Yesterday 23/10/10 joined husband & bsn staf went to Niah Caves National Park.
The vast caverns of Niah Caves National Park (admission RM10; park office 8am-5pm) are among Borneo’s most incredible natural attractions. Located in the limestone hills about 3km north of Batu Niah town, the caves contain some of the oldest evidence of human habitation in Southeast Asia; rock art and small canoe-like coffins (death ships) within the greenish walls of the Painted Cave indicate that it was once a burial ground, and carbon dating puts the oldest relics back 40,000 years ago
The caves are 3.5km away from the park headquarters via a wonderful plankwalk through old-growth rainforest. First, we walk from the headquarters to the jetty on the Sungai Niah, then cross the river in a small boat, before climbing to a small visitors centre
* A long boardwalk through the jungle leads the tourists to them.We don't see much wildlife,but the jungle with all its noises keeps fascinating us.
* we reach the place where local villagers sell souvenirs, pass through the gate and climb up to the caves.
*we pass under a limestone overhang before entering the aptly named Great Cave.
*through a dark passage known as the Gan Kira, or Moon Cave. It’s not narrow enough to induce claustrophobia (unless you’re severely affected), but it will certainly make we wonder what would happen if our torch suddenly died. :)
*A huge cave complex appears and once inside, it gets pretty dark. With our flashlight we see the bas hanging from the ceiling, and the bird nests with some of the birds still on them. We also see the tall constructions used by the locals to harvest the bird nests:)
*On the other end of the caves, we arrive in another piece of jungle, where boardwalks are leading us to the caves where rock paintings are found. But we cannot see much of these paintings, they are very vague and a large fence is keeping us at a distance. So it's back to the big cave and through the jungle to the Park head quarters.
*At the entrance to the park is a small museum about the Niah caves. It shows the excavations made in the caves.
*Niah Caves national Park is a lovely place to enjoy the jungle and the caves
*enjoyed journey ya!!!!!!
