Brand new government building in Kuching

Arriving in Kuching after a big night and a day spent stealing internet in Miri airport was like a breath of fresh air. Cool breeze, tourist shops and the promise of delicious food, I excited to explore and taste this new place but unfortunately my body said no. This holiday was an opportunity for me to unwind from Sydney reality and up til now I haven’t done much relaxing. Although I really wanted to see what Kuching had to offer, I end up spending much of my time in bed, watching gossip girl and catching up on sleep.

I did have a few outings, but unfortunately not many were delicious-food related. My lack of appetite was enhanced by Malaysian heat and humidity that the rainforest had shielded me from for the past few days.

Kuching Kolo Mee

Happily I was staying in a lovely hostel Lodge 121 that happened to be just next door to a jail, wonderful views. A manager there, Jair, helped, advised and even drove me to the airport with his wife and two gorgeous kids. There don’t seem to be any seatbelt rules in Malaysia, we are speeding down the highway with a two year old sitting on the centre console and a six year old standing in the back. You better believe I was uncomfortable.

I’m sad that I missed out on the wonders of Kuching, so I guess I’ll just have to come back.

Deer Cave, Mulu National Park

Caves. It is very easy to get caved out on the South East Asia tourist trail. They’re dank, wet, slippery, full of guano and the resulting guano-eating insects and of course guano-producing bats and not conducive to taking good photos. But there are positive points too, they’re cool, some stalacmites look like deformed little people stacked on top of each other, and some feel very calm.

Deer Cave, Mulu National Park

Some people come to Mulu to go caving. Swim underwater and resurface in an entirely new cave type caving. Caving where you need a whole huge set of specialised rubberised gear and waterproof bags. Not me, uh uh. I’m happy enough to dodge the guano, try not to fall on my arse and attempt to get a few at least interesting photos.

Wind Cave, Mulu National Park - I can’t help but pick faces out of these towers.

So I visited the four different show caves at Mulu. Clearwater and wind caves by boat with 4 Singaporean sisters and one of their sons. Those ladies were hilarious, talented, lovely and considerate, great tour buddies.

Clearwater Cave, Mulu National Park

The next day was Deer and Lang’s Cave, and boy where they different. Deer cave is the largest natural cave in the world (though they did discover a new one in Vietnam that is bigger, but it isn’t official just yet). Full of bats, this cave is like a sports stadium, but bigger. The shapes and textures inside are quite amazing, but it is so lovely to step back out into the sunlight again.

Deer Cave, Mulu National Park

Yeah, they’re pretty and interesting and all, but I just can’t get excited about writing this post. I am truly caved out.

Lang Cave, Mulu National Park

Staying in the hostel at Mulu National Park felt a little like being on a school camp. In the best possible way of course, there were no sheets to fill in, no assessment plus there was beer. Well actually, there was a questionnaire and the presence of beer was somewhat tenuous.

Basically there is a big group of people staying in the same place, eating in the same place and going on little tours into the rainforest. I did a few of these little guided walks, caves mostly and then came the terrifying Canopy Skywalk. I tend to block things out, not thinking about my impending dental surgery until I’m counting backwards from 100. So I signed up for this aptly named skywalk, got up and met my group at 7am and wandered into the rainforest. I’d heard great things about this walk and was really excited, but I failed to consider the fact that this was a canopy sky walk. A series of rickety suspension bridges, and the longest one in the world, metres off the ground. Flights of stairs to get up there, flights. Did not consider any of this before I was confronted with it, head on, and my heart (and stomach) dropped and I remembered why I’d never done anything like this before: I’m afraid of heights (and quite possibly mentally disabled).

Do you see how high up this is?

These bridges are up high, we were told how high but I closed my ears, and only 2 people are allowed on a bridge at any one time. That first step out was alright,  heart pounding and mouth dry, at the halfway point of the first stretch my knees weakened and I felt terror in my belly. There was no one else on this segment, that rocking was my own shuddering. I couldn’t go on, but turning back would require me to physically turn around on this tightrope. Why the hell did I do this? The next viewing platform is so close I can almost taste it, so I keep going forward, step, crunch, step, crack (did I mention that this bridge is noisy?). Elated at having made it this far I breathed in the quiet of the forest and just watched.

With each completed segment the next got easier to handle, I was almost enjoying myself though I was never able to relax, and you better believe that most of my photos turned out blurry.

I am exhilarated to have been able to conquer my fear for a few hours and I’m sure that it has something to do with travelling alone. Ordinarily I would have been able to fall into a crumpled tearful heap and I’d have been saved, but this time I was all alone, no one to lean on but myself. No one to save me, so I took a deep breath and stepped into the abyss.

There is a (very small) chance that visiting Malaysia during the Monsoon season was not  the greatest idea ever.

Lucky though, my flight to Mulu National Park was not cancelled and I arrived in a break in the weather. Despite the monsoon, the mornings are dry, so I did get to see things and terrify myself (more on that later).
First things first though, some pictures.

Tiny wild orchids near the hostel

Camouflaged spider - and no, this isn’t the terrifying I mentioned earlier

Backpackers live in constant fear of being ripped off. It becomes second nature to scrimp, save and search endlessly for a better deal, a cheaper beer, a saving anywhere. So when a strange manager in your hostel suggests that you stay with his cousin in a ‘homestay’ at you next destination for significantly cheaper then the next best alternative, what do you do? Well, that whole scene gives me the creeps, so I stick to my pre-arranged hostel bed in Mulu National Park HQ.

Regardless, the cousin picks me up from the airport to take me to destination HQ and points out his place on the way, complete with a patio full of smiling backpackers. It doesn’t occur to me until I’m stuck alone in the park cafe, cut off from the outside world by a torrential downpour that I should have checked his place out while I had the chance.

It is monsoon season here in the jungle, I sit and wait it out in this huge empty cafe. There are only two other beds taken in the dorm, and I was on the last flight of the day. This looks like it is going to be a boring and lonely 4 days. At this point in time a ray of light seems to be shining on this whole homestay business, and I’m running out of money in this no ATM town.

Finally the rain dies down, in the darkening dusk I grab my camera and wander out past the office, over the suspension bridge rocking and rolling with every footfall. I step on to the patio, past the once smiling, now drunk backpackers and ask the lady behind the desk about the homestay. “No, that is next door”. Hopes shattered, this is just a cafe. I don’t see much next door, nor further down the road - just trees laden with rambutan and Malaysians riding their motorbikes through puddles, yelling hello to me. So back to the lonely, empty hostel it is.

I wander back slowly, the rain took the heat away, taking pictures and arrive at the dorm to find I’ve already met my two room mates, back in the crazy cat lady hostel in Miri. Things are looking up.