An adhoc trip, unplanned, to fix my adventure cravings.
This is one of my fun ways of travelling, going “Eeny meeny miny moe, where do I go tomorrow?” I thought about the island on the East Coast of Peninsula Malaysia but then I guessed it would be busy in August. Borneo came to my mind. I thought it would be nice exploring Sabah or Sarawak again. I almost fell asleep when Mulu National Park came to my feed on my computer!
I rang the Mulu National Park Headquarters the very next morning, booked my flight and accommodation. That’s how easy it is for me when it comes to travelling! I didn’t do any research at all. I knew about Mulu and I thought it’ll be great anyway. That’s just the way I roll 
I packed the essentials to go trekking not knowing what exactly I wanted to do.
Gunung Mulu National Park, 52,865 hectares in size, is well known for its spectacular caves. To give you an idea, that is about three quarter the size of Singapore!
The national park is important for both biodiversity and its karst features and is home to Sarawak Chamber, the world’s largest underground chamber. The Sarawak Chamber, an astounding 70m high, 700m long and 400m could fit 40 Boeing 747 aircrafts wing to wing! Deer Cave, the world’s largest cave passage and Clearwater Cave, the longest cave in South East Asia are also located in Mulu National park. The caves, cliffs, gorges and rock pinnacles are limestone formations dating from between 17 and 40 million years ago.
Exploring the caves, cold, dark and wet, and surrounded by strange creepy crawlies and piles of bat guano isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but I swear this experience was so phenomenal. Imagine walking through this absolutely incredible nature’s wonders knowing everything in it has been formed from over 17 million years ago…. I find it hard to describe the uniqueness of the caves. The limestone, stalagmites and stalactites formation are so fascinating that some looked like they’ve been carved by humans!
The trek through the rainforests around the park was so amazing. There is just something magical about walking in the rainforest with the music of frogs, and crickets serenading you. Stand still to listen, perhaps closing your eyes and feeling the magic of the rainforests.
Do not miss out on the bats’ exodus often in the late afternoon. It was absolutely mind-blowing. Witnessing millions of bats out hunting for food was just so phenomenal. It looked like a plume of smoke dancing in the air continuously for an hour or so.
The rainforest, the caves, its surrounding nature and its great people made this experience of a lifetime so memorable.
You can opt for day treks, night trail, canopy and sunrise walks through the forests apart from caving and adventure caving. Climbing Gunung Mulu to view the spectacular 60 million years old pinnacle is also an option if you’re fit. I’ll share my experience conquering the top of Gunung Mulu in the Sarawak section soon.
The photos didn’t do any justice, so click HERE to see some footage of the Mulu national Park areas.
HOW TO GET THERE
Gunung Mulu is served by rural air service provider, Maswings. Flights to the miniscule airport in the middle of nowhere are available from Miri, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu. Try to get a window seat if you can. The views taking off from Miri and landing into Mulu were totally mind-blowing.
For the avid adventurers, Mulu is also accessible on foot via The Headhunters Trail which starts from Limbang. This is often a 5d/4n trail trekking and a long tail boat trip through the Bornean rainforests, camping and staying at basic lodges.
BEST TIME TO VISIT
Mulu actually has a pretty temperate climate all year. As it is a rainforest, there’s a high chance it will rain though.
If you don’t like the rain, then the driest months are between July and September. Bear in mind that the hottest months can make the activities more strenuous and tiring.
ACCOMODATION
I stayed at Mulu National Park Headquarters which was fabulous. There are various types of accommodation, from shared dormitories to chalets to choose from. Treks around the National Park and the climb to Gunung Mulu are all arranged and started from the park headquarters.
Check out their website HERE
If you fancy a bit of luxury, then Mulu Marriott Resort And Spa is a good option.
There are several other locally run homestays and backpackers lodges from as little as USD$8 a night within a short distance of the park headquarters.
MULU TRAVEL TIPS
- Pack light, loose and comfortable clothing. I wore my gym attire. They dry very quickly if I was trapped in the rain and it was perfect on hot days too.
- Comfortable good grip hiking shoes. This is important for your safety as the caves are fairly wet.
- Raincoat is essential due to the high chances of rain.
- Socks that you can pull up above your ankles to stop the leeches from tasting your blood!
- Dry bag.
- Headtorch. This is important when going through the caves and for night walks. Believe me, it is a good idea to invest in this.
- CASH. Cash is King here. There aren’t any ATM machines at all. Mulu Park Headquarters and The Marriott accepted credit cards. I brought RM1500 for my 6 days/5 nights here. The restaurant at the lodge only accepts cash.
- There’s a mini mart at the park headquarters that sells basic needs.
- Restaurant available at the park headquarters. It only accepts CASH.
Last but not least, if you have enjoyed this article, please leave a comment. You’re more than welcome to ask me questions with reference to Mulu National Park. I’ll try my best to answer them based on my experience there.
