Bako National Park (April 25-26)

Wednesday morning we went to the Bako National Park, which is the main tourist attraction around Kuching. It was quite a hassle to get there because the bus timetable they gave us at the guest house was incorrect. When we arrived at the place where the bus was supposed to leave, it had just left and we had to wait for another 2 hours, really annoying! In the bus we met a girl from Australia who was travelling together with a guy from Sabah (that’s the easternmost province of Malaysian Borneo).

You can only access the National Park by boat and we had some trouble at the boat ticket counter because they wanted to make us pay the round trip price although one-way was also on offer. We didn’t know at that time if we will go back with the other two or not and didn’t want to pay double for the way back even if we go together. After some time arguing they promised to refund the money if we decide to go back together.

When we arrived at the park and the boat dropped us off at the beach, we knew that Bako is an amazing place. We moved into our room in the “forest hostel” (cheapest option on offer) which we had booked in Kuching and the scenery was really like in the Jungle Book. We saw the long tail macaque monkeys walking and jumping around in big families. The first day we liked that and took loads of pictures but you soon change the attitude when you notice how naughty and annoying they can become. They constantly mob the accommodations and park facilities, searching for food. It happened twice that they suddenly grabbed food from our plates when we were eating! A guide we met told us that they are very smart. He told us that he once gave a cracker to a monkey but putting a very spicy chilli paste on it. Obviously the monkey didn’t enjoy the cracker. The next day, the guide gave him another chilli cracker and the monkey washed the chilli away before eating it, really unbelievable how they learn! Normally you should never give food to the monkey because they will come back with more monkeys and the situation gets worse.

The first day in the afternoon we did a short trekking to a view point which was quite close to the headquarters. It was really one of the most beautiful jungle areas I have seen and the view was amazing. After that we went to a mangrove area and saw another fantastic sunset with burning sky and sea. The second day we did a trek to a waterfall but the trail wasn’t as spectacular as the one we did the previous day. Sometimes there was no shade because of lower vegetation. Walking in the sun for a longer time is the most infernal thing you can do here! The waterfall itself wasn’t overwhelming but at least we took a refreshing bath there.

Today we went back to Kuching with the Australian-Malaysian couple. We asked the boat driver if he could take us first to the famous sea stacks (Bako’s emblem) which are located in the opposite direction of the tourist jetty. Normally the small trip from the park headquarters to the sea stacks is around 17 euro but he did it for free (we gave good tip later)! The beaches we saw from off the shore were absolutely stunning and I regretted that I hadn’t trekked to there. On the other hand it’s impossible to go everywhere because some treks even take several hours. I don’t have to mention the climate again and what that means here. The only disappointing thing of our trip to Bako National Park was that we haven’t seen the famous Proboscis long-nosed monkey who lives only in Borneo and nowhere else on earth. It seemed as if everybody else in the park saw it except us. We followed all the advices in terms of location and timing but we didn’t see it. There are things which cannot be planned so we have to live with it! Maybe next time J

We are now back to Kuching city in order to plan how to continue. We would like to go to the famous Gunung Mulu National Park but it’s a very long way with different options (bus, boat, plane) so we have to check carefully.