We're ready by 8:30 after having breakfast. We walk over to the dock and board our longboat to go upriver to check out two more caves, the Wind cave and the Clearwater cave.
The longboats are the standard form of travel on the river. Shallow drafted, they have a little outboard motor around 10HP on the back, and are steered by moving the motor from side to side. We passed one longboat that was rigged to carry an SUV. Normally they're only wide enough to fit 6 to 10 people sitting in a single file.
On our way to the cave, our guide points out a cave entrance with a good sized steam flowing out of it.
We also make a stop at Batu Bungan a settlement village. The tribe is Penan and the people were resettled to discourage their nomadic lives. The guide said that it was to provide the people with ID and access to health care and education. I think it's because they wanted to create a park and you can't have nomadic tribes running through your future eco-tourism location. And now they sell trinkets and handicrafts to earn money. I felt badly walking through the craft stalls. They were all manned by women of all ages.
We arrive at the Wind Cave. There is a set of undulating steps in the walkway and sections where the ceiling is low. There is often a breeze coming through the cave, hence the name. Some of the cave sides are coated with "moonmilk" a formed from bacteria on the calcium walls. Some of the stalactites seem to form at an angle. I think it's due to the wind.
Then onto the next cave. At the entrance we saw one leaf plants whose name explains it all.
This one is Clearwater Cave and has a stream running through it. You can see the high water mark on the cave walls. There is a platform that goes down to the river. We both dip our hands in to discover how warm it is.
The picture isn't as good as the one I took with my low aperture camera but there is a river down there.
These caves are all very big. One cave, Sarawak, which isn't on our plan is large enough to hold a few 747's. There are only 4 caves open to non-adventure explorers and we see them all. There are tours for spelunkers but you have to be assessed to show you have the skill set. I think crawling in tight spaces in the dark in slimy dirty mud isn't high on my list.
We leave Clearwater hike and go back to the resting area. This is the facility at the start of the path to Clearwater cave. It has about a dozen table and chairs to sit at. There was a natural pool formed by the river, perfect for swimming and the facility had steps down into the pool specifically to enter and exit it. Judith went for a swim--not sure you would have been able to hold her back except maybe if there were leeches. I just sat in the water on the stairs leading down to the pool. It just seamed to the the best lazy thing.
After we got out of the water and dried off (as much as you can dry off when it's so humid) we had lunch that the hotel prepared for us.
Back into the van to return to the hotel. We decide to book a canopy tour for the next day. Our guide helped us make the reservation but we needed to go back to the park office to pay for it to guarantee the reservation. While we're there we check out the park museum and I decide to stay there to enjoy the park ambiance and the wifi which seems to be faster than at the hotel. Judith decides to go back to the hotel to hang about. There's a pool for her to explore and more people to meet.
I used the wifi at the park to send off a blog update. The wifi is spotty in the jungle. Updates won't happen everyday. Then I wait for a shuttle back to the hotel and arrive back in time for a siesta and dinner. The buffet has so much variety. I need to try it all.
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