I am planning to ride in Borneo July 2013. My travels will include a trip to the Mulu caves in Malayasian Borneo.

Mulu has the world's biggest caves that are open to the public and is located in a very beautiful world heritage reserve.

It is possible to fly to the caves but naturally I am planning to ride as far as I can then catch a long boat to the caves. I will use a guide to help me navigate the logging trails and arrange the long boat. I am seeking anybody who may be interested in sharing costs for this. It's a two-day trip in each direction, with comfortable accommodation available at the caves.

Costs would likely be a couple of hundred dollars covering guide and return long boat, depending on how many are involved. This does not cover the cost of accommodation or tours at the caves, but they are pretty cheap as far as world-class attractions go.

It is very practical to hire bikes in Sabah (e.g. Kawasaki ER6) but I will ship my bike from Australia. To the best of my knowledge there is no technical riding involved - it's just roads and logging tracks. It can of course be very muddy if we are unlucky with the weather.

I'm happy to discuss plans for other parts of my route in case the info is useful for anybody who is interested in travelling more widely in Borneo. I don't expect any other parts to require guides, but definitely will involve more boats.

EDIT 2012-02-08: a traveller from Kuching is coming on the trip in his 4WD. He can take two passengers, say from Miri. This is a rare opportunity to get a cheap ride on a unusual route.

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One-way and multi-island rentals ex Bali

Hi Colin,

How was the trip to the caves?

I am flying to KK in 2 weeks and will spend 2 weeks touring Sabah and Sarawak in dirt bikes.

Any tips/recomendations?

Thanks!

R

Hi Renato,

It was a great experience, but I would say "once is enough". The trip by road from Miri to the river takes about 7 hours, Most of it is dirt road, with a lot of logging trucks. At that time when the surface was dry, they spewed out impenetrable clouds of dusts, so bad I had to stop for fear of running off the road.

One other thing: don't go without a guide. Seriously ... just don't. The roads is neither "keep left" nor "keep right". It changes frequently, depending on what works best for the trucks on a particular corner. There are supposed to be signs indicating which is the correct side, but some are missing, some are hidden by vegetation (or dust), and you might just miss some.

There are also quite a few 4WD vehicles coming the other way at speed, so you can imagine what happens if you meet one on your side

It rained before our return trip and parts of he road became really slick. I had two offs - one of them on a straight and level stretch. It's just so slimy a big bike won't stay upright.

Anyway the canoe trip was awesome. You'd need a guide to arrange this anyway.

I was a bit disappointed with the Resort. It has been taken over by a major hotel chain and was undergoing rebuilding. The veranda bar on the river was closed - that was the best part. I imagine that is long since finished now though.

cheers
Colin

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www.motoindo.com
One-way and multi-island rentals ex Bali

Good stuff.

Thanks for the help!

Cheers,

R