Sunday, August 18, 2013

Gunung Mulu Park


The flight was called to Mulu and only seven of us got up to board the plane. It was a small plane with propellers (sorry don't know which plane) but could easily take 40 people and we were the only ones getting on as if it was our private plane.

It was a wonderful flight because not only were we flying low, it was very good visibility and we could move from side to side and really take in the amazing scenery of Brunei and the coast - not forgetting the extra packets of peanuts too!

The other Taiwanese family were also staying at our homestay and it was just beside the very small airport of Mulu. D'Cave is a very nice homestay, cheap, clean and serves the best breakfasts ever! The mixed dorm consisted of 10 of us and the cats who seemed to come and sleep on my bed.

There were other rooms too and it was a lovely friendly atmosphere of travellers coming and going. On our first day we had booked to do the Garden of Eden Walk which had been recommended to me. When we went to register the man took one look at us and explained how difficult it was and did we think we could do it!!

Well of course we did but as a safety precaution they sent another guide in case one of us had to be brought back! The 8 of us plus the 2 guides set off at 9.30 and the first challenge was to walk and climb through Deer Cave, which is the largest cave in the world I believe, with a height of 148 m and 142 m width in places and about 1 km long.

It is truly spectacular and words or photos can hardly do justice to its immense size. There used to be lots of deer who used it for shelter and salt but of course they have all been hunted now.

It was a challenging climb not helped by the slippery rocks but we made it through to the other side and the Garden of Eden. We then had to follow the river and eventually start climbing up into the hills to the destination of a beautiful waterfall.

We had a swim, lunch and then headed back again. We went a different way through the Deer Cave which involved walking through water. Our guide said it was up to our chest and just to hold our bags up, when suddenly he completely disappeared in front of me and then I found myself "swimming" trying to keep my bag dry.

The next stage we gave our bags to the other guide and this time we just swam through the river and it was great.

Continue reading (Incl. Pics) at: Gunung Mulu Park
.
.