb 4th. We had to think fast. We had 36 hours. Wes started calling tour agencies listed in the news paper. "Do you have any last minute cancellations from Singapore to anywhere during Chinese New Year?" Many responded in their Singlish style, "no more already." One place said, "Bangkok have. Only Bangkok." Another place said, "Colombo and Bali." "Isn't there rioting and violence in Bali right now?" Wes inquired. "Other people are going." Pass.

What do we do? Masami suggested a research trip to the Boarders bookstore travel guide section that evening instead of a hasty decision to fly to Sri Lanka, Bangkok, or Bali. After some study, Colombo was out. The good memories of Sabah in East Malaysia on the island of Borneo (see Mt. Kinabalu) held strong as we continued to browse through guide books. It was decided. The next morning we'd try to get a flight into any city in East Malaysia. In the worst case, we'd figure out something to do in West Malaysia by train or car. With one hour to spare before noon on the 4th, we got tickets to our first choice flight destination, Miri, which is the only point from which the Gunung Mulu National Park can be reached by air or boat. The next challenge was to find transport to Mulu, a guide, and lodging. The Malaysia Rough Guide http://www.roughguides.com to the rescue. By 08:30 on the 5th in the Singapore Airport, 15 minutes prior to departure for Miri, Wes found a tour operator who didn't mind getting woken up on his holiday to receive some business. Two hours in Miri with the tour agent and we were heading to Mulu with park permits, air tickets, and a guide awaiting our arrival. The day couldn't have turned out better. If you ever need travel assistance in East Malaysia, contact Borneo Adventure.

We were met by Ricky, a guide for Borneo Adventure, at the Mulu Airport. A three minute truck ride took us to Park Headquarters.

Suspension bride into the Mulu National Park Headquarters. That's Masami walking across.

The rain poured for 10 hours during our first night in the Mulu park. The next morning revealed the resulting floods.

The river that's normally 2 meters below the embankment rose 3 meters and flooded the entire region. This is looking from the Park Headquarters across the suspension bridge to the restaurant that doubles as the local hang-out.
A huge volume of soil and trees was washed away overnight. This tree with apple-sized inedible fruit growing from its trunk was spared.

That morning, we traveled by boat to nearby caves.

Mulu has the largest limestone cave system in the world. Of the numerous caves in Mulu, only 4 are open to the public. This is Wind Cave. Notice the rough stalagmite surface untouched by curious human hands. The caves are preserved remarkably well and worth of visit.

The afternoon held an 8 km walk along a flooded path through the jungle to Camp 5, our departure point to reach the limestone Pinnacles we came to see in Mulu. Because of the heightened water, some sections of the path became a walk through the river with water reaching knee level. We discovered that trekking though the foliage to avoid deep mud and water gave leeches the opportunity to slime onto a new blood providing host (us!).

Camp 5 where we spent 2 nights in an open shelter. The flowing river became our wash room. We bathed while breathing fresh air and gazing at the beautiful mountains; the ultimate way to relax and forget about civilization.
The distance from Camp 5 to the Pinnacle lookout is a short 2.4 km, but it's the most difficult short hike we've ever done. The terrain is steep, wet, and slippery. Up was strenuous. Down was torture. After slipping on tree roots and wet rocks for hours, our feet felt little different than having been hit repeatedly with a stick.
The Pinnacles!

We made it to the pinnacle lookout. The short 2.4 km up took a full 3 hours.
The pinnacles are formed from the erosion of a solid block of limestone that gradually dissolves from the constant splatter of raindrops.

After our second night at Camp 5, we returned to Park Headquarters. The river had dropped to normal levels leaving fallen trees and boats on high ground. The following day, we went bug watching and visited two more caves.

Deer Cave has an interesting formation resembling the profile of Abraham Lincoln. More notably, Deer Cave has the largest cave passage in the world. It's 2 km long and 174 meters high. The inside of the cave is putrid with bat droppings from the 2 million bats hanging from the ceiling.
Lang Cave is next to Deer Cave, and like the other accessible caves, it's well preserved from tourist damage.

Prices:

Through Borneo Adventure: RM 800 / person including round trip air fare between Miri and Mulu, 4 day guide, 3 nights lodging, boat transport, park fees, cave fees, all meals. There are additional costs for drinks (RM 2 / canned drink and RM 6 / 1.5 liter of bottled water) and camera permit (RM 5) or video permit  (RM 10).

On your own:
Air fare between Miri and Mulu: RM 74 one way.
Park permit: free
Park entrance fee: RM 3 / adult and RM 1 / child
Wind and Clearwater Cave fee: RM 18 for a group of 1-5 people
Deer and Lang Cave fee: RM 18 for a group of 1-5 people
Walk through Deer Cave: RM 18 for a group of 1-5 people
Pinnacle hike permit: RM 110 for a group of 1-5 people
Park Headquarters Hostel bed: RM 8 per night
Park Headquarters double room: RM 63 per night
Camp 3, 4, and 5: RM 8 per night
Hired guide: RM 6 per hour for a group of 1-5 people
Boat transport from Park Headquarters to the trail leading towards the pinnacles: RM 350 round trip for 1-4 people

The advantage of arranging everything on your own: it's cheaper.
Disadvantage of being on your own: carry your own food, inability to use camp cooking facilities, camp shelter sleeping cushions are reserved for travelers who booked through a tour company.