With Niah’s UNESCO inscription means Malaysia have two paleontology sites making this country to be on the same league with South Africa and Ethiopia on center of humankind evolution study, something remarkable and mind-blowing facts you have never expected from this Southeast Asian country. Also with this inscription, Miri, the capital of Malaysian petroleum production, becomes the gateway of two World Heritage Sites, and surely will become the tourism center of Sarawak. After underwhelming experience at Lenggong Valley, I hoped that Niah will not be the same.

From Miri I drove my rental car to Niah in early morning, and surprisingly when I reached the park, few cars already there and there was a queue of at least 10 locals waiting for registration. However, with some reason after I got a ticket, I was the only one that went to the jetty and within few minutes the boat took me to the other side, so I was the first visitor of the day. Without hesitation I walked along the slippery pathway with my trusted hiking boots passing lovely jungle and swampy forest with many bugs and animal sighting, those were runaway when they heard my footstep. Within 50 minutes I reached the first cave, the Traders Cave where I could see two archaeological digs easily, bamboo structure for bird nest collecting, and thick layer of guano under beautiful caverns that so perfect for photography, a whole package of this World Heritage Site. Then I went to the Great Cave, the archaeological digs in this cave are the largest but fenced off by new security wall, so I hardly could see anything. The cave is big that why locals call it “Padang”. The pathway continued and flashlight is needed, after walking up and down in the dark with some holes of light for about half an hour on the slippery way with many bugs, bat and strange sound, if something wrong with flashlight, probably the worst nightmare of travelling, I finally reached the Moon Cave exit and continued on the pathway through the forest to reach the Painted Cave. Again, all archaeological zones are fenced off, and I could not see any painting that really worth the dark journey that I had experienced. I had to walk back to the same route in the dark again and when I reached the Great Cave again, I was surprised that the cave was full of tourists and almost all of them asked me about safety and what is in the dark, which I encouraged them to go and enjoy the unique experience. On my way back to the boat, I met hundreds of tourists and many of them desperately asked me how far to reach Niah Cave!         

I decided to visit the museum when waiting for the boat. The most significant information probably the comparison between Lenggong Valley, Niah Cave and Filipino’s Tambon Cave. The Perak Man at Lenggong dated only 10,000 years old, the Filipino one is 22,000, while the Deep Skull of Niah Cave dated 40,000 so Niah is the oldest human in Southeast Asia, so its value is undeniable. However, to be honest those archaeological heritages are quite disappointing and hard to appreciate, and the location of Niah Cave is the real the highlight of this site. While the forest and cave cannot be compared with nearby Gunung Mulu, the experience is very unique and different. The only recommendation is visiting Niah Cave before and keep Gunung Mulu at the end of all Sarawak trip.