The Courtly Chamber of Fairy Cave

"The Dwarves tell no tale; but even as mithril was the foundation of their wealth, so also it was their destruction: they delved too greedily and too deep, and disturbed that from which they fled, Durin's Bane."

The Lord of the Rings (1954) by J. R. R. Tolkien

I learned about the Fairy Cave in the nearby town of Bau in my first year of working in Kuching but it wasn't until April 18 earlier this year that I could find the opportunity to see it for myself. The locals have named it Gua Pari with "gua" meaning "cave" and "pari" denoting "fairy". Pari can also mean "stingray", but I seriously doubt that that's the case here. The site is officially a natural reserve so a small fee is collected from every visitor for custodial maintenance.

The cave entrance was about 4 to 5-storeys up a sheer limestone cliff face and could only be accessed via a ugly free-standing concrete stairwell in dire need of a new coat of paint. On my ascent, I noticed that a smaller set of stairs was running closely to the rocks which I presumed was how tourists used to reach the cave mouth in the past. 

Exercise.

Safety? Is that some kind of small mammal?

The Fairy Cave got its name because of its association to a Bidayuh local legend that tells of a village not too far away which once held a festival. Two orphans, drawn to the celebration and revelry, wanted to participate but the villagers made fun of them before chasing them away. For their heartless treatment of these orphans, it was said that they were struck with a curse that turned them all into stone figures.

That's what some of the more humanoid cave formations in the Fairy Cave were suppose to be - petrified jerkasses.

The cave entrance.

After climbing some wet stairs through a dark tunnel, you get the first glimpse of something greater.

Towering monolithic staglamites taller than houses and covered in vegetation nourished by the skylight.

The tiny tunnel that formed the antechamber of the Fairy Cave could not prepare me for what awaits me at the end of the darkness. It was a very well-lit gargantuan chamber with soaring ceilings that disappear into shadows far above, giving me a religious awe that surpasses that of any cathedral. The incessant chittering of leather-winged chiropterans were audible but barely, emanating from the whatever lightless recesses the water-carved cavern conceal from sight. My later visits to the even more majestic caves in Mulu National Park would dwarf this experience but at this time, it was the largest cave I've ever seen. In fact, aside from the faint stench of guano flavouring the air, it was hard to believe that I was standing inside the hollow heart of the mountain. There was a very Lost World vibe to it.

The main chamber of Fairy Cave.

View of the cave chamber from where the skylight is.

View of the massive, Eye-of-Sauron-shaped skylight.

A solitary bench near the back of the cave chamber.

A concrete path leading into the darkness of the deeper chambers.

The end of the concrete path. The tunnels go deeper but they were closed to visitors.

Right at the centre of a cave, someone have placed the statue of an uncanny childlike figure adjacent to a huge rock. A white cap was placed on its head, a black robe was draped over its shoulders and a red sash encircled its waist. I have no idea what it is suppose to represent but I really didn't like the way it stares at me with its pupil-less, empty stone eyes. Near it was a green plaque embedded right into the rock. It read "Titisan Air Fairy", meaning Fairy Water Drops or Fairy Tears. My imagination started playing a vague weeping noise that seemed to dance just outside of the audible frequency. Quit spooking me, brain!

"Can I come home with you?"

I didn't see any of the fabled fairies but I did spot a troll sucking greedily at his cigarette and letting his cancerous breaths waft about in the still cave air to find their way into the lungs of the young children who were also exploring the cave. After he was finished, he his cigarette butt nonchalantly into a pile of limestone formations. What is it with cigarette smokers that they can't even display the merest sense of consideration for other people?

A smelly, ugly troll.

Unlike the caves at Mulu which were preserved in pristine conditions by the stringent rules the park authorities have laid down, the cave formations in Fairy Cave were unguarded and unprotected. Vandals can freely lay their grubby fingers on them, climb them or even pee on them, thoughtlessly disfiguring speleothems that took hundreds of thousands of years to form in just seconds. Some superstitious Chinese visitors even worships some of the humanoid-shaped stalagmites as the burnt out stems of joss sticks lying thickly at their bases can attest. Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with people?

Like a throat with a uvula dangling from the roof.

A huge stalagmite that resembles the head of Shou (壽) with its high, domed forehead and beard. Shou is the Chinese deity of longevity.

I call this one Damocles and His Sword.

I don't even know what this looks like but let's worship it too, just in case.

Concrete paths and steps, and its well-lit interior made Fairy Cave an easy hole to explore - no torches are necessary. It is only about 30 minutes from Kuching (by driving, not by walking or riding a slow donkey) in a southwesterly direction. Finding it should be a cinch as many signboards point the way, and visitors often do the less famous Wind Cave at the same time - which I also visited but that's another blog post.

Overhanding mountainside near the Fairy Cave.

Troglophile,
k0k s3n w4i

My Return to Santubong

"Gonna goose that goose
Gonna quack that swan
Gonna rubber my duckie all night long
Gonna whack that Mallard
Until its feathers plume
Gonna Huey Dewey Louie all over the room
Scrooge McDuck, gonna give it to you
Dive into your gold until you say
DuckTales, whoo hoo!"

Sex with Ducks (2010) by Garfunkel and Oates

On April 20 last month, I went back to Santubong to see if my stamina have improved since my last ascent because I have been climbing some mountain or other every week since the beginning of this year in preparation for my trek up to the lofty Pinnacles at Mulu National Park on the 12th of May - which, as the more observant would notice, is a matter of history by now and I would bore you with those details in good time.

Anyway, just to quickly summarise my most recent Santubong climb: I entered the mountain using the Bukit Putri trail this time which many have said to be a more pleasant trek and boy, was it ever! The forest is sparser and less oppressive on that trail and it closely skirts one of Santubong's ridges, so there was almost always fresh air. All in all, I passed two groups of hikers on my way up while a Eurasian man overtook me. It took me about 2 hours and 50 minutes to reach the summit, beating my previous time by about an hour (which isn't saying a lot since the Bukit Putri trail is known to be easier). The real difference I noticed was that I didn't feel any aches or soreness in my body after this outing. Following my previous climb, I couldn't walk up a single step of stairs without my thighs screaming like the souls of the damned. That infused me with a not-insubstantial amount of confidence boost, ceasing my regard of my impending Pinnacles climb as a suicide mission.

This time, missing the constant threat of expiring from the exertion, I was able to pay more attention to the bugs and other small creatures that make Santubong their home. A fellow trekker told me that once, he even saw a hornbill in flight hereabouts - which would be such a treat if it happened on any one of my hikes! Also since I made such good time, I could afford to spend about 2 and a half hours loitering on Santubong's summit and even took a restorative nap.

So with that out of the way, here are the pictures I took this time,

A male Common Iora (Aegithina tiphia) right at the beginning of my hike.

A section of the Bukit Putri trail before it joins the common summit trail. There's always a cliff to the right.

Rope ladders on the latter half of the hike. It's higher than it looks in this picture.

A bust of Datuk Merpati, the superhuman founder of Santubong.

The gazebo at the top of Santubong, currently being occupied by some assholes from a silat (local martial arts) school who don't understand the concept of public property. They even collected bottles of their urine inside, for some reason or other.

I was not joking about the pee.

A choking, smoking plastic fire they left burning untended for whatever bugfuck fancy that have crossed violence-addled minds. I put it out using water from a nearby well, to the applause of other hikers. The vegetation on Santubong is already so dry. All it takes is one stray spark to barbecue the entire mountain!

The gross looking well I mentioned earlier.

Brunch! "Made with chocolate, pretzels, peanut butter, caramel and peanut."

A Common Three-ring (Ypthima pandocus) with folded wings, showing its underside. The "three rings" refer to number of ocelli on the underside of one hindwing, as seen here.

Another Y. pandocus showing its upperside.

A Painted Jezebel (Delias hyparete diva) feeding from a flower.

An unidentified brown skink skittering nervously around the peak.

Southwest view. Click for larger view.

East view. Click for larger view.

A Swiss jerk smoking near me without asking me if I was okay with it.

A tiny, green grasshopper with striped hindlegs. I still suck at identifying them.

A pretty Common Bluebottle (Graphium sarpedon) feeding.

Another G. sarpedon that wouldn't even stop fluttering while feeding.

Looks like a Blue Helen (Papilio prexaspes) sunning itself on a leaf.

A peek at the other peak of Santubong which I was told was inaccessible.

A moth from the Nygmiini tribe. Likely Nygmia sp. or Rhypotoses sp..

View from Santubong about halfway down the mountain.

My first ever snapshot of the very loud jade-green cicada (Dundubia vaginata). I kept hearing them when I was hiking at Bukit Serumbu and Kubah National Park (where I took a recording of their shrill, soulless, almost-mechanical tymbalisation). It's good to actually see one. The picture quality left much to be desired though.

Here's a profile shot of another D. vaginata. They always creep to the other side of their trees whenever I approach them and if I get too close, they will buzz away to another tree.

View of the sea and Satang Besar Island near the entrance of the Bukit Putri trail.

An unencumbered view of Mount Santubong from Kampung Santubong located at its foothills. Majestic, no?

The beach at Kampung Buntal, a fishing village near Mount Santubong. Yonder lies the peninsula that hosts the Bako National Park. The building on stilts to the far left of this picture is a seafood restaurant called Lim Hock Ann.

The interior of Lim Hock Ann seafood restaurant. It quickly filled with customers shortly after this picture was taken.

When I first visited Sarawak in 2005, I was treated to some strange vegetable by my friend's mom at his house. I was told that the vegetable is called "midin", a fern known by the scientific name of Stenochlaena palustris. I fell in love with it instantly and insisting on ordering it for every single meal after that. One can even say that it was the reason why I decided to apply to Sarawak for Housemanship training in the first place.

A sweet and sour jellyfish, sesame and peanut salad that I adored when I first had it here in Lim Hock Ann in 2005.

A deep-fried threadfin fillet. Also known as ikan kurau in Malay. Served with a slice of lime.

Loves, loves, loves midin,
k0k s3n w4i