As the sun disappeared below the horizon we turned our eyes back to the hills, watching and waiting. And then we started to see the bats of Mulu take flight.
To the right you can see examples of the limestone cliffs that feature in this area. Up in the hills in the top left corner you can see a collapsed surface. These highlight some of the challenges of hiking in this area. The terrain makes it extremely difficult but you could be hiking along and find yourself on the edge of a cliff. Being so far from help, that's why you stay on the trails.
Above ground Gunung Mulu National Park is a network of rivers and trails cut through the rainforest. Today's photo is one view over the park. On this day, Mount Mulu itself was shrouded in cloud. In the foreground just right of center you can make out a stretch of a river.
The reason that sprang to mind was the skull-like shape just up and right of the center of this photo. It's actually just the way the sun in breaking through the jungle canopy to illuminate that one spot on this cave exit, but it does look like a disembodied head!
It was here that I made a mistake I was to repeat several times in the caves - I stepped off the path. The material on the floor in front of me is tens of thousands of years accumulation of bat and swiftlet droppings - a big steaming pile of bat shit! I didn't realize that till I stepped off the path and my foot started to sink into this soft, gooey material. As I said, I made that same mistake several times!
The photo below is a view of one of the entrances to Clearwater Cave. You can get an idea of the scale by noticing how tiny the 3~4 foot wide concrete footpath, stairs and railing in the lower right corner.