Wednesday 22 June
Got the 7:30am bus across the border, out of Brunei and into Malaysia's Sarawak province, arriving here in Miri around lunch time. Had to wait a while for a local bus. Took a while to find the hostel, a couple of the locals, when I asked for directions, backed off as if I had the plague! Not everyone is comfortable speaking English.
I got my hair cut at the Chinese barbers. The Chinese guy was very thorough, especially considering it was just a grade 3 shave.
After lunch I had a bit of a wander round town, but there is not much here, but that's ok. I went up to Canada Hill which was the sight of the first discovery of oil in Malaysia in 1900's. I visited the museum which was quite comprehensive in explaining the science of oil exploration; most of it went over my head.
Thursday 23 June
Last night, in the hostel, I bumped into the Canadian couple (Greg and Shannon) from last week's river trip. They were also heading to Niah today so we arranged to catch the bus together today. But then an Aussie mother and daughter who were also going there had already arranged a 4x4 to take them so we all jumped in with them. Our driver, Luke, is Malaysian but he was adopted by an Aussie couple, from Townsville, in the 1950's and did his schooling and Uni in Australia, where among other things he studied anthropology and visited remote aboriginal communities. He had an English accent and also runs trips into far flung parts of Malaysia.
But the Niah caves are pretty accessible and it only took us 2 hours along the coastal road to get here. We checked into a cheap dorm and then headed toward the Niah caves. First we got a small boat across the narrow river, literally about 40 metres across. We then walked along the boardwalk through the forest, past some odd-looking, jagged limestone for about 3kms.
Just before the Great Cave is the trader's cave, named after those who first collected bat guano (poo) and Swift bird-nests. The poo is processed and used as fertiliser, while the bird nests are made mostly from the bird's saliva and once collected are processed and then eaten with soup by Chinese people in Malaysia and China, after any moss or other bits are removed. It is a lucrative business and the Government tries to regulate the business so there are not too many collectors in the caves.
Around the corner is the huge 250 metre-wide entrance to the Great Cave. It is a big gaping hole and makes you feel very small. We walked down into the cave and up onto another boardwalk and switched on our head lamps. The boardwalk was a bit slippery from the moisture and the bat poo, so it was a good idea to hold on to the wooden railing, although that also sometimes had guano on it too!
So we wandered along and there were parts where sunlight came through and huge rocks cast shadows. And sometimes when I looked up it kind of looked like a gothic cathedral with the shapes of the enormous rocks looking like gargoyles and some rocks like columns inside the huge expanse of cave. At times we could see the reflection of our torches in the bats eyes'.
We walked out of the other end of the cave and down to another boardwalk through a forest and came to the Painted Cave which is much smaller. It is so named because there are ancient cave paintings on some of the walls. They are sealed off behind a fence for preservation but you can see human and animal shapes. There are also some wooden remains of coffin ships that the deceased would be sent off in.
We walked to Rumah Patrick Libau village. I saw my first real 'Longhouse', apparently a 'must see' in Sarawak, but really it is just a very long wooden building on stilts with an open commual area at the front and individual homes beind. So I am not sure if I want to pay for a Longhouse 'tour'. At the edge of village the kids were having sprinting competitions in the field.
Late afternoon we walked back up to the Great Cave entrance hoping to see the evening exodus of thousand of bats, heading out to feed on insects. But we waited until 7:15pm when it was nearly dark, and although we could hear them gathering, and there was a trickle of bats leaving, there was no mass exodus. The same as I experienced in the Phillipines. Again, time was a factor. We had to get back 3kms to the jetty to catch the last boat back across the river. So we gave up and then walked quickly and ran a bit back along the boardwalk through the noisy, dark jungle to the jetty; but we were a bit late so the jetty was unmanned.
So I walked back up the path a bit to a couple of houses and to a guy who said he could take us across the river, I am sure I could see the dollar signs in his eyes as he realised we were stuck. He came back with me to the jetty but just at that time, the Canadians had flagged another boat so we got on that one and he didn't rip us off.
Friday 24 June
A bit of lie-in then, after breakfast, we crossed the river to check out the Niah caves museum. There was lots of information, mostly what we had learned about yesterday. But the best bit was the 40,000 year old skull, the oldest in South-East Asia.
We checked out and got a 4x4 taxi half an hour up to Niah junction to look for a bus to Bintulu, and luckily there was already one there, at a rest stop, so we jumped on and arrived in Bintulu 2 hours later. We made some enquiries about getting to Belaga in a few days, then got a private minibus taxi out here to Similajau National Park. It is on the coast and very peaceful; we seem to be the only visitors here.
Saturday 25 June
Similijau National Park runs parallel to the coast and the private chalets and our hostel are in a wooded area near the beach. Our large wooden hostel has a large foyer which is obviously also used for meetings and conferences as there are tables and chairs set up, and still writing on the whiteboard. But we have the place to ourselves, in fact at night it seems like the perfect setting for a shock horror movie with the emptiness, the huge cicadas bashing into the lights and the ceiling, and the thunder and lightning.
This morning we walked through the forest, north, towards Turtle Beach. The trail is clearly marked by red squares painted on trees as you go along, and it was fairly easy, just hot and sweaty. There are a few bridges across small rivers that run into the sea. Apparently there are sometimes crocs around the river mouths so we kept a lookout and it was a bit spooky at times but we didn't see any; they come out early and late in the day.
The forest was sometimes dense and though we could hear lots of noises we didn't see much wildlife on the way, except a cool hermit-crab-type thing on the forest floor which extended itself out when we picked it up. We took a marked detour off the main trail down to a lookout at the beach. Back on the trail it took longer than expected to walk the 8kms to Turtle Beach 1 but we made it after 2.5 hours.
We only saw one other person on the way, and at the beach there were two local couples. We sat on a fallen tree and had lunch then walked around the headland to Turtle Beach 2 but didn't see any turtles there either so headed back inland to the main trail and headed back towards HQ.
On the way back we saw a lizard, next to a hermit crab. The lizard was green when we first saw it, but as we stood there it changed itself to brown right before our eyes, clearly disguising itself.
It was a long, sweaty but enjoyable walk back, we arrived at HQ about 4pm. I got bitten by an ant stuck between my toes. It really stings for about a minute and then goes numb, then it's ok.
Sunday 26 June
Today was a day of rest. We had decided that we would just sleep in and just potter about, and we did. I got up late, had breakfast then just sat and did some planning and read my book all day.
Got the 7:30am bus across the border, out of Brunei and into Malaysia's Sarawak province, arriving here in Miri around lunch time. Had to wait a while for a local bus. Took a while to find the hostel, a couple of the locals, when I asked for directions, backed off as if I had the plague! Not everyone is comfortable speaking English.
I got my hair cut at the Chinese barbers. The Chinese guy was very thorough, especially considering it was just a grade 3 shave.
After lunch I had a bit of a wander round town, but there is not much here, but that's ok. I went up to Canada Hill which was the sight of the first discovery of oil in Malaysia in 1900's. I visited the museum which was quite comprehensive in explaining the science of oil exploration; most of it went over my head.
Thursday 23 June
Last night, in the hostel, I bumped into the Canadian couple (Greg and Shannon) from last week's river trip. They were also heading to Niah today so we arranged to catch the bus together today. But then an Aussie mother and daughter who were also going there had already arranged a 4x4 to take them so we all jumped in with them. Our driver, Luke, is Malaysian but he was adopted by an Aussie couple, from Townsville, in the 1950's and did his schooling and Uni in Australia, where among other things he studied anthropology and visited remote aboriginal communities. He had an English accent and also runs trips into far flung parts of Malaysia.
But the Niah caves are pretty accessible and it only took us 2 hours along the coastal road to get here. We checked into a cheap dorm and then headed toward the Niah caves. First we got a small boat across the narrow river, literally about 40 metres across. We then walked along the boardwalk through the forest, past some odd-looking, jagged limestone for about 3kms.
Just before the Great Cave is the trader's cave, named after those who first collected bat guano (poo) and Swift bird-nests. The poo is processed and used as fertiliser, while the bird nests are made mostly from the bird's saliva and once collected are processed and then eaten with soup by Chinese people in Malaysia and China, after any moss or other bits are removed. It is a lucrative business and the Government tries to regulate the business so there are not too many collectors in the caves.
Around the corner is the huge 250 metre-wide entrance to the Great Cave. It is a big gaping hole and makes you feel very small. We walked down into the cave and up onto another boardwalk and switched on our head lamps. The boardwalk was a bit slippery from the moisture and the bat poo, so it was a good idea to hold on to the wooden railing, although that also sometimes had guano on it too!
So we wandered along and there were parts where sunlight came through and huge rocks cast shadows. And sometimes when I looked up it kind of looked like a gothic cathedral with the shapes of the enormous rocks looking like gargoyles and some rocks like columns inside the huge expanse of cave. At times we could see the reflection of our torches in the bats eyes'.
We walked out of the other end of the cave and down to another boardwalk through a forest and came to the Painted Cave which is much smaller. It is so named because there are ancient cave paintings on some of the walls. They are sealed off behind a fence for preservation but you can see human and animal shapes. There are also some wooden remains of coffin ships that the deceased would be sent off in.
We walked to Rumah Patrick Libau village. I saw my first real 'Longhouse', apparently a 'must see' in Sarawak, but really it is just a very long wooden building on stilts with an open commual area at the front and individual homes beind. So I am not sure if I want to pay for a Longhouse 'tour'. At the edge of village the kids were having sprinting competitions in the field.
Late afternoon we walked back up to the Great Cave entrance hoping to see the evening exodus of thousand of bats, heading out to feed on insects. But we waited until 7:15pm when it was nearly dark, and although we could hear them gathering, and there was a trickle of bats leaving, there was no mass exodus. The same as I experienced in the Phillipines. Again, time was a factor. We had to get back 3kms to the jetty to catch the last boat back across the river. So we gave up and then walked quickly and ran a bit back along the boardwalk through the noisy, dark jungle to the jetty; but we were a bit late so the jetty was unmanned.
So I walked back up the path a bit to a couple of houses and to a guy who said he could take us across the river, I am sure I could see the dollar signs in his eyes as he realised we were stuck. He came back with me to the jetty but just at that time, the Canadians had flagged another boat so we got on that one and he didn't rip us off.
Friday 24 June
A bit of lie-in then, after breakfast, we crossed the river to check out the Niah caves museum. There was lots of information, mostly what we had learned about yesterday. But the best bit was the 40,000 year old skull, the oldest in South-East Asia.
We checked out and got a 4x4 taxi half an hour up to Niah junction to look for a bus to Bintulu, and luckily there was already one there, at a rest stop, so we jumped on and arrived in Bintulu 2 hours later. We made some enquiries about getting to Belaga in a few days, then got a private minibus taxi out here to Similajau National Park. It is on the coast and very peaceful; we seem to be the only visitors here.
Saturday 25 June
Similijau National Park runs parallel to the coast and the private chalets and our hostel are in a wooded area near the beach. Our large wooden hostel has a large foyer which is obviously also used for meetings and conferences as there are tables and chairs set up, and still writing on the whiteboard. But we have the place to ourselves, in fact at night it seems like the perfect setting for a shock horror movie with the emptiness, the huge cicadas bashing into the lights and the ceiling, and the thunder and lightning.
This morning we walked through the forest, north, towards Turtle Beach. The trail is clearly marked by red squares painted on trees as you go along, and it was fairly easy, just hot and sweaty. There are a few bridges across small rivers that run into the sea. Apparently there are sometimes crocs around the river mouths so we kept a lookout and it was a bit spooky at times but we didn't see any; they come out early and late in the day.
The forest was sometimes dense and though we could hear lots of noises we didn't see much wildlife on the way, except a cool hermit-crab-type thing on the forest floor which extended itself out when we picked it up. We took a marked detour off the main trail down to a lookout at the beach. Back on the trail it took longer than expected to walk the 8kms to Turtle Beach 1 but we made it after 2.5 hours.
We only saw one other person on the way, and at the beach there were two local couples. We sat on a fallen tree and had lunch then walked around the headland to Turtle Beach 2 but didn't see any turtles there either so headed back inland to the main trail and headed back towards HQ.
On the way back we saw a lizard, next to a hermit crab. The lizard was green when we first saw it, but as we stood there it changed itself to brown right before our eyes, clearly disguising itself.
It was a long, sweaty but enjoyable walk back, we arrived at HQ about 4pm. I got bitten by an ant stuck between my toes. It really stings for about a minute and then goes numb, then it's ok.
Sunday 26 June
Today was a day of rest. We had decided that we would just sleep in and just potter about, and we did. I got up late, had breakfast then just sat and did some planning and read my book all day.
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