|
The Niah Caves are home to a huge population of swifts, a
bird that is famous for producing the nest that is used in
making Bird's Nest Soup, a Chinese delicacy. Every night around
dusk there is a massive changing of the guard, where all the
swifts return to the interior of the caves against the tide
of bats racing to escape it.
To get to the caves from Kuching, you'll need to take a bus
to Bintulu. Normally, to get to Kuching's main bus depot,
you'd take a local bus from the post office, but local buses
stop after 8:00PM, so we had to take a cab there. We took
the 9:00PM red-eye from Kuching's main bus depot. Dress warmly,
because it will feel like winter in New York on the heavily
air-conditioned buses.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
A rest stop on the red-eye
from Kuching to Bintulu. |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Early morning at the bus
stop in Bintulu. |
|
|
|
|
|
| We arrived at 6:50AM the next morning in Bintulu
and took the 7:30AM bus to Niah Junction. From the Junction
we had to take a van in to the National Park. You can ask to
head straight to the park if you've arranged accomodation there
instead of stopping off at Batu Niah, which is the closest town. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
These kids in the cafeteria
right outside the park were so cute! The little one saw the
camera and was curious. He grabbed it and started pressing all
the buttons. After I took their pictures, they got a kick out
of seeing themselves on the LCD screen. That's the great thing
about digital cameras. Immediate feedback. |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
You need to cross this
river to get to the Niah Cave trail. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The lodges at Niah National Park must be the nicest ones
in Borneo. Since we were the only backpackers at the park,
we had the entire dorm to ourselves. The dorms are big, spacious
rooms with hot-water showers. All the rooms connect to an
open-air central room with couches. It costs US$3 a night.
It was sunny and rainy after we checked in, so we waited
it out for a couple hours and got a late start on the trail.
The walkway to the caves is slippery. Moss covers the wooden
walkway and every step should be taken with care. Use the
raised wooden planks when going up or down. My Nikes made
it feel like I was walking on well-oiled ball bearings. Rollerblade
should look into adapting Nike's tread pattern for a new line
of inline skates... On the plus side, the shoes did keep my
feet dry the entire trip.
There's no need for warm clothes in the caves. It's hot all
the way through. Bring strong torches. You'll need them to
find your way. There isn't any interior lighting.
Don't worry about missing the last boat for the return crossing
of the river. They operate until late into the night. They
just charge more the later it gets. We happened to get back
when it was already dark.
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
It's dark along the trail
which for most of the way is a raised wooden walkway. |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
This is a rest area for
all the workers who collect bat guano or (illegally) the swift
nests. |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
The entrance of the caves. |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Looking back out before
being plunged into the darkness of the caves. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
January 9, 2001
Bird's
Nest Soup
Just flew into hot, rainy, muggy Kota Kinabalu after
spending the last two days at Niah National Park
which lies between Bintulu and Miri in Sarawak. The
park is home to a large population of swiftlets and
bats which live in an extensive cave network. The swiftlets'
nests are harvested to make Bird's Nest Soup, a Chinese
delicacy.
After seeing the risks involved in harvesting the nests
-- bamboo scaffolding five stories high -- I
understand why the stuff is so damn expensive...
The harvesters make RM1000/kg, about US$275/kg. At retail,
the nests go for US$1000/kg for the top quality stuff.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
We've reached the other
side! Light at the end of the caves. |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
The bat guano packs typically
weigh 80 kilograms. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
