Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting There & Away
The HQ of Similajau National Park is about 30km northeast of Bintulu, 9km off the
coastal road to Miri. Count on paying RM50 one-way to hire a
taxi
( 086-332009)
- or
a 10-seat minibus - from Bintulu's Pasar Utama (Main Bazaar) (
Click here
)
; from the
airport, the cab ride costs about RM75.
To get back to Bintulu, you can pre-arrange a pick-up time or ask HQ staff to help you
call for a taxi.
Niah National Park
The vast limestone caverns of 31-sq-km
Niah National Park
( 085-737450,
085-737454;
www.sarawakforestry.com
;
admission RM20; park office 8am-5pm)
are
among Borneo's most famous and impressive natural attractions. At the heart of the park
is the Great Cave, one of the largest caverns in the world.
Niah's caves have provided groundbreaking insights into human life on Borneo way
back when the island was still connected to mainland Southeast Asia. In 1958 archaeolo-
gists led by Tom Harrisson discovered the 40,000-year-old skull of an anatomically mod-
ern human, the oldest remains of a
Homo sapiens
discovered anywhere in Southeast Asia.
Rock paintings and several small canoe-like coffins ('death ships') indicate that the site
was used as a burial ground much more recently. Some of the artefacts found at Niah are
on display at the Sarawak Museum in Kuching; others (a handful) are in the park's own
museum.
Niah's caves accommodate a staggering number of bats and are an important nesting
site for swiftlets, some of whose species supply the vital ingredient for bird's-nest soup.
Traditionally, the Penan are custodians and collectors of the nests, while the Iban have the
rights to the caves' other commodity, bat and bird guano, which is highly valued as fertil-
iser (no prizes for guessing who got first pick). During the harvesting season (August to
March), nest collectors can be seen on towering bamboo structures wedged against the
cave roof.
We've heard travellers say that if you've been (or will be going) to Gunung Mulu Na-
tional Park, going to Niah might not be worth the effort - unless you're fascinated by hu-
man prehistory, of course.
