4 March Lambir Hills Natl. Park
The sun came out in the morning as I went for a stroll through nearby Miri City
Fan, a landscaped park shaped a bit like a fan. Over at Bintang MegaMall I
stopped in a Secret Recipe, not for a tempting sweet, but for an early lunch of
spaghetti and mushroom soup. Today I wished to head for Lambir Hills National
Park, and the best way to get there seemed to be by bus, so I checked out of the
hotel and tried for a Grab taxi. It arrived in minutes, and I could follow a
little car symbol on the app’s map to see the driver on his way approaching. He
brought me to Pujut Bus Terminal, and I was soon on my way for the 32-kilometer
ride south on the inland highway. Like most buses from this station, it was
headed across Sarawak to Kuching, though a few buses go as far as the Indonesian
town of Pontianak. The bus climbed into small hills, but failed to stop at the
national park, and dropped me off at a resort 6 kilometers beyond. I tried
hitchhiking back to the park, but had no luck. A rain shower in the hills ended,
so I began walking on the edge of the road. About half way a car stopped and the
driver fit me in with his family for the ride.
The 69-square-kilometer park, famed for its biodiversity, encloses a rainforest
spread over a group of sandstone hills. It’s famed for seven waterfalls,
especially the 25-meter-high Latak. At the information desk I paid the RM20
entry and arranged a fan-cooled room for two nights (RM50/night) in a wooden
bungalow that had two rooms, sitting area, dining place, and shared bathroom. I
would be the only guest in the park tonight. There’s also a café, and I arranged
a 6 p.m. dinner before I headed off hiking. Visitors do get a free map, and
signs at junctions mark destinations and distances. Maps.me shows all the
waterfalls as well as the park’s ticket counter, but not the trails.
I took the easy and gentle Main Trail north one kilometer up a little valley
past two small waterfalls to Latak Waterfall, where a group of locals had been
swimming and hanging out. The waterfall plunges into a large and deep-looking
pool, but a spoil-sport park sign prohibits swimming on the far half of the
pool. I wasn’t interested in swimming, so headed back a bit to the junction for
Pantu Trail and climbed a long steep concrete staircase out of the valley. At
the top stood a derelict watchtower, but it could no longer be climbed. The
trail continued west up and down hills in the dense forest, then I detoured down
to Nibong Waterfall, a small cascade tucked into a deep and dark little valley.
Back on the main trail, I climbed to a junction, then turned southeast on Inoue
Trail along a rolling ridge, then down to park headquarters. Signs identified
some of the towering trees, many of which were dipterocarps. This hike is the
only loop here, and all the ups and downs make for a good workout despite the
distance of just 4 kilometers. The woman at the café whipped up a fine dinner of
pumpkin, carrots, tofu, and other veggies with rice, then made a veggie soup. I
enjoyed a quiet night with cool jungle air.
5 March Lambir Hills Natl. Park
After an omelet breakfast on a partly cloudy morning, I climbed back into the
hills 1.5 kilometers on the Inoue Trail to the junction, then continued 1.4
kilometers on the trail to the small mountain Bukit Pantu. Much of the way
followed ridges with lots of ups and downs, then the trail climbed a series of
steep stairs beside sheer cliffs. A gentle breeze and views to the north and
west greeted me when I reached the summit, shown on the GPS as 356 meters. Vines
clinging to a tree held innumerable insect-trapping pitcher plants, the first
time I had seen them in the wild. A little pavilion made a pleasant place to
rest and guzzle water and flick off a couple leeches. The warmer air atop caused
the camera lens to fog up inside, but luckily I had gotten photos of the summit
before that happened. Once I descended back into the forest below, the lens
cleared.
Back at the junction I considered hiking to one of the three waterfalls in the
far west of the park, but they were all more than 3 kilometers away and probably
too far considering the terrain. So I followed the Lipoh-Ridan Trail west just a
short way, then turned downhill to Pantu Waterfall and its deep-looking pool.
Ferns and other very green vegetation clung to cliffs on either side of the
falls. Small fish swam cautiously in the clear water. Back on the main trail, I
walked west a bit for a look at the waterfall from the top. Lastly I retraced my
steps back down to the park headquarters. I had downed a 1.5-liter bottle of
water on the hike and probably sweated twice that! Shortly after my arrival a
thunderstorm rolled overhead and dropped a mix of light and heavy rains. So the
hike had been just the right length and ended at just the right time. Again, the
woman at the café fixed up a fine veggie dinner.
6 March Simpang Niah
On a beautiful mostly sunny day, I started with breakfast at Lambir Hills
National Park’s café, then went out to a roofless bus stand on the highway to
wait for a bus. Luckily one came by within 15 minutes and I was on my way to the
next big sight, the great caves in Niah National Park. The bus stopped about an
hour later in the junction town of Simpang Niah, where I swung by a large
supermarket for a fresh set of batteries for my light and some snacks. It looked
like I might have time to see the caves today, something I hadn’t counted on. I
got an unofficial taxi (RM30) for the 15 kilometers to the park headquarters,
where I was able to store my bag, get the admission ticket (RM20), take a boat
ride across the small Batang Niah river, then hit the trail by noon.
To reach the Great Cave, I followed the boardwalk and concrete path about 3
kilometers through jungle, especially pretty along a small stream cut into
limestone cliffs. Local people from a nearby longhouse community sold cold
drinks and snacks beside the trail. Traders’ Cave, actually a large overhang,
still contains wooden frames used as living quarters as recently as the late
1970s for gatherers of edible bird’s nests.
As I neared Great Cave, I could see excavations where archaeologists had
discovered human remains that date back 40,000 years ago—the oldest of Southeast
Asia. A fence protects the site. Then I turned into the Great Cave, well named
for its immense opening up to 60 meters high and 250 meters across.
Interconnecting passageways go about 2 kilometers to the far end, and a few
skylights appear high above. Although the interior contains massive cave
features, they lack beauty. Rather it’s the awe-inspiring scale of the cave and
the archaeology that impress. I climbed stairs up, then down into the cave’s
nearly dark heart. Cave ‘perfume’ wafted from piles of guano deposited by
generations of swiftlets and bats. Swiftlets flew overhead, making the clicking
noises that they use for navigation. Next I entered the extreme darkness of Gan
Kira (Moon Cave), a passageway that began with a low ceiling where I could see
bats clinging above and cave crickets sporting extremely long antennae hopping
about below. This led to a back entrance, where I followed a high boardwalk
through jungle to stairs that climbed into Painted Cave. A wall inside has
ancient images drawn with a red pigment, but it took awhile before I found them
in the dim light. They mainly depict human figures, animals, and boats, with the
latter likely funerary, as archaeologists found several boat coffins here. The
boat coffins, since taken away, had Carbon 14 dates of 2,300-1,045 BP.
I retraced my way back through Gan Kira and into the middle of the Great Cave,
where I followed an alternate trail that climbed its way into another passage,
then descended to the archaeological site. A walk in the shady jungle led back
to the river and park headquarters, where I retrieved my backpack. Two women
tourists passed by and warned about poor service in the park’s café. I asked
them if I could get a ride back to the highway junction, and they said yes,
otherwise I might have been stuck here. The park has expensive accommodations
and hostel rooms, but no good value doubles like those of Lambir Hills. The two
women live in Kuala Lumpur and had come to Miri for a dance festival, and were
now doing a bit of sightseeing in a rental car. At the junction, we had dinner
together at a food court, where I had a couple tasty items from a vegetarian
food stall. I crossed the highway to the TTL Motel and got a room for RM85, a
bit expensive though with air-conditioning and the basics. Like the hotel in
Miri that I had stayed three days ago, a faint but persistent odor of cigarette
smoke made my room a bit unpleasant. Alternatively I could have caught a bus to
Bintulu (2 hours) or Sibu (5-6 hours), though the latter would have put me in
around midnight. I used booking.com to reserve a room for tomorrow night in Sibu
and Airbnb for a place to stay five nights in Kuching, taking care to be near
the center in both cities.
7 March Sibu
The sun rarely poked through today’s clouds, and heavy rains fell as I arrived
in Sibu. Long-distance buses stop for a break at Simpang Niah, and I found two
parked there and headed my way—easy! The trip to Sibu cost RM35 and took about
six hours with short rest stops in Bintulu and at a roadside food court. I’ve
found that buses in Sarawak are rough riding, much like those of India. Although
bits of forest survive along the roadside, the scenery tended to be dull with
lots of oil palm plantations. Heavy rain in Sibu made me very glad to already
have a hotel reservation! A Grab taxi met me near the bus station for the ride
to Ban Hin Hotel (RM65) in the center. It was OK with air-conditioning, a desk,
and cold-water bathroom; unfortunately a bit of tobacco smoke came in via the
hallway at times.
Nearly every business in Sibu has a sign in Chinese because about two-thirds of
the population has Chinese roots, especially from Fujian (Foochow) Province in
the early 20th century. I strolled to the colorful Taoist temple Tua Pek Kong
Temple, set beside the broad muddy yellow Batang Rejang. Tides reach this spot
even though Sibu is about 60 kilometers from the sea. Then I followed the
waterfront upriver past rows of tugs, cargo boats, and passenger boats. Daily
boats carry people upriver three hours (140km) to Kapit and downriver and out to
sea for the five-hour, 224-kilometer journey to Kuching, which I hope to catch
tomorrow. Because the Kuching boat takes a fairly direct route, it’s faster than
going by bus and should be more interesting.
I had dinner at Mamak Kafé Sibu, a branch of Liza Islamic Kafé and one of many
cafes near my hotel; it has a few Indian items, and I got a South-Indian-style
butter dosa along with veggie dishes and milk tea.
On to Malaysia: Sarawak Part 3—Kuching and Bako National Park
Back to beginning of Southeast Asia Backpacking Jan.-April 2018