Niah Caves - Niah National Park, MYY

The Great Cave at Niah National Park, Sarawak. We went to Miri to explore the Mulu and Niah National Parks and mainly to visit the caves that are famous for adventure tours. The Niah National Park of Sarawak is located on the river Niah (or Sungei Niah) 110 km South East of the border town of Miri. Majority of the guests visit the Niah Caves, namely the Traders Cave, the Great Cave and the Painted Cave. Visitors are made to cross the small river, although a simple bridge will make the crossings much easier and faster. We guess purpose of the little boat is to provide income for the local people. Across the river is a small but informative museum that give the history of the caves. The history of the caves of Sarawak dates from the year 1874. But it was much later in 1954 that human remains was discovered in the Niah Caves. The Great Cave is part of the site where human remains as old as 40,000 years were discovered. Excavation is still going on up to this day. From the museum, a board walk leads all the way across deep jungle to the entrance of the Traders Cave. The 4.2 km plank walk gives visitors an easy hike above the mud and rough terrain of the deep jungle. There are 5 rest huts for weary legs, on the way, and a wash room next to a hut selling souvenir and drinks, man by Iban women, from the longhouse nearby. After the short break, we headed to the Caves, starting from the Traders Cave, followed by the Great Cave and ended with a short stay at the Painted Cave. We will write about the Traders Cave and the Painted Cave in the following review. Unlike the caves in Mulu National Park the Caves in Niah National Park are not lighted by electricity. A good flashlight with new batteries is a must in the Great Cave, so are hats (against bat droppings) and a strong pair of hiking shoes. The plank walk is always wet and slippery with water and bat droppings constantly raining down from the ceiling of the cave. The chamber of the Great Cave (hence its name) is enormous and high. One can imagine the hard task of the workers that climb bamboo poles, to harvest the bird nests, the swifts build, on the ceilings of the chamber. It is a precarious way of earning a living and death from falls do come to pass. Bird nests and guano (droppings of bats) collection provide valuable income for the local communities. There is a rest hut in the west entrance of the Great Cave that provide rest for the workers. Astounded by the weight I had to ask the guy twice. We were too tired to wait for the exodus of bats leaving the Great Cave for their evening forage and moreover we had seen the bats leaving the Deer Cave, two days before, in Mulu National Park, so we immediately took the long hike back to the Park Head Quarters. #tripblazers #awesomepic #cave