Our first two weeks have been a whirlwind of excitement! We explored Kuching, the capital of Sarawak (the western state of Malaysian Borneo) before heading off to Bako National Park. Here we saw a variety of wildlife including the silvered leaf monkey, bearded pig, proboscis monkey, flying lemur, as well as various insects and spiders that you hope to see when entering the rainforest. We had a macaque try to break into our dorm room by sliding open the screen and Brad later had half of his breakfast stolen by another one. They are very naughty, but after seeing one macaque grab two aluminum cans, climb to the roof and begin gnawing through them with his teeth, you dare not test them.

We then headed for Niah Caves National Park where we were amazed by the beautiful limestone that appears unexpectedly in the rainforest and makes you feel like you’re on a movie set. We explored Trader’s Cave where you can see the remains of roofless huts made of ironwood which once housed birds’ nest collectors (now, to prevent the extinction of the nests only locals are given the rights to collect the valuable nests, and only at certain times of the year). We then entered the mouth of Great Cave where we heard the swiftlets flying to and fro. We then continued on to Painted Cave, where we saw unearthed remains, small canoe-shaped coffins, and paintings on the wall that date back thousands of years. In fact, the earliest evidence of human life in Asia was found in these caves in the form of a human skull that carbon dating tells us is more than 40,000 years old.

Our next destination was Gunung Mulu National Park eager to see the famous pinnacles. We took a longboat up the Sungai River, and trekked 8km through leech-infested jungle to arrive at our open-air accommodations at Camp 5. Met some friendly people, headed to bed early and rose at 5:30 the following morning to enjoy breakfast before testing our stamina on the 2,000 meter hike to the 1,240 meter viewpoint. Don’t bother doing the math, just believe me that it was a steep climb.

The last 400 meters, a series of spiked rocks, ropes, and iron ladders proved to be the most difficult and exciting. It was an amazing view of the limestone pinnacles that rise out of the forest floor at different heights. Going down was exhaustive, but the swim in the river made it all worthwhile. (Side note: Brad was eager to gain a leech on the trip, I was not. Of course, I picked one up on the walk back. The sucker got through my hiking sock!)

We spent our remaining three nights in Mulu at a homestay. While at the park we also walked the 480 meters of the Canopy Skywalk and learned some interesting stories from our guide. (For example, caterpillars don’t eat the (delicious to you and me) jungle fern because if they do, they will not be able to produce eggs.) We also explored Deer Cave (said to be the world’s largest cave passage) and Lang’s Cave (home to impressive limestone stalagmites and stalactites). We then watched as millions of bats poured out of Deer Cave for their late afternoon feeding. Quite an impressive sight.

We had an amazing time in Sarawak, thanks not only to the things we’ve seen but also the people we’ve met along the way. Malaysians are overly friendly and always eager to help. Smiles and words of welcome, “Selamat datang,” are around every corner. We can only look forward to our future explorations and remain grateful for all that we have done so far.