Niah Caves

Here are the pictures of our trip to the Niah Caves. The drive from Miri town took close to one and a half hours. Once there it was an hour's walk through the jungle on an elevated boardwalk to the actual caves. The kids were very keen to walk and did not want to sit in the buggy but it was a totally different story on the way back. Thank god for the Phil&Teds!

This was the first chamber that we walked through. Donncha did a great job carrying the buggy up and down those very steep steps.

This was the second and largest chamber. We left Sitty, Narima and the boys at the bottom and proceeded into the cave with the Cowleys. But the smell of the guano (bat poo to you and me) and the closed dark atmosphere was too much for myself and Iman and we did not proceed in too far. We had torches but could only really see our feet. Further in are more chambers and some cave paintings dating back thousands of years. And the day before our trip an ancient skull was discovered at one of the archaelogical sites.

View from the top. These caves are also renowned for the nests of the swallow birds which are made from their saliva. The abandoned nests are harvested several times a year by very skilled climbers who climb very thin poles to get to the nests.  A delicacy in Chinese cuisine they are sought after and quite expensive.

Ayden was more interested in the cave floor - Ayden nooooooo....I took out the wet wipes and sanitizer immediately!

On the way back through the first cave again and after navigating the steep steps down. 

Iman whacked by then!

And needed a ride.

This was by far the most adventurous trip that we had taken the kids on and they did very well. Against the advice of previous visitors we took our Phil&Ted's and by the end of the day was worth it's weight in gold though a little cumbersome for Donncha at times. For most of the journey back I pushed Iman and Jack and Donncha carried a sleeping Ayden (a heavy sleeping Ayden).

We had to bypass the Iban village on way back but we did stop at their souvenir stalls and bought drinks and Iban bracelets and necklaces. I must mention that unlike most attractions on the tourist trails, the prices were very reasonable and we did not need to take out our US$!

A great day out but boy were we happy to see the Marriott at the end of the day! We hope this is the first of many adventures in Borneo.