WE SUBSCRIBE TO 1 MALAYSIA – Captivating Mulu Limestone Pinnacles

WE SUBSCRIBE TO 1 MALAYSIA – Captivating Mulu Limestone Pinnacles
By Mohd Azman Sulaiman

“Small gestures foster unity. These are simple, mundane things, just to say hello, just to send a friendly message, just to help someone in need, regardless of religion or race.” This is a simple yet meaningful message from our Prime Minister, YAB Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak, which I’m sure many Malaysians do practice, yet sometimes take little notice of, or make little effort to speak up about.

Last year the writer related a story of how a group 5 high school friends, former students of St John’s Institution KL, being in their mid 40’s and having been in constant contact all these years, decided to make a trip up Mt Kinabalu. That story was not just about the climb itself, but the realization that this group of friends, of varying racial, professional and cultural background, still had so much in common. Whilst like any group of friends, they had their differences; they still thrived on their commonalities in diversity. It was a time when our former Prime Minister highlighted that social disharmony was a growing national concern.

How times have changed, at least in the realization of addressing this problem. The new Government, under the able leadership of Dato’ Seri Najib (who also happens to be an old boy of St John’s Institution), has formed a dedicated Ministry to look into improving the social unity of the people of this beloved nation, we all call home.

This brings the writer, to present an update of what this group of 5 friends, namely, Azman Sulaiman, Ronald Pickering, Fitri Abdullah, Andrew Chan and Rodney Michael; have been doing together as of late. We still play regular squash each week, minus Ron, who still resides in Hong Kong. This again, is often followed by long teh tarek and makan sessions. We owe it to our wives (& children) for allowing us the time and space each week to keep on with this social indulgence. As always, we are always joking amongst ourselves, sometimes picking on the niggling habitual differences we have among us. But as always, no pun is ever taken seriously to heart.

Lately the team decided to go on another expedition, this time to the Mulu National Park in Sarawak. We had heard so much about the beautiful wildlife and giant caves on offer, we thought that it would be a good next effort in seeing more of the wonders of beautiful Malaysia, together.
After last year’s story about our expedition to Mt Kinabalu, we gathered the attention of other former high school class mates. So this time around, we were joined by 3 other former students of St John’s, namely, Ibrahimnuddin Yunus, Naser Jaafar and A’reef Khalid. Rodney jokingly commented that this was Azman’s effort to enhance the bumi quota in the team. In an attempt to “even out the quota” there was an effort to recruit another of our former classmates, Arvinder Singh, who now trades textiles across China and Indonesia. However, Arvin, as we fondly refer to him, was busy in a trade expo in Guangchou at the time of our planned expedition.

Both Ibrahim and A’reef, who had been to Mulu before, didn’t have the chance to visit the Mulu Limestone Pinnacles, widely regarded as one of the seven natural wonders of the world(?). Initially, the team (especially the writer) was a bit apprehensive of another mountain climb, after the pain experienced climbing Mt Kinabalu. But building up the much needed courage, we decided to give it a go and thus make the needed physical preparations for the challenge.

Preparations of course, began with determining suitable dates, securing leave from office and purchasing flight tickets as cheap as possible. We were fortunate to book MAS low fares on line to Miri and then one of two daily flights on MAS Wings to Mulu. All set, the last efforts were to book accommodation at the Royal Mulu Resort and a suitable guide for the pinnacles leg of the trip.

In the 3 months leading up to the expedition, we spent weekends on physical fitness training, climbing Gg Nuang in Ulu Langat, hiking through the FRIM forest in Selayang, in between the odd workout at Lake Gardens and Bukit Kiara.

Learning from the experience in hiking Mt Kinabalu last year, we were now more knowledgeable of the dangers of being ill-prepared fitness-wise for such expeditions. We also learnt from last time around, what best to wear for such expeditions. We spent extra money on dry-fit clothing and top quality hiking shoes, to ensure that we were not short on these essentials.

Come the day of departure on 2 May 2009, Ibrahimnuddin joined us from Jakarta, where he works in the oil & gas industry, whereas Ron joined us from Hong Kong, where he heads up the regional Sales and Marketing for CSR Limited Australia.

As soon as we arrived into Mulu that afternoon, we were greeted by our tour guide, Larry Siga who led us straight to the Mulu National Park, whilst our luggage was sent to the resort. After a short 3.5km walk across wooden-planked jungle trails, we were at the doorstep of the Deer and Lang Caves.

For those of you who may have read of these magnificent caves, or may have seen pictures in travel magazines, nothing can beat seeing them for yourself. It is so amazing how large these natural structures actually are in real life. Stalagmites and stalactites protrude from the base and walls of the caves, forming structures which resemble anything your imagination desires. It’s hard to imagine how these structure have taken millions of years to evolve and continue to evolve to this very day.

The Mulu Park Board has done a great job in providing adequate lighting, clean pathways and even neat viewing and rest areas for visitors to these caves.

The highlight of the evening was the view of millions of bats streaming out of the Deer Cave just as dusk approached. Imagine, an ever flowing stream of bats, flowing like a river into the sky from the cave mouth, for hours on end. Even as twilight approached, one could still see the flow of bats continue out into the night light. It is no wonder that we didn’t feel bugged by insects or mosquitoes? They must have become extinct, being the food of choice for these bats.

After an early breakfast on Day Two, we were ready for a long sampan ride upstream of the Melinau river from Mulu Park to Kuala Litut. The normal 90 min boat ride takes longer than usual for this time of the year, where we had to alight every now and then to help push the sampan in shallow waters. Early enthusiasm soon turned to tired anxiety after a few forced stops and we were glad to eventually arrive at Kuala Litut. Along the way to Kuala Litut, we also stopped by the Clearwater and Wind caves, which also helped break the monotony and give us a breather.

There is an 8.8km walk from Kuala Litut to Camp 5 at the base of Gg Api which leads up to the Pinnacles. This pleasant and relatively flat walk under jungle canopy took us around 3 hours before we arrived at Camp 5 for the night. We were fortunate to have the hindsight to hire 2 Penan porters to help us with the extra luggage for the 2 night stay.

Camp 5 resembles a long house with a wooden bathroom block and kitchen at the rear. The camp can accommodate 50 occupants at a time, but the eight of us were lucky to have the place to ourselves that night. Facilities are simple, where occupants are just provided thin mattresses to sleep on. You can bring your own sleeping bags and mosquito nets or these can be rented from the camp’s caretaker.

After an early dinner and quick briefing for the Pinnacles assault the next day, we were ready to retire for the night. It was hard to fall asleep that night as we excitedly anticipated the following day’s assault on the Mulu Limestone Pinnacles. This cause wasn’t helped by the uncalled for eurythmic snores that broke the night’s silence every now and then. The writer won’t relate who snored the loudest that night for he too may be guilty of peaceful interference.

6am of Day 3, we are geared up, eager and ready to go before sunrise. A light breakfast of fried mee hoon and hot coffee is enough to line our stomachs. We leave with 3 litres of water each to last us the journey and back.

It is a 2.4km trek up Gg Api to the summit where we will be able to view the Mulu Limestone Pinnacles. The first 200m is relatively over flat hillside terrain. The next 1.8km follows a steep incline averaging 50o-60o in most sections. It is here that we begin to feel the strain of a technical climb over sharp edged limestone rock outcrops, some places made slippery after the previous nights rain. The only equipment we have is the garden gloves A’reef purchased to help grip the rock edges and occasional stretches of guide rope anchored into the rock surface.

We make our way in single file with the guide, Richard and the writer in front and Ibrahim positioned at the rear of the team. It is not a race, but a journey, step by step to the top.

We break the journey for a breather and water breaks every 200m or so, before we reach first ladder at 2.0km at 0930hrs. It is 3.5 hours since we began the climb. We are making good time. The general rule is that you must reach the 1st ladder by 1100hrs to ensure that you can proceed to the summit and be back down again at Camp 5 before sunset. There are some 15 ladders that help climbers scale the final 400m to the top. It is these last 400m that prove to be the most dangerous. The rock slope is now close to 90o in most sections and each step across rock crevices is taken with greatest precaution. Any slip will result in a dangerous fall, not only for yourself but also the poor guy behind you.

It is 1100hrs. A sense of total fulfillment overcome us as we reach the very top of Gg Api and take in the spectacular view of the Mulu Limestone Pinnacles. It is at this point that one realizes all the effort made in training and mental preparation for the climb resulting in an opportunity to gaze at one of the Al-Mighty’s great creations, is worth it. As a climber, one always remembers that it is not to challenge the mountain, but to be given the honor of being accepted to share the view from atop what a mountain has to offer.

The view of the pinnacles may not be as spectacular as the view from the top of Mt Kinabalu. Perhaps the park authorities could have taken greater effort to create a viewing platform of sorts to take in the view better. We took countless photos, sent sms/mms to friends and relatives and even sang our school rally (which I will post on utube for general viewing) to commemorate the occasion.

It is close to noon as we begin the climb down again. This proves to be more treacherous than the climb up the mountain. Not only are our legs aching by now, but we often need to scale down in reverse down the slopes.

The team breaks up into smaller groups as we gradually make our way back to Camp 5. It is 6pm in the evening when the writer leads the last group into camp. It has been a full 12 hours since we left in the morning. I tell myself, “never again”. But that wish is not likely to last and will soon be forgotten.

But what has this story got to do with 1 Malaysia?

Well firstly, we are still that group of diverse Malaysians of varying racial, cultural and professional backgrounds, who still symbolize what Malaysia is all about, “Truly Asia”. We are blessed to live in a country that doesn’t suffer from social unrest, natural disasters or over-riding poverty. We are blessed with such a beautiful landscape of natural wonders that we are the envy of visitors from around the world, who travel thousands of miles to sample our beautiful country.
We hopefully set an example to our children that you don’t have to look at a person’s skin color to determine whether he can be your friend or not. We may have our own cultural traditions but we speak with a common language of camaraderie, friendship and respect, built up over the years.

As team leader of the expedition up to Mulu, I must admit that there wasn’t a time during the expedition where anyone found fault with another. Perhaps we are lucky in that respect. Something we often can take for granted, even when among our loved ones.

Where to next? Well, as we wound down from our trip that day, we discussed next options on another expedition together. Provided our finer halves grant us home visas, we are contemplating going beyond Malaysia to visit inner China. We’ve heard so much about the silk route, and possibly even Tibet. Who knows? We’ll keep you posted.