Gulung mulu is a tropical rain forest in the jungles of borneo , Malaysia . It was included in the UNESCO’s world Heritage site list in 2000 . It is spread across the area of 52864 square hector and have some of the famous cave systems in the World . In this national park there is all together 295 km of cave systems and have the largest cave in the world by volume “Sarawak chamber ” .
In this area Clear water cave is all together 239 km long which is the longest cave in the world . This place is one of the most biodiverse area in the World with more than 3500 species of vascular plant and 109 species of palm , 1,700 species of mosses and liverworts and over 4,000 species of fungi . There are 20,000 species of invertebrates, 81 species of mammals, 270 species of birds, 55 species of reptiles, 76 species of amphibians and 48 species of fish with 28 species of bats . Deer Cave is most famous for it’s bat exodus in every evening .You will found lots of people gathered outside it to experience the show of the bats .
How to reach Gulung Mulu National Park ?
Previously Gulung Mulu can be reached by the Boats from Miri but now a days it can only be reached by the flight from either Miri or Kuching in Sarawak state of Malaysia . Both flights were operated by the Malaysian Airlines . In this route only small planes were allowed with 70 -80 seats in a airplane . The village is very small . Maybe 10 km of tarmac roads exist in this area . Mostly your hotel will arrange transport for you as there is no public transport system inside this area .
It is better to book a return flight before you come here , as internet service is almost non existent in this area or you have to book through the airport counter in Mulu Airport . Celcom network tower is almost non existent but Maxis have relatively good connection .
Key points in traveling about Gunung Mulu National Park:
- Every commodity price is too much high than the rest of Malaysia .
- This Park can only be reached by the Air Transport .
- In most of the guest Houses and Hotels electricity lies 4-5 hours in the evening .
- Mobile network is very weak here
How to travel inside Mulu National Park ?
After you reached in Mulu national Park there are different tickets for the different trips inside this national park . First you have to register there as a traveler and then , they will put a band in your hand and this band will be valid for 5 days . You have to wear this waterproof band for your entire trip .
In this entry trip you can enjoy some free points but if you want to visit some special points like clear water cave or the wind cave or the canopy walk or deer cave you need to buy some special ticket .
For climbing pinnacle you have to book very early . As when I reached there , It was already booked for the next 1-2 month in advance . The pinnacle is very expensive trekking . There is two way to reach pinnacle – longer route take 7 days where the shorter routes takes only 3 days . But the shorter route is more difficult to climb . From this tourist registration office I buy the entry ticket .You can pay it by the card also .
After buying the ticket they will provide you a map of the park . It is very useful as Inside this forest you can not get good GPS and also the spots are not well updated in the google maps . So it is your life saver . The park is really big and you have to walk long distance so this map is your guide to travel inside this park .
Price : Price for the ticket is 30 MYR .
Different spots in Gulung Mulu National Park :-
There is lots of different spots in this National Park . Most of the walking trails were are elevated and made by the wood with a railing .Because in the monsoon time this places may be waterlogged . In the night time there will be light beside the railing . Mostly people come back before night but there is a special guided tour to watch insects after sunset .
There is two types of trips inside this park
1 . Free spots inside the Park : This spots are self guided tours . Spots coming under this section are Paku valley loop , Bat exodus , botanical trail , bird watching centre , paku waterfall and ect .
2. Paid trips : In this trips a guide will accompany you and there is specified charge rather than the park entry fees . Canopy walk , clear water and wind cave are some of the paid trips .
Free Tours inside the Park :-
Bat watching :
When the bats first starts to fly out from the cave they first made circular formation and then they make small group of straight line formation . This show continue for almost 30 minutes and when it is very near to the sunset this bats fly in a continuous straight line formation . They are such a disciplined in this journey that sometimes it is feeling that they are the military march of the Bats .
This flight is quiet tricky as any mistake will loose their life . When I was watching this show some bats just fall to ground in front of me .
Maybe after 30 minutes this show stopped and finally people back towards the Park HQ . From Park HQ this place is almost 2.5 km distant .
This bat watching in the evening from the deer cave is one of the most rated activity inside this park . For this you have to gather to the bat watching point around 4 pm . There is a big wooden , elevated seating area here . Just beind that there is a small cafe where you get some snacks . In the cave side there is steep walls of limestone . The limestone walls are really high and maybe 200 -300 meter high because inside is situated world’s largest cave deer cave .
You have to wait here for quiet some time and in the time around 5 pm you may see the wonderful bat show . As my knowledge , in the deer cave there lives almost 2.5 million bats of 12 different species . In the day time they reside inside the cave . In the evening time they go outside in search of food . Local guide said me , this bats hunting ground may be as far as 50 – 60 km distant from this place . In the process of leaving from the cave they made some wonderful formations . People come here to watch this .
Mulu Botanical heritage Trail :-
There is several kilometers of botanical trail inside this park . Inside this park you can see some very unique trees with some unique design . You see different design in the leaves of the plants . You see lots of wild Banana trees and some trees which grows on another trees .
This are wild bananas , it looks almost like banana but you can not eat it . Beside the walking trail you will find lots of wild banana tree .
It looks like very weird design in the leaves of the trees . But this are actually not the design this hole are made inside the leaves naturally , for passing the water when raining hevily . As inside this forest there will be heavy rain , so protecting the leaves from breaking there is this hole .
This are not any sticker . This climbing trees first choose any tree and totally stick to the tree and climb on it . This is one of the unique tree I visited in this area .
You can lots of trees like this in this forest . Scientist says that this trees deliberately make different colored leaves to attract insects for the poly nation
This is one of the weir-est trees I visited inside this forest where roots are popping out of the soils and looks like bone of the tree .
This is one of the biggest tree I have seen In my life . It’s base are such a big that . It might be as high as 2-3 storied building and for this tree it might be 80 – 90 meter height .
This is a tree in this forest where you can see branches were spread in one direction because in another direction there is no light so the tree spread in one direction only . Rain forest are very dense so in the ground there will be no trees because of the less light .
Guided Paid trip :
Canopy walk :-
Canopy walk is another wonderful trip in this Rainforest Forest . This is also the longest tree top canopy walk which is 420 meter in length . They said that previously it’s length was more but due to collapse of two big tree the length is reduced . Walking trail is made by the rope and ladder in a height of 25 meter from the ground level . From this height seeing the forest is a wonderful experience .
My guide said , first they choose one of the strongest trees in this area , then they throw ropes from one tree to another tree and then with the help of the different instrument they make this bridge . When you walk through this walkway it will swing so not to walk a group of people at once .
When you been in this area you will see old leaves are falling slowly from the top . From this you can understand how high this trail is .
Caves inside the National Park :-
There is mainly four famous caves in this national park . Where deer cave is the largest cave by the volume of air and clear water cave is the longest cave by the length . This caves are mainly limestone cave which are made through thousand years by the erosion of the water . Among the caves Long cave is most beautiful where you can seen some beautiful formation where some people feel of Shiva Linga .
Long Cave :-
This is one of the beautiful formation inside the Long Cave . Inside long cave there is lots of formation made by limestone . You can find some specific types of Web made by some worm . Strong lights were not allowed inside the cave . Some of the figures resembles with the Religious figure .
Deer Cave :-
Deer Cave is the largest cave in the world by the volume of air passes inside this cave . Height of this cave is 196 meter in the largest point and 174 meter in the width . It’s length is 4.1 km and among them only 500 meter is opened for the general public .
Summary :
Mulu National park is famous for it’s cave system . It has mainly five caves and the pinnacle mountain Where you can see limestone sharp mountain . This is situated in the forest of Borneo . This place is also famous for it’s rich flora and fauna . Reaching this place is really a challenge . Only flight reaches to this place as it is situated inside the deep forest . Bat exodus from the deer cave is really amazing experience when 3 million bats march from the cave . Canopy walk is another experience you should never miss . This is a must visited place in the state of Sarawak .
