Next to Niah

1/6 - 1/7 2003

I spent one night at Batu Niah NP. I debated whether it was worthwhile to see more caves. But this is a place where birds nests are collected for birds nest soup. I would have liked to seen the nests collected. Unfortunately, this is only done twice a year and this was not one of those times.

Still, the poles and nets of the nest collectors were present. It is clearly dangerous work, climbing tall poles to remove nests from near the ceiling of the cave.

Getting food that night was more trouble than it should been. The canteen was closed and so was the cafe outside. I had to hike 20 minutes through the forest into town to get a bite to eat.

There are a couple of trails in the park but, after some confusion about where the trails started and how long they were, I opted to skip. There is no wildlife in the park to speak of and I've seen enough trees.