Mulu ISCA conference 2024

 

The 2024 International Show Cave Association Conference will be held in Mulu National Park, 28 September – 6 October. There will be pre- and post conference activities and trips. See more on ISCA  Vol 24 July-Aug newsletter and Vol 25 Sept-Oct newsletter. This will be the first ISCA conference in SE Asia.

See more on ISCA.

And see Archives 2024 on my webpage for media links.

Niah Cave now a World Heritage Site

 In July 2024 the Niah Caves Complex in Sarawak, Malaysia, was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site. See UNESCO page. 

There were many reports in the media. See my blog for links to some of them.

Farewell to the King, film, Bau caves

Farewell to the King is a 1988 film written and directed by John Milius. It stars Nick Nolte (Learoyd), Nigel Havers (botanist), Frank McRae (Tenga), and Gerry Lopez (Gwai) and is based on the 1969 novel L'Adieu au Roi by Pierre Schoendoerffer. 

During World War II, an American soldier, Learoyd, becomes a deserter and escapes a Japanese firing squad in the Philippines in 1942. He manages to sail to Borneo and hides himself in the wilds of Borneo. Learoyd is adopted by a head-hunting tribe of Dayaks, a tribe of headhunters. They consider him "divine" because of his blue eyes.

Before long, Learoyd is the reigning king of the Dayaks. He takes a local wife and has a child. When British soldiers approach him to rejoin the war against the Japanese, Learoyd resists. When his own tribe is threatened by the invaders, the "king" deigns to fight for their rights when the Japanese attack his adopted people. This war story told in the style of Joseph Conrad and Rudyard Kipling.

The film was partly shot on location in the caves at Bau, Kuching, Sarawak. The crew stayed in the Holiday Inn, Kuching and returned there every night. The hotel is within a two-hour drive of every jungle, river, cave or beach location used for "Farewell to the King." 

The film is different from the book. In the book, Learoyd is an Irishman in the British army. The film wasn't very successful and had very mixed reviews. Release Date: 7 July 1989 (UK)

 

Fairy Cave, Bau, Sarawak

Fairy Cave is a show cave located at Bau, near Kuching, in Sarawak, Malaysia. Wind Cave is also in the area.
On my last visit in 2007 I was surprised to see a well built solid enclosed staircase leading up to the entrance. On previous visits there was just a set of stone steps going up the hill :


The new staircase


The actual cave is very large, however the entrance passage is quite small

but soon pops out into the main chamber



The statue of the Fairy, from which the cave gets its name

There are offerings


At the top of the main chamber steps lead up to a back entrance.

View looking towards the main entrance -

 

There are monophyllaea and ferns growing

Looking back into the cave

On this trip I was with some bat researchers from Unimas. This is Raymond holding a bat detector

Going back down, this photo shows the sturdy structure of the staircase. It looks built to last!!!

See Wind Cave

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission

Snoopy in Gua Batu Kuda, Mulu

Every time I went to Gua Batu Kuda, Stone Horse Cave, in Mulu, I said hello to Snoopy. Snoopy was a rock formation but it had a real likeness to the cartoon character in Peanuts.

These photos were taken in 1993

Everyone liked to pose as they kissed Snoopy.

Then on one visit in 1996 I was shocked to see that Snoopy was broken. I don't know when it happened. I don't know if it was a natural breakage.

As with Humpty Dumpty, "all the cavers couldn't put Snoopy together again"

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission

Mulu airport opening ceremony 1992

When I started going to Gunung Mulu National Park, the only way there was by boat. That was in the late 1980s and early 1990s. From Miri it was a series of 3 boats, usually overnighting in Marudi. Alternatively it was possible to fly to Marudi, and then take 2 boats to Mulu.

The travelling time has now been very reduced since the opening of Mulu airport in 1992. I happened to be in Mulu at the time and was able to go to the opening celebrations.

The first plane flew in on 29 May 1992.

Locals waiting in the new airport building. When the plane was due to arrive a welcoming group were waiting by the runway

The plane has arrived. A Twin Otter. The VIPs and photographers are waiting

Datuk Amar Dr Wong is greeted off the plane

The local ladies give small gifts (above), and Penan men (below)

The headman with long ears

At the end of my stay I was able to leave the park by plane, flying to Miri. The locals on the flight were all very excited, especially as they could see their homes from the air.

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission

Wind Cave at Bau, Sarawak, Malaysia

Wind Cave is a show cave located at Bau, near Kuching, in Sarawak, Malaysia.

There are many caves in the Bau area, and they were first described by Europeans in the mid 19th century.

Gua Angin or Wind Cave lies about 2 km west of Bau town.

There is an entry fee of RM3 (2007)

When Sir Hugh Low visited in 1845 he was told the cave was the habitation of dragons and bad spirits. The tales of dragons probably originate from the noise the wind makes when blowing through the cave, the wind that gives the cave its name. It can be an eerie noise when in a pitch black cave.

Wind Cave has three main entrances and a river flows through the cave and joins the Sungai Sarawak Kanan at the northern entrance.

There are also lots of bats in the cave, and the noise of their fluttering wings can also sound like wind. Other animals live in the cave, mostly invertebrates such as long legged centipedes, spiders, crickets.

There are also bird nests

The river flowing past one entrance

See Fairy Cave.

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission