State of Sarawak Warnings Or Dangers Tips by AlbuqRay Top 5 Page for this destination

Mulu Deluxe Longhouse Room Security

When I got to my Deluxe Longhouse room (Turtle Cave Room) at Mulu Park headquarters, the air conditioner was not on and some windows were open. While closing the windows, I noticed that several of the window locks did not work! I just closed them as well as I could and closed all the inside screens behind them. I decided not to leave anything valuable in the room while I was out and that turned out to be a good decision.

The day I went to the canopy skywalk was rainy and I was still there talking to neighbors on the veranda when two ladies cleaned and left the room. I was back in the room a while and locked the door when I left. That was the same day that I also went to the Deer Cave bat flight. When I got back, I noticed that the inside screen on one of the windows by the door on the veranda side was open. It seemed a little strange but I thought maybe one of the ladies had opened it and I just had not noticed it when I left. I was not missing anything but I had carried all my valuables in my knapsack.

However, the next day I happened to mention it to one of my neighbors. She said that it was interesting since she had had something happen the previous afternoon also. She had not gone out and was reading in her room. Two guys walked up to her door without knocking. When they saw her they left abruptly without saying or doing anything. I still was not sure that someone had been in my room surreptitiously while I was gone, but I decided I better report it to park headquarters anyway. I really got a strange (non-)response from the 3-4 people at the desk. Essentially they said nothing. No questions about details, no indication that it may have been maintenance personnel, and no offer to look into it. I was checking out that morning, so I did not have to worry about it further. Just be careful if you stay there.

Leeches

Any time it rains in the jungle, the leeches come out. Having had some experience with them before (Taman Negara, Phu Kradung, and Nai Yang), I dressed for the occasion, i.e., shirt, pants and socks treated with permethrin, pant legs tucked into my socks, and 25% Deet on exposed skin and shoes. I may have looked goofy but I did not get any leeches. Nuh was not so lucky. After making it back across the river on our rainy Hornbill Fall hike, I noticed that he had a leech on his hand. It turned out that he had three leeches. He was a little phobic about them and used his parang to scrape the one off his neck. I was more worried about him slicing his throat with the parang. At least he didn't shoot them with his shotgun, LOL.

Watch the Red Arrows!

Many of the roads in northern Sarawak are privately owned and maintained by the logging companies. As such, their trucks have the right of way and it may not be on the normal (right) side of the road. You must watch the red arrows on the small white signs and switch to that side of the road or you might get a big surprise.