Sept 3-8
Hi All,
In doing our research and talking with people we found that the more popular attractions in Miri were the caves……so caving we went!!! We did a day trip to the Niah Caves and then a 3D/2N trip to Gunung Mulu……in total we did 6 caves……all excellent!!!
“Miri is a coastal city in northeastern Sarawak, Malaysia, located near the border of Brunei, on the island of Borneo. Miri is the second largest city in Sarawak, with a population of 358,020 as of 2016. Miri was founded in 1910 when the first oil well was drilled by Royal Dutch Shell. The discovery of an oil field in Miri has led to rapid development of Miri town. Miri became the administrative centre of the northern region of Sarawak by 1929. During World War II, the Miri oil fields were destroyed by the Brooke government to sabotage Japanese operations in Southeast Asia but to no avail; Miri town was the first landing point of Japanese troops in Borneo. The subsequent Japanese occupation led Miri to become a target of Allied air raids which caused the destruction of oil refinery facilities in Miri. The petroleum industry continued to be a major player in the city’s economy after the war. Oil exploration has moved offshore since the 1950s, but subsequently new inland oil fields were found in 1989 and 2011. In 1974, the formation of Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas led to co-operation between Petronas and Shell on oil exploration in the Miri region. In 2005, Miri became the 10th city in Malaysia to be granted official city status, the first non-state capital city to be bestowed such status.”
Niah Caves: “Known for the site where a 40,000 year old human remains were discovered, Niah National Park offers jungle walk, Iban longhouse and cave experiences. Niah National Park provides some interesting and impressive sights. The area was a major centre of human settlement as early as 40,000 years ago, and features one of the world’s largest cave entrances, Palaeolithic and Neolithic burial sites and iron-age cave paintings. The nearby Painted Cave houses wall-paintings depicting the boat journey of the dead into the afterlife, along with remnants of “death-ships” on the cave floor – boat-shaped coffins (its contents have been transferred to the Sarawak Museum).”
Can you imagine 40,000 years ago……holy Cave Man!!!! Unfortunately the day we went was another public holiday and the museum was closed so we did not get to see the actual skull which is actually in many fragments…..I mean hard to stay together that long:)))) Besides the fascinating features of this limestone cave…..which btw is a dead cave as no more water is creating the stalactites and stalagmites……there are many bats and bird nests built by Swiftlets. About 120 families still own the cave and thus have rights to collect the bat guano and bird nests…..we saw guys carrying 100 lb bags of bat and bird poop to fertilize their farms…..strong men!!! And we saw many ropes and bamboo poles, some going up over 100 yards…..yes….as in 200-300’……all to collect the bird nest. The Chinese process the nests supposedly for various medicinal purposes. A family can earn up to RM30,000 or ~USD7,000 collecting these nests…..so a very lucrative venture……but certainly for the young!!! They only collect the nests at night so we only saw one guy building his ropes/platform but not collecting anything.
We walked about 9 miles that day in very hot, humid and at times rainy weather…..we were absolutely soaked…..yep, seeing the world one sweat drop at a time:))) There are actually 3 caves…..Traders Cave where the Chinese traders setup to purchase the bird nests, the Great Cave with all the bats and birds…..we could actually see the bats and nests as sometimes the ceilings and walls were very close…..and last was the Painted Cave…..where there are many rock paintings…..maybe 2-3,000 years old…..unfortunately the paintings have faded and are actually quiet hard to see:(((
Gunung Mulu: So…..the next day we set out for Mulu…….the only way to get there is by plane……we get to the airport around 8:30am, get checked in…..the flight is late due to low clouds in Mulu…..then we board, we get to Mulu 30 min later….but there are still low clouds, we circle waiting….so how much fuel do we have……after 15 min the pilot announces that due to low clouds and not being able to see the runway…..no instrument landings here, all visual…..and for safety reasons…ie, low on fuel, we are returning to Miri…..great……say, we do have an afternoon tour scheduled…..no problem, this happens all the time….we will get you on the afternoon flight in time for your cave tour…..oh, and here is a lunch voucher….ok, we sit and have a horrible chicken burger lunch….2pm comes and goes…..finally at 2:45pm we board…..we get to Mulu around 3:30ish….we meet our guide…..sorry too late for afternoon tour but wait, we have rearranged everything……you will do 2 caves in the am, lunch, canopy tour, then 2 caves late afternoon…..say Anul, do we look like 20 somethings…..all that in one day???…he looks us over critically…..you did Niah Caves yesterday……yes……then no problem, you can do this…..ok, just have the beer/wine iced down when we get back….say, hun, you did bring the Advil, right!!!!
So….off to the Marriott we go….yes, as in THE Marriott…..not sure why a Marriott is here in the middle of a rainforest but no complaints…..they say 5 star but hey, it’s a Marriott…..maybe a 4 star but what the heck….clean, comfortable room with a running hot shower……hadn’t had one of those since April…..it was decadence to let the hot water just run and run. They had buffets for dinner and breakfast…..the food was above average….some excellent some not so….
Heres more info if you want: https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Gunung_Mulu_National_Park
We are up and out by 8:15am……we do the Wind and Clearwater caves in the am along with seeing a Penan village (bought a small blow pipe:))), then a packed picnic lunch, then a canopy tour at 1-3pm and then the Lang and Deer Caves late afternoon…..we did 11 miles that day…..all in hot, humid and rainy weather……we are back by 6:30pm…..yep, I had a double scotch that night to celebrate:))))
But, wow….as caves go, these were spectacular…..all dripping water with some outstanding limestone features. The Lang Cave probably had the most dramatic features while the Deer Cave had supposedly the world’s largest cavern….yep, it gets my vote!!!! The Deer Cave also is home to 2-3million bats……they eat 15 tons of insects/day….nope, no mosquito bites at all……at dusk the bats all come out to play and it is quite a site……but, they only come out in clear weather…..no rain for these guys……so, you guess it….Mr Weather at it again……we had sunny weather until the canopy walk….it rained as we were going but then cleared as we did the tour….then late afternoon it got dark and as we exited the last cave it rained buckets. They have a shelter where maybe 50 people were waiting for the bat exodus so we headed to the shelter and found a few chairs….and, they have cold beer….ok, LIG!!! But it kept raining so no bat show tonight…..whaaaaa!!! But, we reminded ourselves of seeing the gazillion fruit bat exodus we witnessed several times in Indonesia but still, it would have been nice to see this one too….whaaaaa!!!
We both had a very long shower then had several drinks with our favorite bar tender…..BeeBee…..she has a much longer and beautiful name but this was easier to say…..then a nice buffet dinner and then sleep of the dead…..11 miles and maybe 60 stories…..whoa!! The next morning was clear so no issues getting our morning flight back to Miri!!
The Plan: Well, we can not find very many people that are encouraging us to go to Brunei…..in fact many people say skip it. And, Kathy is quite concerned about security. Two of the Rally boats 2 months ago had break-ins and many items stolen while they were off touring. And, they were with other boats…..we will be on our own and well, Mystic would be a prime target….ugh!!! But, we want to see the Sultan Palace, maybe the most impressive Mosque in all SE Asia, the river village and the oil museum……so, our Niah Cave guide, Omar suggested we do a day trip from Miri…really, we can do that and see most everything…yep…..Omar is now Kathy’s most favorite guide.
Today, Friday, we went to the marina office to settle up…..cost was USD17/day for 8 days including water and power….sweet as!!! Captain Fin, the marina and harbor manager looked at our papers as we thought we were cleared to Labuan and did not need to do anything here in Miri…..au contraire….we did not have the yellow customs clearance paper from Kuching…..but, the Customs people in Kuching said they did not need to see us….yes, I know but they are wrong…..so, fill out these forms and I will take you to Immigration and Customs…..ok….but, it is 11:15 and all offices close at 11:30 for mid-day prayers……I’ll pick you up at your boat and take you at 2pm…..really, wow…..this Malaysian hospitality is indeed impressive. So at 2pm we go to Immigration…..stamp, stamp, here you go…..we then go to Customs…yikes, the man was very cranky that we did not have the yellow form from Kuching…..after a difficult conversation he used the form from Tioman and issued us a clearance from Miri……but he scowled at us the whole time…..sorry, mea culpa:((((( From there Captain Fin dropped us off at a hypermart where we got some nice fresh veggies/fruit…..then a short taxi ride back to Mystic!!!
Tonight we went to a marina happy hour….there are maybe 3-4 boats here long-term and maybe another 3-4 boats cruising like us…..it was nice to meet the various people and share stories!!!!
Saturday we will do our day trip to Miri……like an 11 hour day…..whoa. Then Sunday we will leave around noon…..have to wait for the tide to be up and give us enough water to get out of the marina……we will go about 40nm and anchor along the Brunei coast and then get up early Monday to go another 60nm to Victoria on Labuan Island.
Yep….staying busy but loving Borneo!!!
Hope all is well!!!
John
Mystic Noon
Miri Sarawak on Borneo
PS: Lots of pictures in the Gallery: https://mysticmoonvoyages.com/photo-gallery/nggallery/main-album/Miri,-Niah-and-Mulu-Caves
PSS: Our prayers go out for the people in the Caribbean…..so many of our favorite places in the BVI’s and other islands completely wiped out by Irma……so very sad!!!
