Friday the thirteenth, and it was my second day in Kuching. Since I had a whole day to kill before proceeding with the first night of the Rainforest Festival, I decided to embark on some tours, and the lady of the guesthouse kindly offered her friend as the chauffeur and tour guide, so I got a personalised tour of the Gunung Gading National Park, as well as the Fairy Caves and the Wind Caves.
For those who do not know, Gunung Gading National Park is famous for the Rafflesia flower, the biggest flower in the world, and this flower seems to be only found in the jungles of Borneo. Unfortunately, when I was there, none of the flowers are in bloom yet. The guard told me I was two weeks too early, as from the monitoring of the buds, a couple of them would only open around last week of July. What a bummer.
However, since I was already there, I just made a trek up onto the first waterfall. Initially, I wanted to go up to the third waterfall as that was the nicer and more spectacular one, but then it started drizzling, so I decided to just stop at the first waterfall and make my way back.
It was about an hour's trek up and an hour's trek down. It may seem very little to some, but for someone like me who loves to eat and yet has no time and inclination to exercise, it is rather taxing for me. But at least this trek helps me to warm up to the climb up the Fairy Caves later on.
Entrance of Gunung Gading National Park
Start of the trek
I came to this boardwalk in the middle of the trek, with a signboard showing the way.
Red and white markings along the way to show the way. If you still see these markings, that shows you are on the right track.
Fungi growing under the log
My destination - Waterfall No. 1
Waterfall No. 1 is a small waterfall, and it was a disappointment as I would not even call it a waterfall. It is just a river flowing through stones, and you can climb up the stones to see the water flowing. There is no cascading nor any white water.
That is all for Waterfall No. 1
Making my way back
When I reached back down, I came across this house at a little off pavement. I have no idea who this house belongs to though, as it was shut and no one seems to be available.
Upon walking a bit further, there is a little clearing consisting of trees, stones, and model animals.
This is one of the bungalows for accommodation
A model bear
A model deer
This is the staff quarters
This is the education centre
A model anteater
A model hornbill (national bird of Sarawak)
The guard house, where I stayed to wait for my driver guide
The road outside the National Park
All in all, Gunung Gading National Park was a disappointment. I had to pay RM15.00 to enter the National Park only to see nothing interesting. Perhaps I went at the wrong time, if I had seen at least one Rafflesia, it would have made my trip much more meaningful.
At least the cave trip was spectacular, so it made up for my disappointment. After leaving Gunung Gading, we drove for a short while to reach the town of Bau, where Fairy and Wind Caves are situated. The entrance of Fairy Caves is a beautiful tree-lined road which reminds me of those sceneries in Korean shows.
Entrance to Fairy Cave
Surrounding of Fairy Caves
I had to climb about a hundred steps up into the caves. The driver guide passed me a torchlight as he said the cave would be dark. Luckily, anyone can go into Fairy Caves as for now, it is free!
The steps leading up to the Fairy Caves
A trash bin
Exterior of the caves
Entering the caves
Resting area outside the caves
The stairs up into the depths of the caves
It is dark indeed, and if not for the flashlight, I would have stumbled and fell off the stairs!
Light streaming in from the top
There is actually water dripping from the top of this
View from outside from the top of the caves
Fairy Caves is spectacular indeed! It was my first cave climbing adventure, and a very memorable one! There are steps cut into the stones for easy walking and the steps lead all the way into the depths of the caves. I cannot even begin to describe what the inside of the caves look like, one has to actually see for themselves to be able to get the picture.
After leaving Fairy Caves, I then proceeded to Wind Caves, which is another short drive away. After seeing Fairy Caves, Wind Cave itself is a disappointment. The caves is just a long road from one end to the other end and it was so dark that there was nothing to see. And I had to pay RM10.00 entrance fee when Fairy Caves was free.
The entrance of Wind Caves
The boardwalk leading to the Wind Caves
Entering the Wind Caves
Except for the stalactites and stalagmites, there is hardly anything else in the caves, except for some colonies of bats that were screaming away.
This boardwalk is leading to Path A.
As can be seen from the signboard below, there are a few directions in the caves. There are Paths A, Paths B, Paths C, that will lead you to different places. We must stick on the same path, otherwise we would get hopelessly lost. But the inside of the caves are so dark that you really have to be careful not to get lost. I almost got lost when I reached a dead end, but luckily there was a tour group in front of me with their torches so I just joined them on their way out.
This is the boardwalk leading to Path C.
After coming out of the Wind Caves, the driver guide brought me back to the guesthouse where I had to quickly shower and get ready for the first night of the Rainforest Festival. It was a fruitful day trekking and caving. If only the Rafflesia was in bloom and Wind Caves is more spectacular, it would have made the adventure more perfect.
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