Bau The Little Town

Bau is a small town in Sarawak located about 30 km from Kuching..

the peoples here are mostly Bidayuh, Iban and Chinese Hakka..

it was once famous for being a gold mining town..

there are numerous of grocery shops, boutiques and restaurants in the town..

a small temple in the town..

the hawker centre..

the town is also famous with the Chinese style mixed curry rice..

this is the blue lake..

which was once the gold mining area..

the lake view..

it is now one of the attractions in Bau..

i like the reflection of clouds on the lake..  🙂

a butterfly.. resting nearby the lake..

Bau is also popular for its two beautiful limestone caves.. the Fairy Cave and the Wind Cave.. about 6 km away from the centre of Bau..

Fairy Cave is also known as Gua Pari-Pari in Malay language..

there is a four storey concrete staircase to reach the cave entrance..

there is an old steep and narrow staircase nearby.. it was previously used to enter the cave before the concrete staircase was built..

this is the cave entrance.. after the entrance just follow the footpath and going up some steep steps, which will lead into a huge cave..

ya, it is a huge cave.. just look at the size of the visitors in the picture above..

there are multiple stalactites and stalagmites..

some of the stones are mimicking statues..

the natural stone statue..

a stalactite with a drop of water on the tip..

there is an opening in the cave which allows the natural light shining through..

there are concrete footpath and steps that lead to the opening..

the cave opening..

the cave is conveniently accessible by stairs and footpath..

there are mosses and plants inside the cave..

on the walls..

as well as on the floor..

not far away from the Fairy Cave is the Wind Cave.. known as Gua Angin in Malay language..

this is the waiting area..

the cave entrance..

one can feel the breezing and refreshing air when first stepping into the cave..

the view before stepping into the entrance..

inside the cave it is very dark and a torch light is needed..

there is a wooden footpath about 1 km long which runs throughout the length of the cave..

the flowstones.. composed of sheetlike deposits of calcite or other carbonate minerals, formed where water flows down the walls or along the floors of a cave..

cave pinnacle.. formed when the upper part of the limestone is constantly dissolved by acidic water..

stalactite.. begins with a single mineral-laden drop of water.. when the drop falls, it leaves behind the thinnest ring of calcite.. each subsequent drop that forms and falls deposits another calcite ring.. an average growth for stalactite is 0.13 mm a year..

a swiftlet.. and the nest, which is mainly made of glutinous saliva..

the bat..

haha.. batman is not alone.. :p

bell-hole.. it is believed to be the markings of bats that cling onto the same position on the limestone in which they emit their respiration and urine causing the limestone to develop the hole..

mud bank and gravel.. as water seeps into the underground stream, it brings with it mud and gravel which remains on the surface after the water dries off..

there is a small stream meanders through the cave and joins the Sungai Sarawak Kanan.. which is one of the two major tributaries of the Sarawak River..

there are roots coming from the roof of the cave..

actually these roots are from the trees outside the cave.. the roots penetrate the cave to get water..

some of the roots are hanging half way..

and some have reached the floor of the cave.. the spirit of survival..!!

this is the opening of the cave in the other side..

which lead to the surrounding forest..

the wooden footpath..

the beauty of mother nature..

bamboo trees..

the Wind Cave has been gazetted as a nature reserve to protect the cave and its inhabitants, as well as to conserve a number or rare species in the surrounding limestone forest..

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