Nature At Its Best?

Yesterday was my last day in Kuching, and my room mate and I decided to make a trip down to Bako National Park. I have heard lots of raving reviews regarding Bako National Park, both from people who have travelled there and those who have lived in Kuching. All gave this place a full thumbs-up, hence I thought what better way to end my trip to Kuching than to experience nature at its best?

I could have taken the easy way out and got the lady at the guesthouse or someone she instructed to bring me there. However, I found out there is a bus there that will depart from the waterfront to Bako and back, so I thought why not? May as well make my own way there.

So my room mate and I woke up early, and after a sumptuous breakfast of brown fried rice (specially requested by her and cooked by the lady of the guesthouse, complete with flower pieces and egg), we made our way down to the waterfront to wait for the bus.

The bus arrived a few minutes late. And it was not a bus but a minivan. Nevertheless the driver asked if we were going to Bako and we said yes, so he asked us to hop on and drove us there. I presume there must be many going to Bako everyday, hence the minivan service.

Apparently Bako National Park is a stretch of coastal area at the northeastern most point of Sarawak. It is small as compared to other national parks, but because it is at a coastal area, we really experienced nature at its best - there are rivers, swamps, beautiful natural rocks, cliffs, jungles, land forms, plants, wild animals, and some other natural wonders that only God can create.

When the minivan dropped us off at the entrance, it was outside a jetty and we had to buy a boat ticket to get to the National Park itself, and then walk a stretch of beach to go to the actual entrance of the National Park.

 The jetty where the minivan dropped us. We had to walk the bridge to get to the bumboat.

 View of the surroundings from the jetty

 The one with the green canopy was the bumboat we took

We could choose for the bumboat to drop us and then we walk back, or else drop us and bring us back from one of the treks. We chose to do two treks, both bringing us to pristine beaches, but one a shorter one and the other a longer one. Since it would be the late afternoon by the time we finished the longer trek, we told the bumboat driver to bring us back from the end of the longer trek. And thank goodness we did, otherwise I do not think I could make the whole stretch back again!

 Leaving the jetty

After leaving the jetty, the ride took about twenty minutes to go to the beach that is the actual entrance of the National Park. We just enjoyed the ride and saw some beautiful scenery along the way.

 There are many rock forms similar to this along the coast line

After a relatively smooth ride, we reached the beach that would take us to the actual entrance of the National Park.

 We had to remove our shoes and socks and just wade in the water to the sand. Needless to say, by the time we reached the entrance, our feet were all sandy!

I have heard that there were wild boars roaming around Bako National Park. Yet I was still surprised when I saw a wild boar roaming on the beach as I thought wild boars prefer to be more inland. This would be one of the few wild boars we would come across.

 Going past the clump of trees to the entrance

 The actual entrance of Bako National Park

Upon reaching the entrance, there are a few taps available for us to wash our hands and feet, before wearing back our shoes and socks.

There is also accommodation at the National Park itself, for those who are adventurous enough to explore all the treks available. This is one of the bungalows for accommodation.

 A row of funny looking trees outside one of the chalets. Wonder if those trees are saying anything?

 We passed by this stretch of beach on our way to our first trek

 Another wild boar, an old one I would say

 Past this pavement and it was the start of the first trek

 We passed by this swampy beach place

 To a resting pavilion

I really like the pavilion because the surroundings outside contain some of the best natural scenery and God's creation one can ever see. When I went there and saw the surroundings, I could not help gaping in awe. Even pictures do not do justice to the beauty of the place.

 Surroundings around the pavilion

 I was really amazed by this scenery!

 The river entrance of the National Park

 The bumboat would go to this river entrance by request

 By right we were supposed to keep going on the boardwalk and past the river, but we found stairs going down, so we went down and started exploring the beach that would later lead to a swamp.

We passed by the entire stretch of caves and beach and reached a little area covered with trees ...

... and swamps.

 We sat down for a break on a fallen log.

When we came to a clump of trees with all their roots sticking out, we thought we came to a dead end. There was no alternative but to keep going, so we made our way past the roots of the trees before coming to a cave.

 The cave we came to

That was a dead end until we saw people actually coming out of the hole. When we asked the guide, he said we actually went the wrong way as we were supposed to walk the whole bridge and do the trek in the forested area, but since we were already there, he showed us how to go into the hole of this cave and told us the direction to go. So we managed to squeeze ourselves in and kept walking.

The terrain was slopy. We had to climb up branches, climb over branches, went under branches, climb down stones, and go over fallen logs and dead leaves. Even though the treks could be self-guided, but in order to preserve the natural surroundings, not many steps were cut into the way. Hence there was no proper trek marking and we just had to rely on our instincts and kept going, climbing and walking.

 We had to climb up these stones as there was no other way across

After a while, we came to a small boardwalk in the middle of the forested area.

And then the trail kind of disappeared and we were blocked by these stones, where the only way to get across was to climb over them.

Finally we saw some markings that indicated we were on the right track. The route we were on was indicated by white, as shown on the map we were carrying.

More climbing up and down later, we finally came to the end of the trail. All in all, we spent about an hour walking, which was really not that long comparatively. And what awaited us at the end of the trail? A beautiful pristine beach, one of many in the whole National Park.

 The rest pavilion that indicated the end of the trail

 Seeing the beauty of the surroundings, it made all the difficult (for me!) trek worth it!

 Apparently there were monkeys behind those trees

I managed to spot a long-tailed macaque, who came to the ground for some nuts off the trees.

And we also managed to spot the rare proboscis monkey, which were known to be shy and would run away from people. However, I managed to snap this picture while the proboscis monkey was running away.

After resting for a while, we made our way back to the entrance for lunch before continuing on our next trek. This time round, we went back on the actual way by following the trail from the forested area all the way instead of from the beach.

 Branches or roots with thorns

 Telok Paku was the first trail we went on, that leads to Telok Paku Beach. These signs were placed everywhere in case people got lost as many visitors chose at least two trails a day.

 Actually this was the start of the forested area where the common trail is. All these signs indicate which trail we should be on and which markings to follow.

 If we had followed the boardwalk all the way, we would have came to this spot.

 We passed by the same place on our way back

Another wild boar

 

After making our way back to the entrance, we went to the cafe and bought lunch. It was a buffet and I was so hungry that I took quite a lot of everything, and still managed to eat all up!

 This scenery was just opposite the cafe

After lunch, we embarked on our second trek of the day. One of the ladies in the group with us felt it was too taxing so she decided to miss the second trek and just stayed in the cafe until we called to pick her up. Since our second trek had a longer trail, we passed by lots more beautiful natural surroundings and scenery. As again, the trail was very slopy so we had to climb up and down and go under and above roots and branches as with the first trail.

 This time round we had to follow the red markings

 The trail went upwards and we had to climb the stones and branches

Midway through, we came to a clearing like this, which reminds me of some movie where people would shoot and hide from bad guys.

 The trail continued past this clearing into the clump of trees

We had to walk by a swampy hill after the clearing, before passing by an area full of large trees which made me feel as if I was in the middle of an African safari. However, we saw lots of pitcher plants along the way, but unfortunately, most have dried up.

 One of the few pitcher plants we came across

 The trees are so tall that I felt as if I was in the middle of a forest in Africa

 More pitcher plants

We then came to a sandy hill that would lead us into another tree-lined place and then to a rainforest.

 Dried up pitcher plants

For those who wanted to give up halfway for whatever reason, there are even signs indicating how to go back.

 That would be our destination - Telok Pandan Beach

 At this point, we were already quite close to our destination

 Me pointing out where we were

We continued on our way past another stretch that was full of trees.

 

 Still more pitcher plants

Finally we had reached the rainforest.

 This bridge would bring us to the rainforest

 In the rainforest

Once we came to this clearing, we had to keep walking up a small sandy hill to bring us to the edge of a cliff.

  The one good pitcher plant we managed to see

 The pavement sloped around

 We then reached this clearing where we had to climb up to the cliff

 This is the cliff overlooking Telok Pandan Beach

 See the view from the top?

We started making our way down from the cliff. This time round, we had to climb down a long set of very narrow steps, so narrow that it was almost ninety degrees down and only one person could step on the step at one time. I was so afraid of missing my step and plunge straight down, but luckily I made it!

 The beach at the end of the trek

 The final flight of steps down

 Enclosed area where people could change into their swimsuits

 This was where we placed our bags and took out our clothes with just our swimsuits inside

 The water is so clear and pristine that we jumped into the sea immediately

We started swimming, but unfortunately, the water was very warm due to the hot rays of the sun. And we were in the direct view of the sun. I even got a sunburn despite slathering on sunscreen every hour! :-( Despite that, it was refreshing indeed to be in the water.

As the whole National Park closed at five in the evening with the last bus at half past five, we asked the bumboat driver to pick us up at this beach around half past four, but he was already there at three forty-five, which was the time we reached Telok Pandan beach.

After swimming for a while, we had to go back as the place was closing. So we gathered our stuff and went into the bumboat. Since we were near the seastack, the most photographed icon of Bako National Park, the bumboat driver specially brought us round to see the seastack.

 

View of the beach from the water

 Look at how clear the water is!

What is the seastack? It is just a huge rock formation protruding out from the South China Sea, next to the coastline of Bako National Park. I have no idea how it was formed, but it seems to have been there for ages. From the front, it looks like a sleeping owl, but from the back, it looks like an alien. From the side, it looks like the protruding rock formation that Bako National Park is so famous for.

 The seastack from front (does it not look like a sleeping owl?)

 The seastack from the side

 The seastack from the back

 Other angles of the seastack

 

After observing the seastack close-up from all angles, the boat went on its way, and we passed by more natural formations from the coastal line.

 The boat swung by the river entrance to pick up the lady who was left behind

 Boat went on its way again back to the jetty

After we came out of the jetty, we went to the front to await the bus. While waiting, I admired the trees and fruits outside. Even around the jetty, the scenery is so beautiful.

The flowers on a tree outside the jetty of Bako National Park

The bus was late. It was six by the time the bus arrived, and we arrived back in Kuching itself close to seven. But it was a really enriching, albeit tiring day. After all the climbing and trekking and huffing and puffing, we ended our trail to some really beautiful spots, making all the tiredness worth it! 

Bako National Park is really a place where nature is at its best. We experienced just about everything nature can offer - plants, animals, sea, rocks, cliffs, geographical landforms, rainforests, swamps. It is definitely my favourite place in Kuching, and if I ever come back again, I will definitely visit this place again!