What to see
Mulu National ParkMulu National Park is Sarawak’s largest national park, centred around the peak of Gunung (Mount) Mulu and noted for its landscape of soaring peaks, dense jungle and underground cave system. The network of huge limestone caves is one of the largest in the world, at more than 50 kilometres long. Highlights include Deer Cave, home to a million bats and best observed at dusk Lang Cave, regarded as the most beautiful cave formation in Mulu, and Clearwater Cave, where you can swim in the warm water. The park is home to an amazing diversity of wildlife and 8,000 species of plant and trees as well as the Penan people, a tribe of hunter-gatherers and one of the few remaining nomads of the rainforest. It is possible to visit Penan Settlement by longboat to see the community and its lifestyle. Mulu can be reached by air from Kuching, via Miri, or from Kota Kinabalu in Sabah.
Taman NegaraTaman Negara, thought to be the oldest rainforest in the world, was first declared a conservation area in 1937 and is the most extensive protected area of pristine lowland evergreen rainforest in the country. Malaysia’s premier national park extends over 4,343 square kilometres of primary forest and spans three states: Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang in the centre of Peninsular Malaysia. It is a haven for endangered species such as the Asian elephant, rhinoceros, leopard, and tiger, although sightings are rare. More common sights are snakes, lizards, monkeys and dozens of bird species. The jungle at Taman Negara is so dense that you could pass within metres of an animal without realising it. It is highly recommended that sufficient time is spent here to get the most out of a visit. One of the best ways to explore Taman Negara is by a long boat trip up one of the park’s rivers. The best time to visit the park is during the dry season, from February to September.
