Miri, Niah Caves, and Kuching, Malaysian Borneo

After visting Gunung Mulu National Park, we returned to Miri on July 13th. We had already purchased plane tickets to fly out of Malaysian Borneo from Kuching, a city 320 miles to the south, for the 17th of July. We knew that we had only four days for see several destinations and cover 320 miles, so we pieced together a schedule that would let us do it all.

The sunset illuminates the evening sky over Miri

Our first stop was Niah Caves National Park, another cave system about an hour south of Miri. Because we arrived too late on the 13th to make the trip happen on the same day, we spent a night in Miri and continued on to Niah the next morning. Niah Caves are both archeologically and geographically impressive. The caves themselves are massive, spanning several kilometers with ceilings reaching 165 feet in some places. They also hold evidence of human life that is up to 40,000 years old. Painted Cave, the most famous cave, contains cave paintings, as well as ancient burial sites.

We loved wandering through Niah. The monstrous caves do not share the popularity of the Mulu caves, so most of the time we had the caverns alone! It is also much less developed then Mulu, with unlit and decrepit boardwalks, giving the whole experience an 'Indian Jones' feeling. After a long day of spelunking, we returned to Miri exhausted (we walked over 10k!).

A short stretch of the 10 kilometers of boardwalk that we conquered

These red centipedes (or, billipedes, as we nicknamed these extra-large insects) were everywhere

Looking back on the entrance of 'The Great Cave'

Beware! Snakes guard the path to Niah!

Originally we planned to hop on the overnight bus to Kuching that same night. However, after 4 months of traveling and 10k of walking that very day, we were feeling a bit too lazy to pull off yet another 16 hour bus ride. The thought of sitting on a bus for that long was just too unnerving, especially when we had the option to fly the same distance for just $30 more... So, embarrassingly, going against our backpackers' instincts, we took the more expensive and easier option. Though we did have to blow a full day's budget on the ticktes, the 45 minute flight felt pretty relaxing... :)

We arrived in Kuching on the 15th of July. It is a surprisingly hip and artistic city considering its location on the far western shore of Malaysian Borneo. The city is laid out along the Sarawak River, and was greatly modernized under the rule of a British self-proclaimed Raja named James Brooke during the late 1800s. Today, Kuching still maintains a European feel, but is quickly modernizing and is filled with malls and skyscrapers. Like other Malaysian cities, Kuching is a bustling mix of Chinese, Indian, and Malay cultures.

Preston stands along the Sarawak River

A mix of old and new: A building from the Rajah Brooke era on one side of the river, the current parliament building on the other

The city of full of great places to relax, especially along the river

We ate dinner at a delicious local restaurant with some friends me made traveling. The cook used to work for the Kuching Hilton until he quit to open his own restaurant.

Jessica made friends with the cook's daughter!

Really? 100% Discount? No offense, but we don't believe you

Another highlight of Kuching was Bako National Park, about an hour away by a bus/boat combination. The island is full of Bornean wildlife, and loaded with trails to sneak around the jungle looking for animals. We arrived on the island dressed for a casual day of beach walking, but decided to undertake the most challenging hike on the island instead. Although this gave us the chance to see some exotic animals and incredible views, it was a bit of a challenge. After a relatively easy 1 km hike, the trail instantly changed to a grueling mountainous climb. Undeterred, we continue up the trail, but when we were exactly half way done with the hike, the skies opened up and we got SOAKED. We had a camera and phone in our backpack, so we had to hide out under then dense forest canopy as rain fell all around us. We did manage to keep our electronics dry, but they were the only dry thing we owned.

This bearded-pig was the first animal we encountered at Bako, and possibly the strangest we have ever seen (even on par with proboscis monkeys)!

Macaque monkeys were everywhere

After the rain quieted down, we pushed on, but with about 3 km left on the hike, Jessica's sandals broke. Apparently walking shoes aren't made to hike in and then get soaking wet, all after four months of continuous use. Though greatly disheartened, we had to continue, so we jerry-rigged a temporary fix, and continued back to park headquarters. Though the hike was a bit frustrating at times, we can't help but look back on it fondly.

Jessica shows her excitement about the shoe 'situation'

Pitcher Plants

After returning to Kuching, we spent one last night in the city. We spent the evening enjoying Malaysian-specialties, as we were leaving Malaysia to head to Indonesia the next day. After a month of Malaysian food, we are going to miss it! We also spent some time trying to find Jessica some new shoes, but were unsuccessful, and ended up with a bottle of superglue instead.

A typical building in Chinatown

Roti Canai, our favorite Malaysian (technically Indian) food. Flaky flat bread served with a midly spicy curry. Delicious!

Kuching roughly translates to "Cat City," a fact that the locals were apparently proud of. The city was full of cat statues.

Malaysia was a great place to spend a month, especially Malaysian Borneo! Though we are sad to leave, we are looking forward to Bali, the last leg of our trip.