Thursday, January 5, 2023

Borneo: Gunung Mulu National Park

 


Okay, Gunung Mulu National Park was pretty freaking amazing (as is the rest of Borneo, but you'll have to wait until our next week is over to read about that). What a park. We flew there a few days before New Year's and emerged a few days after. Our adventures were a total of 6 nights in the national park, and the only way to get in and out was to fly. Needless to say, it was remote but a glorious way to ring in 2023. 




What did we do? Well, a lot of nature and not much else. There was no internet and no wifi (except for a few crucial texts that came through regarding our house...which is confusing because I had cellular, roaming, and data off. Freaky), and we loved it. Well, Sila and I loved it the whole time; Conan loved it until the food made him pee out his butt again (hehe). 

There isn't much more to say about this place except that it is amazing. It's 65-million years old, and I highly recommend that everyone go here. The rest I'll say with pictures. Oh, by the way, Conan is now ready to go home, so it only took him around 4 months to get where I was 4 months ago. We're doing fine, though. Don't worry. Again, if you are worried, we'll always take money to help ease the pain. Hehe! (side note: Shelbie and Lauren, if you gals weren't heading out here soon, we'd be seeing you in LA in about a week. Thanks for keeping us here!).

The Caves

There is 250-kilometers of caves here, and they are the sickest we've ever seen. And--bonus--the Malaysians let you go in really far. Not like the few caves I've been in around the States. These you get to be in for up to an hour, and you're walking around to new parts the whole time. We visited a total of 5, and they were all crazy cool!











The Wildlife

The wildlife is like it is in Florida; it's small but mighty if you take the time to look. No, there were not monkeys and tons of birds flying around. Because it's so vast, the animals retreat from the loud, full-of-bug spray people. However, we got to see a lot of little creepy crawlies, and over a few solo hikes (which there are not many because everything in this rainforest can kill you) and a few guided night walks, we saw some cool stuff. Oh, also there is a mass bat exodus out of one of the caves that after 4 nights, we finally saw: 3 million bats in half an hour!





The Beauty

Of course, the park was filled with a lot of natural beauty, and I enjoyed shooting a few colorful things.







The Adventures

We had a lot of fun in this park, and it was such a relaxing, great way to spend 6 days. We did every tour the park offered, went on every hike we could, walked on the canopy, and even took a few river trips and walks (with some swimming). Below is the remaining pictures, with a few fun ones sprinkled in, too. Much love!















Monday, December 26, 2022

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

 


After many weeks (3 1/2) and not-so-many adventures, we're wrapping up our time in Cambodia and leaving you all with some accounts of Christmas and well-wishes for 2023. Just an FYI, we'll be in Borneo for the New Year (and in a national park with no internet! Check it out: https://mulupark.com/), so we're thinking of you!

On Christmas Eve Eve, we splurged and biked over to a fancy hotel for a reprieve and a little relaxing. Sila was stoked. And then our Christmas consisted of the essentials: sugar for breakfast, present opening, roller skating (maybe not an essential), some FaceTiming with friends, and a close-out Christmas movie. Overall, it was a great day, but we'll be happy to spend the holidays at home next year. Love to all!!