Borneo & Sarawak
A Bit about Borneo
Borneo, the third biggest island on Earth, is currently home to three countries : Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. Chinese and Indian travelers arrived in Borneo as early as the 5th century. The Sultanate of Brunei controlled most of Borneo until the 17th century, when the Dutch and British arrived. The Japanese invasion of Borneo in December of 1941 brought a very challenging time for the Malaysian states of Borneo, Sabah and Sarawak. At the end of World War II, Sarawak was ceded to Great Britain. Later Sarawak played a crucial role during the formation of Malaysia after Brunei and Malaysia both wanted to absorb the areas of Sarawak and Sabah.
Malaysia was formed on September 16, 1963, consisting of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak, Sabah, and Singapore. Brunei didn’t want to join this nascent country because there were already too many Sultans playing monarchical musical chairs (look up Malaysia’s unique leadership structure) and Singapore was booted out after two years due to growing tensions between the Malays in Malaysia and the Chinese in Singapore.
Between 1963 and 1966, Indonesia incurred at the borders of Malaysia resulting in the loss of many lives until an official Indonesia-Malaysia agreement was signed. This safeguarded Sarawak’s autonomy and rights within the Federation of Malaysia.
Brunei, now a tiny Muslim Monarchy on the western coast of Borneo, is surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the north and the independent Malaysian state of Sarawak to the south. Most of Borneo now belongs to Indonesia, a country with about 17,000 islands (at high tide).
We visited the Malaysian state of Sabah twenty years ago in 2005…
… scuba diving at amazing coral reefs and encountering huge varieties of birds like this hornbill …
…and wild Orangutans in the inner country’s rainforest
The Caves of Mulu
We wanted to focus this visit on the Malaysian state of Sarawak. We prioritized nature as Sarawak is still mostly covered with primary rainforest twice as old as the Amazon (opposite the rest of Borneo, where mono-culture palm tree plantations destroyed most of Borneo’s natural diversity).
When we landed in Sarawak on our way to Mulu, we were a bit surprised to pass through immigration even though we had done so already in Kuala Lumpur, but even mainland Malaysians, due to Sarawak’s semi-autonomy, are required to pass through the checkpoint with their IDs. Mulu was a short 30 minute hop deeper into Borneo (think Jurassic Park jungle) on a small propeller plane and a rather smaller airport. I love small airports when they’re efficient. Smaller planes, not so much.
Gunung Mulu National Park and their world-renowned caves was our reason for exploring this area. However, we started our visit with a 7 am rainforest canopy walk.
Rainforests are sooo cool, even at 7 am
We thought an early morning start gives us the best opportunity to see birds and other wildlife. It turned out to be a good decision for other reasons also as our tour group was smaller and the weather had not turned to rain yet, so that worked out.
Climbing 30 steps to reach the first canopy bridge, we began our wobbly adventure. The bridges supported at most two people or so we were told. We crossed the twelve spans after twenty five nerve wracking minutes of creaking boards and swaying spans. We were advised not to take photos while crossing between platforms lest we wanted to buy a new phone after watching our current model plunge into the dense foliage below.
Deep in the rainforest, this was once the traditional clothing worn by the locals
We saw a variety of birds on the canopy walk and encountered long-tailed Macaque monkeys and other interesting wildlife on our trek back to the nature center.
Over all, it was a lush and beautiful stroll through the rainforest canopy, a wonderful morning adventure to be sure.
Over the next few days, we explored four of the many World Heritage caves in the Gunung Mulu National Park.
We trudged 3 kilometers over a somewhat slippery boardwalk along grainy adhesive strips for traction to reach the first two caves.
Lang Cave had a jaw-droppingly beautiful gallery with incredible chambers showing amazing formations. We admired the many stalagmite and stalactite formations that had developed over millions of years at a glacial pace of 3 cm per 100 years. The caves widened and narrowed with displays of natural beauty in all directions.
Entering Deer Cave, we exchanged the intimacy and beauty of Lang cave for cavernous awe. Deer cave claimed to have the largest cave entrance in the world. There are other cave systems that extend deeper or longer, but not taller and wider. Standing in that main cavern, I felt minuscule compared to the surrounding boulders and columns dominating the cavescape.
The Deer Cave entrance was truly enormous
Above us on the ceiling slept millions of bats waiting for dusk to fall so they could fly off for their nightly hunt.
On our way out, we encountered a natural formation that looked strikingly familiar. Any guesses?
Although the caves were intriguing in so many ways, the total highlight for us would be the bats.
We returned to a viewing platform outside the caves by 5 pm and waited for the bats to flood out into the night. A gentle rain started falling which messed with the bats’ echo location ability so it wasn’t at all clear whether they would emerge. They could survive several days without food, if necessary. If they didn’t show within an hour, then we would abandon the wait and head back to the hotel. It would be getting dark and we still had a 3 km hike back to the park entrance.
The wait dragged on; the minutes ticked by. We started getting antsy and all but accepted that the bats would sleep in after all. With only minutes to spare, the first cauldron of bats flew out of the cave. Yes, a group of bats is called a cauldron. Then a few minutes later came a second and third cauldron in rippling waves. Finally, the floodgates opened and a stream of bats curving like a river in the sky flapped for an unending 15 minutes as they left the cave for the hunt. It was amazing to observe the massive swarm of flapping wings dominating the sky as groups splintered off in all directions for their breakfast buffets of mosquitos and other insects. Simply breathtaking.
The cauldron of bats streamed endlessly like a river in the sky
The next morning, our group boarded a long boat traveling the shallow river surrounded by lush verdant foliage and towering trees.
We stopped at a local village of Penan people and visited a covered area with rows of tables filled with homemade souvenirs. Faded placards described their fascinating history including communal longhouses. Many residents of this village were born in a longhouse.
Image of a long house from Borneo Cultures Museum
We found out more info about longhouses later at the Borneo Cultures Museum. A longhouse represented a village and could accommodate up to two hundred inhabitants. It was like a long row house, 8-10 meters above the ground for safety against wild animals like crocodiles. The veranda and gallery were communal spaces, whereas the apartments were private areas for families. Living in a longhouse meant sharing food, resources and land. The inhabitants also shared religion and customs to strengthen solidarity. The people of this village never had a word for thief because the concept just didn’t exist for them.
I needed blow dart practice if I was going to survive in the jungle
Afterwards, we visited the Cave of the Winds which was again different than Lang and Deer caves. A narrow passage in the cave formed a natural wind tunnel due to differing air pressures hence the name.
A long winding path through the stalagmites and stalactites made for a stunning, mostly flat walk. And I saw the most interesting insect, a lantern bug, on the way!
Despite its name, the lantern bug’s yellow-tipped nose does not light up
The final cave, Clearwater Cave was huge and lush with one plant dominating the cliff wall. The many steps down into the cave brought us to a flowing underground river that connected to the Cave of the Winds via an 8 km pitch black passage for the brave spelunkers.
We very much enjoyed experiencing Mulu’s four caves, selected for their uniqueness and sheer beauty.
Kuching
Borneo Cultures Museum
We flew from Mulu to the capital of Sarawak. A provincial capital in the very south of the state, Kuching had the feel of a bustling city on a smaller scale. We visited the Borneo Cultures Museum, newly opened in 2022, which introduced us to parts of Sarawak we had no time to visit.
The coastal areas are habitats for some remarkable wildlife, such as Green Turtles, Hawksbill Turtles, and on land, the proboscis monkeys, which are endemic to Borneo. More about them later.
Of course there are a fantastic variety of birds, but the various Hornbills are the iconic birds for Borneo. They are now protected because of habitat loss and over-hunting, as their beaks as well as their feathers had significant symbolism for most ethnic groups on the island.
In the Borneo Cultures Museum we found that there are still small groups of communities in Sarawak who live deep in the interior of the rainforest. These highlands inhabitants live in tiny enclaves of related communities that are difficult to reach by land. Distance and extreme terrain make them isolated communities even today.
In old times, the many tribes of Borneo were heavily involved in trading with the seafaring ships at coastal ports due to its strategic location along the main trade routes of Southeast Asia as well as with other inner island communities.
So, Beads (from China, India and Europe) and ceramics (from China) found their way to the island and were highly valued due to being used for traditional costumes and head dresses or status symbols of wealth within the hierarchy of the groups.
Bead Cap. The value of this particular beaded cap was equal to five buffalos. In this way, beads were comparable to modern currencies
Photos and info taken in the museum
The people of Borneo are famous for their creative basket weaving using fiber-based plants. Rattan, pandan, bamboo and Bemban are some of the primary materials.
Here are some examples of their craftmanship in basketry and weaving. Different ethnic groups used different patterns, motifs and fibers.
Old Murut blowpipe quiver attached with an incised hook and beads
Bako National Park
Close to Kuching, we took a boat ride into Bako NP. We wanted to see the proboscis monkey and Bako NP with its mangroves was our best chance to spot them.
The village of our local guide
Our photo-bombing boat driver was born in a longhouse
We met our guide, Lucas, at the river front docks of the main pier and took his boat along the coast to arrive at the national park. We informed our guide of our interests and he took on the challenge as if his life depended on it. Due to the low tide, we had to leave the boat wading in water up to our shins, holding our shoes as we sloshed land-ho.
In a thicket near the shore was a green pit viper coiled on a tree branch. Very venomous, it was a look don’t touch situation
Wild boars with huge, jutting pink snouts were unafraid of us and roamed close with disregard to our proximity
We walked first to the mangroves where our guide knew the proboscis monkeys usually dined, but none were to be seen.
Yet we were happy to spot a family of silver leaf monkeys roaming the trees
We walked along boardwalks past an area Lucas was told a horde of proboscis monkeys spent time foraging at that very morning, but they had moved on by the time we arrived.
We spotted flying lemurs perched in the trees, one even with a youngun in her pouch.
After encountering large lizards, many wild boars, a family of flying lemurs and other wildlife, we decided to call it a day and head back to the boat.
We had a wonderful time just roaming along the boardwalks of Bako NP
By the time we were ready to leave, the tide rose enough for the boat to meet us at the dock. No more wading through the surf
Our search for our droopy-nosed, elusive primate seemed doomed. But Lucas stubbornly would not give up the challenge without finding the proboscis monkey. He tried one last location on our way back to the boat. After only a minute, he excitedly burst through the foliage with the news that he spotted a young proboscis monkey (maybe a year old) in the nearby trees. We quietly followed him not to disturb the animal and Lucas pointed out a patch of light brown fur high up in the branches.
Sure enough, a proboscis monkey foraged for food
The proboscis monkey was so young, it only had a hint of the famous schnozzola we expected to see. After watching the monkey pick at leaves for a bit, we finally returned to the boat. On the choppy ride back to the docks, we passed along mangroves and surprisingly encountered another family of proboscis monkeys grazing in the trees.
An adult
The day trip to Bako NP turned out to be a swinging success as did our visit to Borneo!
