Borneo Break: Dissapointment in Niah Cave

Niah Cave should be a hive of activity in August. Amber asked someone about bird nest collection in the Big Cave and she was told that natives would climb up the cave ceiling somewhere around that time. There were signs of human activities up the ceiling like a rope dangling from the roof high above us and it gave the chills just to imagine people dangling up there to earn a living. There had been fatal accidents of people falling before and eerie tales of their souls wandering in the caves gave the creeps but there was no stopping us from exploring further into the Painted Cave. To reach the Painted Cave, one just have to climb up and down steep stairs to the back of the Great Cave where there is a large chamber known as Lubang Padang. You may not realise passing through Burnt Cave or Lubang Angus but you will definitely not miss the Moon Cave or Gan Kira. The latter was a long, dark and damp passage and you will have to switch on your torchlight here. Then when you were beginning to think the dark passage didn't seem to end, you would see daylight again, walk on a plank walkway and come to the much anticipated cave of all, the Painted Cave or Kain Hitam which was the site of the famous Niah Cave paintings and the place where death-ships had been found. The paintings portraying spread-eagled human figures, animals and long boats carrying souls of deceased were said to be in red hematite and covered about 30 m strip at the back of the cave wall but don't expect too much. The paintings were really difficult to see. The brochures say you have to become accustomed to the light to see the paintings but I thought that was all bullshit. The paintings were just not well preserved and since I couldn't make up what was on the wall, I concluded that the paintings were not there anymore...

Moving on to painted cave...

Traveling Tip: Be dissapointed sometimes!