Mulu national park

One day before we were even to step foot in Sarawak, we received disturbing news that a tourist and his guide had gone missing after flash floods hit the Deer Cave in Mulu. Deer Cave was one of four showcase caves that we were scheduled to visit. When we arrived in Kuching, the first question I put to the tour agency was whether our programme would be affected. No, our agency representative replied, our programme would not be affected, although she did not elaborate further.

Subsequently, we arrived at Mulu on 14 July. By then, we had learnt that the body of the Dutch tourist had been found but the guide, Roviezal Robin, was still missing. The story we heard was that he had led a group tour into Deer Cave. When the flash floods hit, the guide had helped all but one of the tourists scramble to safety. All but one. The elderly Dutch tourist. We gathered that the guide must have stayed back to look for him and then went missing himself.

According to another report, the search party had uncovered some of the guide's clothes and shoes, but no sign of the guide himself. And a day later, his body was finally located in a place known as the Garden of Eden. The location is described as a clearing within Deer Cave, where a hole in the roof lets in a shaft of light and thus allowing vegetation to thrive.

To get to the Garden of Eden, one has to overcome several physical challenges consisting of rope climbing, crossing rivers, trekking through the forest, swimming (if the water level rose) and going on all fours over rocks and boulders. Plus, I heard that there are lots of yucky guano, that is, bat droppings, everywhere. But we never got to the Garden of Eden. Our package did not include this tour. Even if it did, it would have been cancelled because of the tragedy.

Instead, during our three days, two nights stay at the Gunung Mulu National Park, we visited the Lang Cave and the Deer Cave in the afternoon of the first day, and the Wind Cave and the Clearwater Cave in the morning of the second day. Dead tired by the time we got back from the Clearwater Cave, we chose to just laze about the park for the rest of the day. The third day's morning was spent exploring the Botanic Trail and climbing the Tree Top Tower before checking out from the park.