So here we are in Borneo and a lot has happened since KL, so I'm afraid this will be another essay!! I think the last time i wrote was when we were shopping for Tor's new clothes...well after a very streesful long long day of trailing round shops we did manage to get some stuff - basic but at least it's allowed us to continue our adventure - didn't get a towel though, nowhere seems to sell them so Tor is currently having to shake herself dry...that's right, just like a dog!!! Seems right somehow...!!! It was a long day but we did manage to get a small break from shopping, and we went up the Petronas Twin Towers - tallest twin towers in the world now... We went on the Skybridge tour which is half way up on floors 41 and 42..can't go right to the top because people work there...still very cool though and mighty high! Spent our last night in KL and got a flight the next morning to the city Kuching which is in the Malaysian province of Sarawak in Borneo. Average kinda place and only a stopover really so we didn't see much, but did stay in a very nice place. Fortunately we were able to get a couple of last minute flights to Gunung Mulu National Park the next day as we'd planned and left Kuching midday on the 15th. First we flew into Miri, then we got a 50 seater plane (no real engine, propellers!!) to Mulu airport - which is tiny as it's in the middle of nowhere!! - Mulu National Park is set just south-east of Brunei and was about 30min plane ride from Miri on the northern coast of Sarawak. The plane journey was amazing...rainforest as far as the eye could see, trees and trees and trees!!! Endless plains of greenery!! It was quite something and really special considering how much rainforest is destroyed each year... So we landed in this tiny little airport where the baggage collection was no more than a hole in the wall with a table!! (there will be pics - just not of this yet as i forgot my other memory card..but don't worry there are some new ones...) 2min taxi ride to the park, where once again we hauled our bags to reception (though especially me coz tor has practically nothing now and easily transports what little things she has around!!). We marched off to our room which was to be in a traditional Longhouse! Longhouses, for those who are unfamiliar, are long buildings that have a central community areas with bedrooms that split off from it. Ours was very nice and I got a double bed - yay!!! That evening we went on a nightwalk. Our guide took us for a two hour walk through the jungle, pointing out insects and various other unnatural looking things along the way. We did see a far few cool things really - Tarantula in its hole!, Boomsland snake in a tree above us, some othe snake that looked like a stick, couple of really cool tree frogs and a sleeping canary!! very enjoyable... After returning we had a drink and went to bed - exciting! Next morning we were up earlyish as we had a Canopy walk booked for 8:30...this'll be good we thought...so off we went to meet our guide - now, the reason we had to go off and meet our guide was because he had already done a canopy walk that morning and was still out in the jungle, so we were told to walk straight and he would meet us at the junction...hmm, ok so we set off and reached a junction...stopped there for a bit before we were ushered along by some pushy couple "Keep going, next junction!"...so we followed them...and followed them and after 20 mins our suspicions grew. Surely they wouldn't make us walk for this long before meeting the guide? We kept on walking and eventually came to another junction, "NO! Next one, i think it is the next one!" says pushy wife...we linger...we linger some more and the new friend we met on the walk here (name unknown, occupation - policeman) says that he walked this trail the evening before to a cave and he didn't remember there being another junction... So we turn back and walk the 25 mins back to headquaters where we were immediately told that had we walked just 20 metres further, round the corner we would have spotted our guide!!!! ARGH!!!!!! So we were hot and sweaty for nothing!!! But we didn't miss out, we jkoined the group that left at 10:30, and it may well have been a blessing in disguise as we got to eat brekkie and we saw Army people arrive in two helicopters - woo!!! The canopy walk was really cool, the longest canopy walk in the world! 480 metres long and about 40 metres off the ground - pretty high!! It was really hot by the time we'd finished so by the time we got back we were glad for the cool cool drinks we had. After a very short two hour rest, we were off following our little guide again to two caves - Langs cave and Deer cave. The first, Langs cave was reached after an hour and it was brilliant...so cool to see how the Stalagtites/mites were being formed in front of us...really pretty. The second, Deer cave, was something else!! It was spectactular! We both said we'd never seen anything like it in our lives, it was so vast and so beautiful...truely undescribable. It was sooo big - we reckon you could easily fit Lincoln Cathedral inside this thing - absoloutly huge!! And the smell was incredible...Deer cave is home to 3 million bats so imagine millions and millions of nappies all festering away and piled into one huge mound - you might have some idea of how discusting the smell was! But i wouldn't have missed it for the world...definately one of the best things i've seen. And then, to top off a brilliant day we sat outside the cave and watched, as the sun went down, the 3 million bats stream out of the cave in groups of hundreds and thousands. We sat there for a good two hours and still, as we left they were continuing to pour from the cave mouth. We were even lucky enough to watch as the Eagle/Hawk hunted them! It was awesome... This morning, 17th, was free. We hadn't booked anything as were we due to check out midday and wern't sure whether we would have time to do anything else. Our plane was at 3:30 so we had time to waste before it, so we decided to go on our own adventure to the Waterfall which was an hours walk from HQ. It was an unguided but was safe enough that we wouldn't need one anyway, so wee got directions and off we went. The lady behind the desk said that the beginning of the trail once we were off the decking would be a little confusing and boy! was she right! The trail kind of disappeared in front of our very eyes into the undergrowth! So we scrambled through the trees and thankfully the way before us cleared and the path appeared again...it took us 30mins to navigate our way through branches, mud, huge quagmires and scratchy plants but eventually we got there and it was worth it - if only to jump in the river to cool down! It was really pretty and we were both soon in the water swimming around (Tor took ages to get in the water! It was cold and she was navigating her way very carefully into it!!). So after a very short hour and a half we marched off back to HQ, managing to get ourselves only slightly lost once - go us!! We got a shower, quick drink and off back to the tiny airport we went - though not before noticing the British Army that had just arrived - hello boys! Wonder why they were there, made our departure from this beautiful, aweinspiring place even harder to take though!! So we arrived back in Miri about 2 hours ago, found a hotel (after refusing the first one - so grose, like something from a horror film!) and can to the internet place! Plans for this evening - eat, sleep, rest our weary bones. Plans for the next few days - head off to brunei tomorrow, spend a night there hopefully, then Kota Kinabalu the day after (19th) and then hopefully the days after that is Mountain climbing time!!! So i think that's probably enough for now...will put the pics i have up now, and the rest that are on the card i forgot will have to go up next session. Enjoy the ones we have at the mo...and will try to write again soon! xx