Niah Caves

About

The Niah Caves have a lot going for them. Not only is the Great Cave one of the largest caverns in the world, but the 40,000 year old human remains discovered here are the oldest in Southeast Asia. Elsewhere in the system are Neolithic burial sites and Iron-Age cave paintings. The caves are so large that they support their own ecosystem, with glowing fungi, endemic geckos, and hundreds of thousands of bats and birds. The swiftlet birds that live here make their nests on the cave walls using just their saliva, which locals harvest to be used in ‘Bird’s Nest Soup’ - a gelatinous delicacy in China. To visit the caves you’ll need a flashlight and good walking shoes – the caves are unlit, and the plankwalk can become slippery from water and bat guano falling from the ceiling of the cave. You’ll probably also want a wide-brimmed for obvious reasons.