This is Borneo!

02/02/2012 12:49 PM

70's Miri Hotel Room

Welcome to Miri. So I arrived last night and all I have to say is that this is not a place that westerns frequent very often. Accommodations as well as eateries are not numerous. The accommodations out of lonely planet either do not exist anymore or simply did not respond to my attempts to contact them. I ended up at the Park Hotel. Which, for some weird reason, I have fallen in love with. This place is right out of the seventies and has definitely not been updated since. Complete with the leather headboards, faux-wood floors, and the old carpeting. No doubt this was a high-end place 40 years ago, but now it is completely run down and not a thing has been done to update it aside from the installation of a few well needed air conditioners.  I wouldn’t change it for the world however. I like it. My King-sized bed with an old extra soft mattress, my lime green 70s mini fridge, and a bathroom that reminds me of that from the Trainspotting. Like I said, however, I wouldn’t change a thing. It’s cheap and right downtown. With that said, being downtown in Miri does not mean all that much. There’s simply not a lot to do or see here. For that reason, I am happy I am only spending two nights here. It’s nice to see for a day but that is about it.

So my flights yesterday went well. I say flights, because it turned out that I had booked an indirect flight to Miri from Kuching; stopping in Sibu and Bintalu on the way. So my 150+ km flight turned into a three hour bus ride. I call it a bus, because well, that's pretty much what the plane I was flying in was. Literally a bus with some wings and propellers attached. Weather however held up well so I can't complain on that front at least. It was pretty cool actually, the plane only had about 60 seats, only about half of which were full. Bintulu was a pretty cool stop actually and I considered getting off there. This is, I believe, where the oil refineries of Brunei begin as numerous oil workers, marked by their once-piece yellow jumpsuits, got on. 

Not much else to report on other than that. My hotel does not have internet and all the places that advertise “free-WiFi” I can't seem to connect to, so this week will not see much activity. I doubt I will have WiFi in Mulu. Most likely I will have to wait until I get to KK to do any real posting. 

Miri itself does not have very much at all, so I will be happy to move inland to Mulu which will at least have some trekking to do. My only present concern is that I do not know what time my flight it at tomorrow due to the fact that I cannot seem to log onto my email. If I don’t succeed today, I will just head to the airport around 7 AM tomorrow (I know that my flight leaves sometime between 8AM and 10Am).

Grrrr I still can’t connect to the internet. I know it works, because I am connected, it is just so slow that it wont load anything.... First World Problems right?

My arrival in Mulu

03/02/2012 7:38 AM

Flying to Mulu National Park this morning; early wake up to get to the airport. My flight is only about thirty minutes, but I have yet to arrange transport from the airstrip to my hostel. Hopefully, there will be taxis, otherwise I may be in some trouble. So not much is new since I checked in last night, hopefully there will be internet at my hostel, but I think it is unlikely. Anyways...

More to come later.

03/02/2012 10:51 AM

Mulu - Sunset in the Rainforest

So I’ve just arrived; was able to check into my hostel early and it quite nice. Well it’s not Kuching, but it’s definitely a lot better than Bako. I booked accommodations outside of the park to save money and expected to be a kilometer or so from the park. The lodge is located literally, at the entrance to the park, not more than 50m so I scored on that front.

This place is so much different from Bako and I mean that in the best possible way. There are much fewer tourists here and thankfully no Chinese tourist who seem to have a habit of perpetually being on their cell phones no matter how deep into the jungle they are. This place caters solely to hikers and outdoorsy people. People who come here come to hike; like really hike. 

My flight in was good, no rough landings as the weather is sunny and 30+ degrees. The airport was not so much an airport, but rather a landing strip with a small building which serves as the terminal. You fly in and there are no paved roads below you, only jungle with the odd logging road. The airport is less than a kilometer from the park and the journey in was pretty cool. 

Mulu Canopy Walk - Me

My plan for today as it stands is to do the Canopy walk this morning and the bat caves in the afternoon/evening. Apparently, the caves are done in the evening so that you see the exodus of the bats from the caves. I'm looking forward to both. There is a chance that I will do the Pinnacles tomorrow and the next day, but that is dependent on finding other people to do it with. The official park tours are full, but the manager at the lodge has two other guests who are interested in doing it, so the three of us may get a “freelance” guide and do it. This is a 3 day/2 night trek; which would be totally awesome. Money, however, does go fast here. Given that everything has to come in by air, there is a huge mark-up on everything. There are no ATMs here, but I am confident that I have brought enough cash to get me through the days I am to spend here. 

Can you say Remote?

This place is really quite spectacular. I am literally surrounded by rainforests on every side with no access roads. The only way in or out is by plane; and by plane, I mean a bus with wings. I was, however, upgraded to business class for my 28 minute flight here. However, this does not entitle you to much other than extra leg room and an English newspaper. After takeoff and landing, you are really only in the air for about 10 minutes. 

That’s all for now; power here is limited, and is only turned on between 5pm and 12 AM, so I'm going to shut off my laptop to save some juice for later. 

03/02/2012 11:33 AM

I know I said I was going to turn my laptop off, but I need to write about this while its fresh. I am sitting in possibly the most relaxing place on earth. It’s a little restaurant that is nestled in the jungle that sits on a ledge that overlooks the river 20 feet below. It’s got a bar (not one that serves alcohol, but one rather with stools) that overlooks the water. There is nothing but the sounds of the forest and the water. It’s pure peace. 

04/02/2012 11:33 AM

What a wonderful place Mulu is. Yesterday was spectacular and this morning has been fantastic. Yesterday was comprised of my canopy walk as well as Deer and Lang Caves.  The canopy walk was really cool. Essentially; a half kilometer walk about 30 m in the air that’s about a foot wide. 

After that I met up with another tour group in did Deer and Lang Caves. These were spectacular! These are some of the biggest caves in the world. Words cannot describe them, and pictures did not come out all that well. Deer cave has a population of about 4 million bats. The floors are covered with guano and the subsequent cultures of rodents and insects that survive within it. Between 4:30 and 6 PM there is a daily exodus of all the bats. However, it rained last night, and we did not get to witness it. I will head up again tonight to hopefully catch it. 

Mulu Canopy Walk

After this I hiked back from the amphitheater (an arrangement for watching the bat exodus) in the dark, pouring rain. This was an ultimate experience. The path is dimly light, but I fortunately had my headlamp with me. The jungles get dark at night, very, very dark; with the torrential rains and thunder it made for quite the experience.

On return to my hostel, I met an Australian who I had dinner with and subsequently hiked with this morning. There was talk about attempting a pinnacle trek, but at nearly RM 600 and insufficient time, it would not have been possible. Was a spectacular day.

This morning I woke up and had breakfast, which is included in my hostel price, with the same Australian. We hiked to the Moonmilk cave and explored that together. This was another fantastic journey through dense rainforest. The ground was still wet from the rains we received last night which made it slippery climbing up the limestone steps which are carved into the mountain. The cave itself is literally a tunnel under a limestone mountain. 

Internet and power access is nearly non-existent here. There is no internet except for the one computer in the gift shop and power is only turned on in my hostel between 5 PM and midnight as it all runs of a generator. I am trying to keep up with my writing even though my laptop is dead most of the time. 

The days here are incredibly hot and disgustingly humid. I am perpetually sweating and always soaked to the bone. The atmosphere here, however, makes it totally worth it. So like I said, I went out this morning and hiked for about three hours. Got back just before noon and haven't done much since. Like Saigon, between about 11 AM and 3PM its just too hot to do anything. I will go on my second trek at about three up to watch the bird exodus. This is a 7+ km hike, return, so it will make for a nice evening. Hopefully the rain will hold off.

That's all for now; more to come later when the power is turned on.

05/02/2012 1:59 PM

I love Mulu; it’s majestic, peaceful and utterly relaxing. Woke up late this morning, it was really hot last night and the fan in my room didn’t do much in aiding my sleep. Had breakfast at the lodge and went off to the park around 9:30 AM. I’ve already got a favorite hike here, which is a 7.4 km out and back hike to Deer and Lang caves. With my stop at the observatory, it took about 2 ½ hours at a peaceful pace. The weather was nice this morning and not too hot. Only about 27 degrees with a cloudy sky; the forest remained relatively cool from the heavy rains last night. What a wonderful morning. I plan to do the same hike again this afternoon/evening to watch the exodus again tonight. 

Last night’s exodus was a sight to be seen; millions of bats exiting the caves. It was not entirely what I had expected but nonetheless very fascinating. They don’t all come out at once. Rather, they come out it groups of a few hundred thousand at a time forming a cork-screw formations in the air. There are definitely a lot of bats. I think my favorite part of the three hour affair is the walk back from the observatory in the dark; it’s even more peaceful than during the day and the night adds something of a mysticism and unknown aspect to the experience.  It is just simply spectacular. 

Mulu - Bat Exodus

That was last night, this evening will be something similar, however, it has been raining on and off today, so I am not certain the bats will emerge, but I am going to make the journey up there as it is enjoyable nonetheless.

My flight out of here is at 9:30 tomorrow which will allow me a relaxing morning in my lodge. The three nights I am spending here are fantastic; without any overnight trips into the jungle, three days of hiking is ample time to see the park. If one is willing to spend the cash on going deep into the jungle, you can spend weeks exploring the depths of the rainforest.

Tomorrow I will head back to Miri for a night; a night that I am not looking forward to all that much as Miri is a pretty boring place. I will be staying at the Miri Trail Guesthouse which is just opposite the airport which is said to be one of the best hostels in Miri. This however does not say much given that its Miri. I look forward to my arrival in KK for numerous reasons, one of which I am to meet up with a friend from Montreal for a few days. I am not sure how long I will spend in KK before heading to Mt Kinabalu. I, unfortunately, do not think my plan to climb on the 23^rd will work out as I will be arriving in KK 16 days prior to it and I don’t have the intention of spending that much time there. Rather, I think I will more likely climb around the 16^th and head to Bali sometime around the 21^st. But who really knows, plans tend to change pretty quickly. 

I am very happy to have come to Mulu; ecstatic even, and will have very mixed feelings about leaving here after three nights. Someday I will definitely return, as this is some of the nicest and most rewarding hiking I have ever done. The remoteness of this location has both its ups and downs. It is a very nice respite from the hustle and bustle of Vietnam and even the rest of Malaysia, but you are indeed cut off from the rest of the world. Power is close to non-existent within my lodge, there is no such thing as water pressure, and don’t even ask about internet; but perhaps this adds to the charm. It has been very, very nice for the days I have spent here, and I will definitely come back to explore the depths of these jungles, but I will definitely cherish the few days I spend in KK before heading back into the forest at Mt Kinabalu. I take that back, there are no negative aspects about this place. The lack of modern facilities, I think, is what makes it special; what gives you that feeling that you really are in the depths of the jungle with little connection to the outside world. 

It is utterly peaceful here. My lodge has a giant covered dining room/lounge that serves up local food. The lodge itself is built up on stilts right next to the river. It is raining now and the drops make for an enjoyable pitter-patter on the metal roof. Wild chickens wander around. Fog rolls off the mountains, uncovering their peaks, observable from where I sit. The landscape is right out of Jurassic Park. Mystical fog, heavy rains in the evening, lush jungle everywhere one looks, and humidity. This is Borneo. This is paradise for all things adventurous. 

05/02/2012 7:15 PM

I am one exhausted SOB. Put in about 18km today; not much elevation, but with the humidity you feel it at the end of the day. I hiked up to camp 1 this afternoon which is on the way to Mulu summit. Technically, I was supposed to have a guide, but I don’t really see the necessity. It was really quite nice. The trail starts off passing a waterfall and a river crossing. You then begin to climb up gradually. The hike took about 2.5 hours up and another 2 down at a gentle pace. Not much of a view from the camp, but was definitely a nice hike.

Mulu - Sunset

Don’t plan to do all that much tonight; might splurge and spend a few dollars on a couple of beers for the second time since being in Malaysia, with the Australian I’ve been chilling with for the last couple of days. 

In other news, I may spend the RM 750 to spend the night on Mt Kinabalu. I failed to take into account the elevation of the mountain. At 6 000 M, breathing up there is going to be hard, very hard. Anyways, just a thought.

It’s not raining yet, but the nightly thunder and lightning has rolled in. Not much else to report; going to enjoy my last evening here before heading back to the nothingness that is Miri.