The Pinnacles
A forest of razor-sharp limestone spires.
Nur Nafis Naim — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Luke Price from Rotterdam, Netherlands — CC BY 2.0 · Wilson Chin from Kuching, Sarawak — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE — CC BY-SA 2.0
One of the world's most spectacular nature reserves and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, protecting vast caves and astonishing limestone formations in a mountainous equatorial rainforest, and named after Mount Mulu, the second-highest mountain in Sarawak. It is famous for the expeditions that explored its caves, above all the Royal Geographical Society expedition of 1977–1978, which kept more than a hundred scientists in the field for fifteen months, and exploration goes on to this day. Most visitors get to know the park through its show caves: Deer Cave, with its gigantic passage and the streams of bats that pour out at dusk, the small Lang's Cave with its delicate formations, and Clearwater Cave and Wind Cave, reached by boat up the Melinau River. There is also a canopy skywalk among the treetops and forest trails, and for the adventurous a demanding three-day trek to the Pinnacles, a forest of razor-sharp limestone spires on the flank of Gunung Api. No road reaches Mulu: the easiest way in is a short flight from Miri of about half an hour, with flights from Kota Kinabalu and Kuching too. The park fee for non-Malaysians is thirty ringgit, valid for five days, plus the fees for the guided tours of each cave or activity; the park has lodges and restaurants, and booking ahead is wise. Allow at least two or three days, book the cave tours ahead in season, and bring non-slip shoes and a rain jacket, as rain can fall here at any time of year.
A forest of razor-sharp limestone spires.
Deer, Lang's, Clearwater and Wind.
Among the rainforest treetops.
North-eastern Sarawak, about half an hour by plane from Miri
Two days cover the four main show caves and the bat exodus; three or more if you want the canopy skywalk and the trails, while the Pinnacles trek alone takes three days and good fitness.