The Ultimate Gunung Mulu National Park Travel Guide

Where in the world can you witness life so diverse in form and colour that it could have come from the pen of some hallucinating science fiction author?

Gunung Mulu National Park in Malaysia’s Bornean state of Sarawak, is renowned for its near limitless variety of insects, glowing fungi, bizarre bird life, striking frogs and lizards, and seemingly random additions like a giant porcupine.

Its rich animal and plant life have made it the subject of many an Attenborough-voiced documentary, the most recent being Netflix’s Our Planet, which showcased its unique carnivorous pitcher plants.

Throw in some of the world’s biggest caves and you can see why it’s made it onto the World Heritage list. Journey here to go right into the heart of Borneo and the natural world at its most marvellous, weird and wonderful best.

When to go

To get a feel for the size of its enormous caves and inspect the bizarre insects and reptiles that call it home, you need to take on some of Gunung Mulu’s world-class hiking trails. The best time to do this is during the dry season from July to September, when the paths won’t be as muddy and it means you can stay a little drier – this is a rainforest after all.

This period also represents peak season, so you’ll have to book your accommodation and any tours you want to do well in advance.

Getting there

Fly to the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur (most major carriers fly here) before catching a domestic flight to Miri. From this small city in Sarawak, the Malaysian portion of Borneo, you can take a 30-minute flight to Gunung Mulu with the Malaysian Airlines subsidiary MASwings, which runs two flights a day to the national park.

Staying there

Mulu Marriott Resort & Spa

For a comfortable 4-star stay, a great option is the Mulu Marriott Resort & Spa for around $190 a night. This would be our choice for a way to relax and rest your legs after a long day in the park. It’s also just three kilometres from the airport and the entrance to the park.

Benarat Lodge

A decent budget option would be Benarat LodgeBenarat Lodge for around $80 a night, where you’ll enjoy a different breakfast each morning to fuel up for your day exploring Gunung Mulu National Park.

Fees and permits

You’ll have to pay a Sarawak Government National Park Entry Fee RM10 per person (about $3.50) for each day that you enter the park. It’s a good idea to book ahead if you want to do a multi-day tour to the Pinnacles for instance; tour packages range in price from RM40 ($13.90) to over RM500 ($173) per person for a three-day guided trek.

Must-see sights

Canopy Skywalk

At 480 metres long, this claims to be the longest tree-hung skywalk in the world, and what a place for it, suspended high up in the rainforest with views of rivers below. Book a guide to learn about the plants that cling to the trees up in the canopy, and have a macro lens ready for insects.

Paku Waterfall

A muddy, two-hour trail setting off from the park’s headquarters rewards walkers with the sight of Paku Waterfall, which emerges from dense jungle to cascade down a sloping cliff. The natural swimming pool below offers relief from the humidity before the trek back.

Explore the caves

Most people come to Gunung Mulu to visit its caves, which represent some of the biggest underground networks in the world. Deer Cave is a vast cavern that holds the impressive sight of the Garden of Eden, a sinkhole in the cave that’s allowed light to stream in and a rainforest to flourish beneath.

After that head to Lang Cave nearby to see sleeping bats up close. Clearwater Cave (the biggest in Southeast Asia, pictured) and the Cave of the Winds are found on the same walk (see map) and contain a beautiful clear stream, and impressive stalactites respectively.

Watch the bat exodus

There’s a sight to behold in Gunung Mulu so impressive that the parks authority set up bleachers for visitors to be able to witness it in comfort. Millions of bats pouring out of Deer Cave at dusk create spectacular, flowing ribbons of black mist twirling a path over the rainforest.

There are about 12 species of bat that live in the cave that form this mass exodus. Head to the Bat Observatory between 5 and 6.30pm to catch them heading out for the night and keep an eye out for hawks picking them off, an early evening snack for the birds.

Swarm of bats leaving the caves in Gunung Mulu National Park

Hiking trails

Pinnacles trail

Another highlight that cannot be missed are the Pinnacles (pictured main), a series of limestone karsts that rise to sheer, knife-like points towering above the forest, rising to 45 metres in places. It’s a three-day walk to reach them.

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Mulu Summit trail

Climb to the summit of the mountain that lends the park its name, a strenuous four-day hike. Staying in camps along the way, you’ll be accompanied by a World Heritage guide to gain a real understanding of the forest.

Headhunters’ trail

Tracing an old tribal route through the park, the Headhunters’ Trail takes two days but is relatively undemanding; head here to do the Pitcher Plant Trail to walk among the carnivorous plants that rely on animals to survive.

Animal spotting

Where to start? There are few places on the planet that can boast the variety and density of wildlife that you will be able to spot at Gunung Mulu National Park.

Bornean Keeled Green Pit Viper

There are countless vibrant reptiles in Gunung Mulu, but this striking green-and-yellow viper surely stands out among them. It will be hard to pick out among the leaves of the forest, so it’s best to try and spot one with the help of a guide; plus being venomous you wouldn’t want to step on it… let the guide go first.

These vipers do their best to camouflage among the forest

Malayan Sun bear

The smallest bear in the world, the Malayan Sun bear is also known as the honey bear owing to its love of honeycomb that it forages for using a ridiculously long tongue. Unfortunately loss of habitat and the bears’ capture for the harvesting of bile for traditional medicines are a threat to its survival.

Bornean tarsier

A night tour of Gunung Mulu will be required to spot this tiny 12- to 15-centimeter-long primate. At night they forage on the floor and up in the low undergrowth for insects. A tidy creature, it has dedicated grooming claws and a tail strong enough to support its weight so it can be ‘hands-free’.

Rhinoceros hornbill

The first question you’re asking is ‘what is the horn of the rhinoceros hornbill for?’ It acts as a large resonating chamber to amplify its haunting call. It’s a surprisingly big bird at nearly a metre in length and it has a balletic, falling aerial dance that it enacts as part of a mating ritual. You’ll want to have your zoom lens attached.

After youth-led protests in 2025, this year Nepal elected a 35-year-old former rapper as Prime Minister. In a country where tourism is its biggest industry, what’s next for travellers?

In 1986, Nepal changed its clock. It had used India Standard Time since 1920 so, to differentiate, it wound its clock 15 minutes ahead of, not behind, its big-brother neighbour. Boss move. “Nepal is strongly opposed to the idea that our identity is connected to India,” says Community Homestay Network (CHN) guide Bikal Khanal.

Tharu dance is traditionally set to hand drums. (Credit: Kate Lewis)

Today, Nepal is the only independent country with a 45-minute deviation to universal time; an oddity that’s become a symbol of national pride. The quirk is nearly as endearing as Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan airport where carved varnished wood and shiny red bricks rule. One sign points to a ‘Travelator’ and another to a ‘Grievance Handling Desk’ while visas are noisily stamped at customs for US dollars, cash only. When am I?

Spot the endemic Nepal gray langur. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

The 15 or 45 minute anomaly sees me tap out completely on timezone calculations. Why bend my brain calculating if it’s quarter to or quarter past elsewhere when I’m in the honking here and now of Kathmandu where the air is high-altitude crisp, the prayer flags flutter and the street dogs howl?

How tourism is changing in Nepal

Bardiya National Park is rich with wildlife. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

India is not the only association many Nepalis would like to shake. With eight of the world’s 10 tallest mountains, including Mount Everest and Annapurna, Nepal has long attracted mountaineers and trekkers, and expedition numbers are continuing to rise.

Tourism is one of the country’s biggest sources of foreign currency, so this growth is not negative, per se. But according to Ang Tshering Lama, who co-founded Phaplu Mountain Bike Club, being reduced to a mere trekking destination is limiting.

“Trekking is just one layer of our identity,” says Ang. “When it becomes the dominant narrative, it limits how we’re seen and how we see ourselves.” Nepal’s recent success, however, in diverting trekkers to less-trafficked areas such as Manaslu mofuntain, where visitor numbers rose by 117 per cent last year, offers hope that tourism can diversify even more radically.

Local men in Bhada village. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

The founder of CHN, Shiva Dhakal, wants that change. “The whole idea of the Community Homestay Network is to promote experiences outside of trekking,” he says. “Community tourism changes lives and helps kids stay home instead of coming to the city or migrating to the Middle East.”

Ang grew up seeing people leave, “not because they wanted to but because there weren’t enough opportunities to stay”, he states. Yet from remote villages to living traditions; food, art, music and emerging subcultures, “there’s so much that’s not being seen.”

CHN is opening some of those doors. It doesn’t own, or fund, any homes. Rather, it promotes homestays to travellers on a single, slick platform, while fostering entrepreneurship in places where women, marginalised castes, Indigenous people and the youth stand to benefit the most.

A new generation demanding more

Dalla Town Hall, where volunteers discuss anti-poaching tactics. (Credit: Bheem Thapa)

The future prospects of next-gen Nepalis can no longer be ignored. On a Kathmandu tour with 33-year-old guide Monica K.C, we pass buildings torched in the September 2025 ‘Gen Z protests’, including the Supreme Court and Parliament House. Seventy-two people died. “They were anti-corruption protests,” says Monica. “Politicians’ children are living a lavish life but the airports are crowded with youngsters leaving to find work.”

We stop in ‘little Tibet’ at the wondrous sixth-century Boudha Stupa. “The wheel of life is Buddhism in a nutshell,” says Monica. “Things such as hate, ignorance and anger keep you rotating around the wheel, so you must follow the principles of Buddhism to detach. If you can’t, there’s no nirvana for you.”

Boudha Stupa's prayer wheels — Boudha Stupa’s prayer wheels are used to recite Buddhist prayers. (Credit: Kate Lewis)

In a sun-drenched twist to the usual temple visit, we ascend the stupa’s sloping plinth and roam its whitewashed dome. Tendrils of diaphanous prayer flags stream from a steeple-like structure where the Buddha’s unblinking eyes stare out. No nirvana for you…

bouda stupa prayer flags — Tibetan-style prayer flags embellish the whitewashed dome of Bouda Stupa, a Buddhist temple. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

The dome is delightfully free of guard rails or chiding from security. There is, however, a stern ‘No TikTok’ sign, perhaps in response to the youth’s newly flexed power. The booted-out Prime Minister, K.P. Sharma Oli, was replaced in a resounding election victory in March by 35-year-old Balendra Shah of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) – a former rapper and mayor of Kathmandu. The RSP’s manifesto indicates tourism is a priority, and that Nepal’s cultural identity in areas such as gastronomy will be strengthened.

Boudha Stupa vendors — Vibrant souvenir shops and cafes around Boudha Stupa. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

A more confronting stop awaits at Pashupatinath Temple. Today is Bala Chaturdashi, a Hindu festival where thousands of devotees gather to honour their dead ancestors. Vendors hauling foam mattresses do a lucrative trade as people set up for a night of vigil. This includes burning the bodies of recently deceased relatives on bamboo pyres in the Bagmati River, which flows into the sacred Ganges.

A woman at annual Hindu festival Bala Chaturdashi, in Kathmandu. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

Wrapped in a shroud, the bodies are positioned with their heads facing north to the Himalayas where Lord Shiva resides. They’re covered with flowers and straw and set alight by male family members.

Hours later, the ashes are swept into the river where devotees will take a holy dip the next day. As much as Monica assures us it’s not voyeuristic to watch, I struggle to do so. “Here you see the reality of life because everyone ends up there,” she says, gesturing to the river.

Life unfiltered in the Terai region

tharu woman — Tharu woman and master weaver Parbati Chaudhary in Bhada Village. (Credit: Bheem Thapa)

The reality of life needs processing time, which the western Terai region delivers in spades. The Terai is largely separated from India by the Karnali River and Bardiya National Park, where elephants, rhinos and the elusive Bengal tiger roam.

Once a nomadic tribe, the Indigenous Tharu people are now the largest ethnic group here. “They didn’t know their daily life was interesting for international travellers but they’re starting to understand now,” says CHN founder Shiva.

Take a Jeep safari through Bardiya National Park. (Credit: Bheem Thapa)

We fly Buddha Air to Dhangadhi airport and drive five hours to stay in Tharu homes. The journey to Bhada village is a blur of roadside fruit stalls, traffic-stopping sacred cows and fields sown with wheat, rice, mustard, spinach, cauliflower and potatoes. Nepal’s agriculture feeds only Nepal.

Marigolds are an important part of Hindu rituals. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

“The only thing we export is young people,” says our guide Bikal. As the light dims and we plunge evermore rural, mysterious mounds of compacted hay – some house-sized – loom like the creatures from Where The Wild Things Are. Even our trusty driver gets flummoxed by a dirt road that abruptly ends and we find ourselves hurtling across a paddock.

On arrival, some are ferried to mud-walled cottages greened by gourd creepers, with thatched roofs and rustic-chic mosquito nets. Myself and two others are ushered to the home of corner store owner, mechanic and mushroom farmer Man Kumar Chilaruwa and his wife Rajkumari.

community homestay entrance — A warm welcome at a community homestay. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

They escort us to a bunker-esque back building with steel doors and a folding security gate, behind which is gleaming linoleum, dolphin-printed tiles and a shower cavity that must be gingerly stepped through to reach the toilet.

The ceiling lights emit a rainbow of colours (the bathroom light gets stuck in, frankly, a quite frightening red). We’re nevertheless touched that our hosts invested in all this bling when the average salary is around $275 a month.

In the coming days, we participate in Tharu traditions such as making moonshine, dancing, weaving straw handicrafts and gold-panning. We’re fed well with staples of rice, mustard greens, lentil pancakes, daal, curried chicken and tomato chutney served on antibacterial saal leaves.

food at community homestay — Dig in. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

Sonara community homestay president Indradevi Tharu tells us river snails are often served, and the boiled and pickled flesh of rats hunted in the rice fields. “Perhaps next time?” we say and all have a laugh.

The power of community homestays

community homestay owners in Nepal — Barda community homestay owners Parbati Chaudhary and Ram Krishni Devi Chaudhary. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

Immersing Western visitors in foreign cultural practices is not new. But with the Tharu, I never get that uneasy sensation that I’m being performed for. Despite being the only tourists, there’s no ‘othering’; just warm, composed and ultra-dignified welcomes. Like we’ve always been here.

“I love to have travellers in my village so I can see the world,” says local woman Parbati Chaudhary. “Why would I travel the world when the world comes to me?”

The graceful acceptance the Tharu offer, as well as the slow pace, works miracles on my frazzled nervous system. One day I even take a nap on a vacant homestay bed.

Sonara community room — An authentic stay in the Sonara community. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

Roosters strut and goats bray as we sit on the ground in al fresco kitchens, rolling rice flour into cylinders steamed to make dhikri (dumplings). When water is needed, we fetch it using a hand-operated pump as a family of ducks strolls by, side-eying us like curious neighbours.

Animal lovers will delight in Tharu villages. Kind and resourceful inventions are everywhere, such as snacking stations where two posts lean together, with leafy boughs dangling on rope for baby goats to forage from.

CHN’s CEO, Aayusha Prasain, nods knowingly when one in our group says she cried when she left her host, Shayam Chaudhary, in Bhada. Shayam’s 17-year-old son, Prashant, had translated, which deepened the connection.

“Community tourism turns travel into a relationship, not a transaction,” says Aayusha. “It places decision-making power in the hands of local communities, especially women and youth.” Since 2018, CHN has hosted more than 4000 travellers from 52 countries in 408 households, and estimates women’s participation has increased by 381 per cent.

In the Bardiya community, where vexing human-animal conflict has been a balancing act for decades due to elephants raiding crops, long-time homestay operator Salik Ram Chaudhary says young people keep the older ones on their toes.

“We can’t keep homestays stagnant,” he says. “We have to upgrade our service and redefine our product or young people won’t see it as an attractive business. If we can keep evolving with this travelling trend we’re confident the youths will stay and continue it.”

Back in Kathmandu, Monica explains that after the deaths of young protestors in September, a determination had spread to not let their sacrifice be in vain. “We want to keep holding the government accountable,” she says. “We don’t know what situation we’re facing, but we’re ready to face it.”

Interested in Nepal but prefer to experience it in total comfort? Read our guide to luxury travel in Nepal.

The ultimate Gunung Mulu National Park travel guide