Deer Cave and Lang's Cave

I don't expect much from tour guides. Usually, I am just so happy to be anywhere other than sitting in an empty Korean elementary school classroom that I could care less how many English phrases he or she has memorized or how many historic or botanical factoids they can spit out. This holds especially true in those life alteringly beautiful locales like Angkor Wat, or a remote Fijian village- two destinations we had the pleasure of experiencing this past year. In those instances, I could really care less if the path we are led through is littered with doe-eyed kids begging to sell a knick knack, or if it happens to conveniently snake around the guide's uncle's souvenir shop.

I don't remember much of what our young guide at Mulu National Park in Sarawak had to say, but he was instrumental in pointing out all the creepy, crawly critters of the jungle, and didn't mind a bit if I dawdled slowly behind to take a picture. For this I am grateful.

Big ole flat looking slimy snail on the trail

Someone said this guy looks like he's made of metal. I like that.

There were also pictures of beautiful butterflies, but the creepy things are more interesting.

This was actually from the walk to the sky bridges earlier, but I wanted to include it anyway...

There is a little picnic area outside of the entrance to Deer Cave and Lang's Caves. This is the spot where visitors gather in the evening to view over 2 million bats as they exit the caves simultaneously for their nightly bug hunt. Under the covered area there is all sorts of information posted on bat species around the world, and even more nuggets of knowledge regarding the local varieties and surrounding ecosystem. I was somewhat surprised to learn that a very small percentage of bats actually drink blood (if they do it is the blood of small animals). Most bats eat their body weight in insects nearly every night. I say "nearly" because the bats do not come out if it is raining during their scheduled wake up time. At 2:00pm or so on the day we visited, the skies were starting to become overcast.

The view of the entrance to Deer Cave from the viewing area.

We waited in the covered area for the morning wave of guided tourists to finish and make their way out. Apparently, only so many people are allowed in the caves at one time. When our number was called, we entered through a tall, aluminum gate and walked around in a paved semi-circle from the left side up to the corner of the massive cave entrance where illuminated moss gave way to complete darkness. Deer cave is immense (the second largest in the world area wise we were told) and it was easy to feel like a hobbit underneath such a high ceiling surrounded by immense crags of rock. We were told that at no point inside does the cave ceiling fall below 90 meters and it is just over 2 kilometers in length. Once we were inside a ways, we were instructed to turn around and look out where the outcropping of rock along the cave opening formed an uncanny Abraham Lincoln silhouette.

Honest Abe

Eerie as the entire situation was, I didn't once feel uneasy regarding the estimated 2 million bats sleeping above our heads. I was more concerned with what lay on the ground outside of the roped off, cement trail. The ground to the left and right was covered with bat guano, which just looked like a fine dirt and really didn't smell like anything other than earth. Not surprisingly, the guano is considered excellent fertilizer and is harvested by local farmers for use in black pepper fields. An entire ecosystem subsists on the ground that surrounded us, but, while other caves in Borneo are famous for carpets of giant cockroaches, my flickering head torch illuminated surprisingly few. I did, however, make the mistake of placing my hand on a post that was littered with the bastards.

Yikes! I guess they weren't roaches, but freaky nonetheless.

The path around the left perimeter of Deer Cave led to the "Garden of Eden" where a hole in the roof lets in light and green vegetation thrives. There is even a spectacular "Eden's Shower" in which water emits onto a large rock table from a Seuss-like stalactite spout.

Sami inside Deer Cave

Inside Deer Cave.

This, I believe, is the Garden of Eden inside Deer Cave

 Much more Suessery was to be had at Lang's Cave next door. Even though Lang's is the smallest of the four show caves we visited, it may well be my favorite for its crazy array of stalactite formations. Coming from Deer Cave, the quarters felt cramped, but everywhere we turned there was a new outcropping of limestone deformed by constant dripping that blew our minds. Sculptures like these could not be created by the mind of man no matter how much LSD the artist dropped beforehand. Of course, none of the pictures I took turned out that well, but that didn't stop me from snapping away.

Inside Lang's Cave #1

Inside Lang's Cave #2

Inside Lang's Cave #3

 When we finished it started to rain hard so we put on our ponchos and made our way back down to the bat exodus viewing area. Many of our fellow tourists bypassed the rest stop, certain that the bats would nap through the rain. Since we were leaving Mulu before the next day's bat departure time, we chose to wait it out. While we were sitting, there was a little bit of drama as some European tourists blamed a group of Chinese tourists for swiping their nice ponchos. I sat and observed giddily, always being one to enjoy confrontation when not a participant. A slight smile formed at the corners of my mouth as a Chinese man confusedly handed over a coat. What did he think they were- gifts?

Waiting for the bats...

After the fifth or sixth time of ignoring Sami's suggestion that we head back to the resort, the bats came out in wispy puffs to the delighted shrieks of onlookers. They all descended from roughly the same spot, but there was no telling which direction a group would ultimately flee too. I nearly made myself dizzy pointing the camera in the air and twirling in circles. Of couse, it was approaching dusk when the rain halted long enough for some of the bats to decide to exit, so my pictures weren't nearly as cool as others I had seen. Still, it was a cool experience that I am glad we stuck around for.

Bat Exodus

By the time we walked back it was pitch dark. Hungry, we were able to pass quite a few travelers, but soon ran into a backlog and had to walk at the pace of the crowd. In the dark we could make out all the sounds of the jungle. The croaks, caws and monkey calls were even better than anything the guides had told us about on this most memorable day.