Clearwater & Wind Showcaves

The park hostel had no bed for me tonight. Rather than move into the more expensive options there, I thought I’d move out and give some business to the locals. So I stored my luggage at the guardhouse before going on my Clearwater cave trip.

We set off by boat to Batu Bungan village, which is also walkable from Park HQ. There was craft for sale there by the Berawan people, including beautiful beadwork. What was more interesting was the informative panels on Orang Ulu of which the local Berawan are part of. They have six different levels of “we” depending on the level inclusiveness as opposed to Malay which has only two (including vs excluding the listener). English only has one?

The village had a new longhouse which hadn’t been occupied pending official opening by some big shot. Hhmmm!

Text continues after this gallery.

It was a short ride to Clearwater and Wind caves from Batu Bungan. We visited Wind cave first, accessed by plankwalk from the boat. It had some stalactites/stalagmites but they weren’t overly siginificant compared to what we had seen at Lang Cave. Because the cave had an opening in the roof, there was a breezy spot which gave the cave its name. Perhaps it was that, and its proximity to Clearwater that caused it to be opened as a showcave.

Text continues after this gallery.

We had a rest on a platform by the river. There was a red tail racer snake in the tree above. Then it was a long hike up lots of stairs to the opening of Clearwater cave where we were shown a mono-leaf plant that was unique to this cave. It isn’t found anywhere else in the park, state, country, continent or world!

We descended the long stairs into the world’s largest cave system (measured by volume) and proceeded to the clear gushing river which gave the cave its name. There was a reasonably long plankwalk circuit which took us through the cave which also had lots of stalactites/stalagmites, finishing with a set of steps to another cave opening. This opening wasn’t anywhere as big or lush as the Garden of Eden at Deer Cave.

An interesting feature near the cave opening were the phytokarst. These are sideway growing needle-like formations influenced by bacterial action (the other feature influenced in a similar way is moonmilk which gives the caves a whitish coating).

Leaving the Clearwater cave, I told myself that I wouldn’t be prepared to the adventure version of the visit to this cave. They swim for 2km in the dark with headlamps. Lagang with crawling is fine and I was looking to doing something with ropes. Swimming in the dark in a gushing river is beyond my comfort zone.

We had time for a swim in the clear tannin-stained water of the Melinau river. I opted to stay dry but the Russians jumped at the opportunity. They operate caves north of St Petersburg in Ruskeala Mountain Park and this is their staff outing to learn more about how other caves are run. I think they picked a good one as the programmes at Mulu are very well run. The park authority seem to hire the best expertise from around the world; the present manager is Australian and the next is South African.

Text continues after this gallery.

Back at Park HQ and after lunch, I picked up my luggage and wandered out of the park in search of a bed for the next two nights. My last resort would be Mulu Backpackers (MYR25) by the airport but as soon as I wandered out, there was Mulu River View at MYR35 (including breakfast). It turned out I’d be in the hostel for the two nights all alone!

After resting and getting settled into my new home, I wanted to head back into the park to the Deer Cave entrance and bat observation post. The rain came and I waited till it cleared before setting off. Along the way, I saw a pygmy squirrel. I had better luck today and the three or so million of them spurted and dribbled out. I’m not sure but I had recollections of a more continuous stream from 21 years ago. Nevertheless I was happy to see them come out to feed this time, especially since I had prepared myself for seeing nothing due to the earlier rain.