Pinnacles, here I come

I have wanted to go to the Mulu Caves in Sarawak ever since I read a magazine article about them as a teenager. It was one of those ‘destiny’ moments, rather like the time I opened my Geography textbook in Sec 3 and saw a small black and white photo of Mt Bromo. I just knew I had to go and see it.

The Bromo trip was more than 20 years ago. Mulu took longer – I only made it there last year, when a friend who was at loose ends for a week agreed to go with me, and even planned it all. Unfortunately, she only planned two and a half days at Mulu, and it rained on the evening we went to the bat cave, so I didn’t get to see the spectacle of the millions of bats flying out in the evening.

I also missed the Pinnacles – not the block of flats in Singapore, but those lovely limestone spikes pointing at the sky – it was too long a journey, and my friend rightly pointed out that she wouldn’t make it. She was too polite to say I might not have made it either.

Well, I’m going back again this July to try again, having persuaded a friend in Kuching to see the place for the first time. After the caves, we’ll also take in the Rainforest Music Festival.

Quite an ambitious project – I’ll be almost two weeks away, and the forest trek will be long, and I’m told, muddy.

On the positive side, the cost is low. All the Sarawak costs it will be paid in ringgit, and I have a ringgit account, which will be worth more if I spend it all in Malaysia, as opposed to bringing it back to Singapore – no GST, at the very least. Planning early also helped. I managed to get a return fare on Air Asia for about $175.

But even if I didn’t get the cheap air fare, it would still be time to go. After everything was booked and paid for, I got a bit worried about whether I’d be able to tahan the hike through the forest, especially with camera equipment. Then I took myself in hand - I’m getting on, and not likely to get any fitter if I delay the trip. My ‘long hikes through the jungle’ days are numbered.

I figured that one out a couple of years back when I hiked through the Maxwell trail in Fraser’s Hill, and sprained my ankle fleeing from hundreds of leeches, which thrived in the muddy terrain. As I was limping more than 1 km out of that little scrape, I remember telling myself: “Try to enjoy this – you may never do this again, ‘cause you’re not getting any younger.”

So if it’s something I’ve wanted to do for years, and I can afford it, I’ll do it.

Hopefully, careful planning will keep the costs down. Or, I may have to trim the fat to save up for it. One day, however, I will go to Christmas Island to see the red crabs. I’ll go up north (or down south) to see the Aurora, and check out Antarctica. If I ‘m lucky, I’ll see Machu Picchu, Easter Island and the Galapagos as well.

A good first step will be the short flight to Kuching, and then from there to Mulu again.

As Mark Twain said, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”