Mulu Caves

my fren-colleague introduced me to the Mulu Caves on our trip to KL. I managed to look at some of the websites about this place. 

Lets take a breather from our HK itinerary ... and see wads Mulu like?

Gunung Mulu National Park is located near the northern corner of Sarawak with a coverage of 52, 865 hectares of primary rainforest. 3 dominating features of the Mulu National Park are: 

1. Gunung Mulu, a sandstone mountain rising to a height of 2,377m

2. Gunung Api, a line of limestone mountains with separate peaks; the highest at 1,682m

3. Gunung Benarat, at 1,585m, is recognizable from its spectacular white cliffs.

However, Mulu's greatest attractions lie below its surface... And They are the extensive system of CAVES and trails hidden underneath the forested slopes of these mountains.

 The followings are more popular part of the Api Caves network:

Deer Cave is the world's largest cave passage; whereas Sarawak Chamber being the world's largest natural chamber and Clearwater Cave being the longest cave in Southeast Asia.

The Deer and Lang's Cave is accessible through a three kilometers plankwalk passing through peat swamp, alluvial flats and limestone outcrops. This cave derived its name as it had been a place of shelter for the deers. A short distance away from the Deer Cave is the Lang's Cave, though the smallest of the show caves, exhibits an intricate series of rock formations well worth seeing.

        

(left) Deer Cave (right) Clearwater Cave.

It takes a boat ride along the Melinau River to get to Clearwater Cave. An alternative is a 4 kilometers trek through the jungle trail. Visitors by boat to Clearwater Cave usually drop off earlier to make a detour to the Wind Cave, which is also part of the Clearwater Cave system, before taking a plankwalk or returning to the boat ride towards the mouth of Clearwater Cave.

Here's the other Clearwater Cave and Wind Cave's link.

Benarat Caves is the other of the two main mountain areas of exploration. You can click on this link "the MULU Caves Project - Caves" to view the photographs and write-ups of the various other offerings of the Mulu Caves.

For avid trekkers, Mulu offers three popular adventure treks - The Pinnacles, The Headhunter's Trail, and Gunung Mulu Summit Trek. However, a certain level of physical fitness is required for these treks and trails. Trekkers would be staying overnight in the jungle base camps and basic camping equipments are needed.

There are 3websites for anyone interested in the Mulu Caves, providing much needed information on the MULU PARK and how to get there. 

(1) Mulupark. this is a first stop for would-be visitors to the place.

(2) The Mulu Caves Project. a website with plenty of educational topics and detailed descriptions/photos of the various caves at the Park.

(3) Gunung Mulu National Park. it offers additional information on treks and trails about the park.