River journey and hike to Camp 5

Wednesday 13 August 2008

Mulu to Camp 5

The best thing going for Camp 5 is its location beneath the soaring cliffs of Gunung Benarat.

After breakfast, which consisted of a couple of eggs anyway you liked them and a small chipolata-like sausage accompanied by a couple of pieces of toast, we collected our backpacks and walked a short distance to where two longboats waited to take us upriver to Wind Cave.

Wind Cave contains the really very impressive ‘King’s Chamber’. Here the many stalactites and stalagmites have delicate lace-like patterns.

A short distance further on brought us to Clearwater Cave. Here there are some interesting plants that are only found in this area. Perhaps the most unusual is a one-leaf plant, Monophylla sp., which only has one leaf, surprise, surprise! It belongs to the African Violet family. I also saw some orchids and pitcher plants.

The water in this cave is indeed very clear after having spent a long time being filtered through miles of limestone caves. There is a wonderful swimming area with a decked area built out over water. It was especially appealing on a hot day, but after eating our box lunch there was not enough time for a swim as we had to move on upriver to Long Litut, an hour away. From Long Litut we began a 2 hour trek to Camp 5, which was to be our overnight home. It has very, very basic accommodation. Our ‘room’ was a thigh-high wooden platform with a roof that stretched some 8m from the non-existent door to the wall at the far end. There were benches on either side of the platform and not much else. We were issued with mosquito nets. What were we in for?

Our guides cooked our food in a central kitchen. All the food had to be carried in and any rubbish, carried out. The food was adequate but not special - rice or noodles with tinned Ayam spicy chicken and the like. Attached to the kitchen was a covered eating area with open sides, long tables and equally long benches to sit on. Hot water was available in a Thermos for tea and coffee (but no hot water in the communal showers or toilet block). Tiger beer could be bought but was only served at river temperature which was about 22 degrees Celsius. After the first one, I decided I could go without. I do like my beer cold, particularly in the tropics.

The best thing going for Camp 5 is its location. Built on the banks of the Melinau River, the camp is sandwiched between Gunung Api and the impressive Gunung Benarat, a sheer rock wall that soars above the river on the opposite bank to the camp.

Tomorrow we’ll climb Gunung Api on our way to the Pinnacles, an arduous, challenging climb I’m told…so best get some sleep and ‘be prepared’!