Cave - Lost World

We went to Gua Rusa - so called because there used to be deer who drank at the cave (apparently the guano from the bats that go into the water is extremely nutritious and the deer liked the water there) but deer don't go there anymore because tourists go there. The formations were really interesting and beautiful.

Can you spot Abraham Lincoln?

Can you spot the bull/Lamborghini logo?

It felt like I was in the movie 'The lost world'

Make sure you don't go off the pathway where it's dark coz it's full of ROACHES

 There are cicadas in there too

It was quite mesmerizing watching the bats fly out in groups to go hunt

It's quite a long walk back so be sure to do it before it gets totally dark. I thought the park was very beautiful and the trails well done (I was actually surprised by how well the park is managed) and I would highly recommend anyone to go visit!

There's only one hotel  ( The Royal Mulu Resort ) now, which will be a Royal Mariott soon I heard. Otherwise, you can rent a place in the Park itself and stay there. The places in the park itself looked quite nice. Find out more about Mulu National Park here.

dont bug me! - Gunung Mulu National Park

Gunung Mulu National Park was really interesting! If you keep on the trail you shouldn't be bugged too much by bugs but be sure not to touch the railings because there r plenty of bugs on the railings and also if you touch the caterpillars you'll be plagued by itchiness (so said the guide)

This must be the funkiest dragonfly i've ever seen

This must be the most interesting  looking caterpillar i've ever seen! n the biggest

Brother: The white caterpillar is a grandpa version of the brown furry caterpillar

Me: -.- (but laughs nevertheless)

Hammerhead worm

We dubbed this the Heihachi (if you're a fan of Tekken you'll know) caterpillar

Caught these 2 at it...apparently the 1 on top is the male...man the female 1's way bigger!!

The guide was really good at pointing out the not so obvious bugs - like these lantern bugs

We finally reached our destination! - next post

Kampung & caves

 From the hotel we'd to take a little boat down the river to the caves. The river was very beautiful as was the surroundings and it felt nice not to be surrounded by concretes and lights and people

No this isn't where you park when you land but I like this shot so I uploaded it anyway.

It's really picturesque living there. No high rise buildings. Surrounded by trees, fresh air, the river..

On to the caves!

Wind cave - we only went on the easy trail. It was quite nice and easy to walk.

We next went to Clearwater Cave. As you can tell from the below picture, it's called that because it's the source of water. The water's actually very cool and refreshing and you can swim in the pool.

The formations are really interesting and it's really cool inside

There were a lot of Raja Brooke butterflies flying around outside the cave. They're really pretty! But really hard to take photos of because they never stay still! They're always fluttering. Who's Brooke and why's a butterfly that's often seen in Sarawak named after him? Brush up on your history here.

Caves & Castle in Kokura

We went to 平尾代　（Hiraodai).

The landscape is so strange!! All these rocks jutting out...But beautiful..

千仏鐘乳洞 (Senbutsu Shounyuu Dou) means Thousand Buddha Cave.

You can tour the cave but when it rains it gets really wet, so better wear pants that are easy to roll up! And to wear a water proof jacket.

I enjoyed it! The water was really really cold though!! 

We also went to Ojika

For more info on the caves, click here.

Near Ojika it's really pretty:

We met a very cute cat who is obviously very used to people adoring him and taking pictures of him haha

We got really hungry after exerting ourselves at the caves (actually I'm just really unfit hahaha) so it was time for lunch!! Which was ramen~~

 I have no idea how to read this and was too lazy to consult my dictionary so too bad :p hahaha

 The inside's really interesting, they have all sorts of old stuff inside. Very retro and they sell old toys and all. It looks so run down right? Haha...

I was a pig so I ordered mentaiko rice plus ramen (below). The mentaiko rice was sooooo good!! I'm drooling now just looking at this damn picture. The seaweed was very crispy too. And with the mayonnaise....One word..... PERFECT.

The ramen's really tasty! I think not everyone would like it. I seriously do not know how they get the egg yolks till they're slightly gooey but the whites fully cooked..but..who cares. LOVE.

After getting energy from (over) eating...We went to Kokura Castle!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      There's a palanquin in the castle that you can get into, press a button and it will move back and forth. Quite funny really.

There's also a machine where you can try and see if you can run as fast as the messengers of the olden days!

They say that normal samurai swords are around 70cm but the famous samurai Musashi's sword was said to be around 90cm long!

At the mall nearby we saw this guy with a pram full of fluffy cats!

There's a river near the wet market and apparently it's a popular picture taking spot:

We went to Chibu's home to a really awesome meal:

 Thank you Chibu's mom so much for letting us stay in your house! And thank you so much for everything else, the food, your company, and so so so many other things!! Oh ya I guess I'll have to thank Chibu too ;p hahahaha

Hopfeully one day I can return the favour and show Chibu's mom around Malaysia!