My Nomadic Year: Day 44: Niah Caves, a long and slippery trek and a night in a longhouse

Last night we had to prepare a backpack again, but this time with stuff to last us for five days and nights, and including a sheet sleeping bag. Our big bags would be sent onwards. I had more stuff than most of the others since I was travelling for two months in various climates so our guide kindly put some of my things in his big bag. The only good thing about losing my big camera charger was that I didn't have to lug my big camera (and its long lens) around. I essentially wore the same outfit every day, with a change of T shirt, but I had to bring three types of shoes.

We set off early and flew to Miri, then rode in a van and ended up here.

We visited a museum but it was across the water. So we had to be ferried across the river and back in a rowboat. While waiting on the dock I met this cat...

And in the museum, read about bats. Bats were the main reason I was on this trip!

The trip notes were a bit misleading. They said it was a 3.5 km walk to Niah Caves, and then a further 2 km to the longhouse where we would be staying. This is true, but... We would go to the longhouse first, to which was at least 5.5 km. Then we would have to walk at least half that way back in order to take the other fork in the wooden path that would take you to the caves. Once in the caves we walked another few kilometers, and then back along that path and back along the other path to the longhouse.

Still, although that's a lot of walking, it's hard to explain just how difficult a walk this was. The path was made up of wooden slats, and they were all old, moss-covered, wet, and slippery. Very very slippery. I must have slipped a thousand times, and I am not exaggerating! My new motto became: "Always slip; never fall!" as somehow I always managed to regain my balance. There wasn't always a banister (is it still called a banister when it's not on a flight of stairs?) to grab and in many places parts of the boards were rotted away. At many points were someone to slip they would be likely to fall into the murky water!

There was some wildlife along the way, starting with this colorful millipede...

Here it is in action:

My new compact camera did not have a very good macro setting, and since it was only auto-focus, this guy was a blur...

When we reached the longhouse, I made friends with another cat:

The end of the path...

Gardens surrounding the longhouses:

Colorful rubbish:

Another creepy crawly on the way to Niah Caves; a Hammerhead worm

Here are some of our group at the entrance of the cave. Now I have been in many caves in my life, and every one of them has been cool inside, usually around the same temperature year round. But this one was hot. And steamy. And smelly! It was like walking through a giant stinky sauna. There are millions of bats and swiftlets living and pooping in there.

I saw a David Attenborough show on animal homes last week and it showed Niah Caves, along with a close-up of the mounds of guano. For the most part we stuck to the path through the cave.

Yep, that's a Cave Scorpion.

I forgot what kind of spider this is; a Huntsman Spider? Not a great shot but I love the shadow!

Someone in our group mentioned that he had thought he heard out guide say that there were 2000 steps within the cave. That's steps as in stairs. We hoped he had misheard, but suddenly, looming before us, was a seemingly bottomless metal staircase, which wound round and round in a square.

My knee was screaming again and with every somewhat easy step downwards I was reminded that we would have to come back in the same way.

We had seen a lot of swiftlets - they build their hardened saliva nests near the entrances (these are what are harvested to make Bird's Nest Soup) - but I was her to see bats. And here we go...

Ah! A clear flight shot, but my camera was not fast enough!

Besides seeing the bats and the great formations, my favorite part of this expedition was the one point when I was completely alone. Everyone was way ahead, out of sight or sound, and I turned off my headlamp for a couple of minutes. Fantastic!

I was the last one out of the cave; our guide, Aey, made sure I got out and then went on ahead. So I had 3 km of that slippery path in complete darkness on my own; luckily I still did not fall!

Now, the longhouse. We were to stay with a family (or rather, two families as our group split in two) in a traditional home. There is one very long hall fronting the individual homes, which are like giant railroad flats: a living room, a long hallway with bedrooms on one side, the kitchen and at the very back, the bathroom (or more correctly, shower room/toilet.) We slept on mats on the floor in front of the Christmas tree.

Our family had three generations living in the house. After we came back from the caves we sat in their kitchen and had tea and biscuits. "Granny" was pouring out some kind of plum-flavored homebrew; it was lethal!

Let's folk art!

The husband of my family was a footballer.

If you know me at all, you KNOW I was digging the lino...

I saw a couple of the other houses' living rooms, and everyone seemed to be displaying stuffed animals. And fake flowers.

That is some of our group's stuff on the floor. you can see the hall through the front door. That is where we had dinner, with all or most of the families in the longhouse. Everyone sat on the floor. Afterward there was a display of traditional dancing, and then we were urged to join in. And the plum stuff was passed around.

The mother-in-law and her grandchild

The older girl lived next door. She was a great dominoes player.

Our hostess, the mother of the house.

The hall where we had dinner and where the dancing happened. Oh, we had breakfast in the family's kitchen and again, Granny was pouring out the "recipe." Or trying to. At six am!