Wind & Clearwater Caves Mulu National Park (Day 5)

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Day 5, the last day at the Park.

We had our last breakfast at the cafe and checked out. We picked up our certificates from Park HQ with the places we had been to marked off. It costs less than RM10. After all that, we wanted something to show for our efforts!
L-R: Breakfast and CL having a moment
The plan for today was to do a little bit of shopping at the Penan Village where the women sold handmade crafts and exploring the last 2 show caves.

The show caves will take approximately 3-4 hours to complete and the guided tour will cost MYR30 pax with long boat transport from Park HQ of MYR20.

The Penan Village (which is on the way to the caves) is 15 minutes away from the Park HQ. Most of the porters and guides actually stay in this village and commute by boat. Make sure that you inform your tour guide so that he will make a stop for you.The handicraft market is open on most mornings and close at noon. So if you are looking for souvenirs, don't take think about for too long. The long boat normally lets you stop for half an hour before continuing the journey to Wind and Clearwater caves.

Items at the market
I bought one of the woven bags for MYR25 as I thought it could be used as a decorative piece at home. The lady told me that she wove it herself and it is quite sturdy although it felt really light. Rachel decided to try out the bag after she loaded her stuff into it and found it to be quite comfortable. So I would really recommend readers to get 1 if possible. Rachel loved it so much until I had a hard time prying it away from her.

As we moved up river, you can see interesting rock formations hanging over the river. It boggles the mind when one tries to think how long more does it take for it to touch the surface of the water.
L-R: Melinau river, rock formations
The first cave we arrived at is Wind Cave (Gua Angin in Malay) which is a short walk up the jetty. Wind Cave and Clearwater Cave forms part of the Clearwater Cave system. There is a caving exercise available at the Park HQ that you can sign up for and it will take you through the dark innards of Mulu. The caving activity requires prior booking and is dependent on the water levels in the cave.
Cave information
The attraction about this cave is that there is a constant breeze that flows the cavern. When we were there, we could only feel the breeze as we went deeper into the cave. The boardwalk does a loop in the back of the cave to show you the King's Chamber. This is where towering stalactites and stalagmites form straight columns and when their shadow is seen on the cave walls, some of them look like nobles with crowns. A column may be formed when a stalactite grown downwards until it reaches the cave floor, a stalagmite growing upwards due to the steady trickle of water containing calcium dripping at its tip for eons or the more amazing thing, both stalagmite and stalactite meeting each other in the middle.

It's really too dark in here for a conventional point and shoot. A DSLR would probably be better.

Halfway through, we found Moonmilk on the cave walls. Look our for those nodules. They are not baby stalagmites and are supposedly soft to the touch. No, we did not touch them and you should not either.
Moonmilk



King's Chamber
Another view of King's Chamber


The next stop is Clearwater Cave (Gua Air Jernih in Malay). It's a 10 minutes walk from Wind Cave on a boardwalk anchored into the cliff surface.
Going to Clearwater. That's my bag right there.
On the way to Clearwater, we spotted the mini Pinnacles! Up close and personal with the Pinnacles instead of staring at them across a valley. We touched these and they are sharp!


To my horror, next to the signboard that declared we have reached Clearwater Cave was a steep staircase with 200 steps. My knees have not recovered and were aching like crazy! With a sigh, I gritted my teeth and tackled a stair at a time. Luckily there were small benches along the way for me to take a breather.

There were a group of China tourists when we were there, decked out in dresses and heeled slippers. Slippers unless those are hiking sandals are not advisable for these activity. Not sure what these tourists had in mind.

At the top of the stairs, a gaping cavern opens up. 

Clearwater entrace
At the sides of the cavern, grew single leaf plants that cling precariously to the rock. Their survival depended on that one single leaf to gather sunlight.

The park guide waited for everyone in the tour group to gather before proceeding into the cave. Time to switch on your headlamps. You should try to keep up with the group so that you can hear the explanation the guide gives. They won't wait for you. As much as we wanted to hear the story of the cave, we let the group move ahead as as we were busy taking pictures



Before the descent
Look at the shadow. Does it look like a lady?

Desceding into Clearwater Cave


The blurriness of an inadequate camera

As you descend further into the cave, you can see areas cordoned off for repairs. At the end of the dark tunnel, you will hear the sounds of a rushing underground river. This portion is part of a subterranean river route that lasts 170km. It's hard to imagine that thousands of years ago, the same river carved out the cavern.

There was a bridge which lead over the river but it was closed as the guide informed us that there was a danger of rising water due to rainfall a couple of days ago. The guide told us that if we joined the caving activity, the participants will end up on the other side of the bridge. We were quite interested and who knows, maybe my next trip back to Mulu will involve caving. Woots~!  

A shaft of light from a collapsed portion of the cave.
Next to the bridge there is a a small staircase down towards the river. You can put your hand into the icy water and feel that the water. After you dry your hands, you can feel a film over it due to the calcium concentration.

Subterranean river water
 When we made our way back out, the tourist concentration increased. Since there is a picnic and toilet facilities next to Clearwater more people congregated Clearwater around compared to the other show caves. Children and adults breaking out their packed lunches and some were swimming around in the natural pool just outside the cave. The fishes in there were huge! BTW fishing is banned. If you are caught fishing, each fish in your basket can earn you a fine of MYR1000.

Swimming area in natural pool.
It was sad to see that there were more foreign tourist than locals. Seems like they have a better appreciation of nature than those who are blessed with the wonders of Mother Earth in their own backyard.

We made our way back to the HQ, waited for our pick-up truck to pick us up, and flew to Miri. Again, I thank my lucky stars that I have great friends in Miri who took us to a local seafood shop to buy dried seafood and had our early dinner. Thereafter, another plane trip back to KL at 1920. 

Tired but happy with my maiden 2000m mountain, new friends and a great learning experience. 
Outside Clearwater Cave

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