July 9th, 2016

Day 101: Travel Day – Return to KL

We didn’t bother setting an alarm on our phones for the morning, as we knew the all the tourists getting up for the 6AM start for the Pinnacles trek would be impossible to sleep though. Sure enough, by 5:30AM the cabins were too loud to sleep through (the inconsiderate newcomers in our bunk actually turned on the lights, even though three of us were trying to sleep – RUDE!).

We had arranged for our boat to meet us at the trail head at 10:30AM the night before, so we headed out on the 9KM walk around 7:30AM. The weather was totally on our side – yesterday when we wanted a view of The Pinnacles, it was bright and sunny, today when we had to walk in the jungle, it was nice and overcast. We made good time, passing the Chinese group who had left an hour ahead of us! To be fair, three people will always go faster than a group of 20.

Our boat was very punctual and, thanks to the current being in our favor, we made it back in about half the time our original journey took, so we had plenty of time for a shower and lunch before catching a car to the airport. (We snuck into the park hostel and “stole” showers. We felt a little bad that we didn’t pay for the lodging, but we would have felt worse for the poor tourists who would have to sit next to us on the plane!)

Heading back to Mulu HQ – since we were going with the current, our boat didn’t get stuck in the shallows this time, and we booked it downriver

Freshly showered, and wearing the only clean clothes left in our bags: my sleeping tank top and Igor’s old bathing suit – I may look like a dork, but I smell CLEAN! We have just enough time for a delicious Indian food lunch before heading to the airport

Boarding the plane – farewell Mulu!

The trip back to Kuala Lumpur was very long – we had a 4hr layover in Miri, which is a very tiny airport, yet they still have an “Executive Lounge”. Even though their lounge isn’t covered by our Priority Pass, we decided to buy passes anyways – there was free food and Wifi, right? Well, sort of. The food was old (the sandwiches actually had mold on them – ew), and the Wifi was pretty weak (probably didn’t help that the two girls managing the lounge were streaming videos on their phone). At USD $30, it was extremely overpriced for what it was, but the main terminal waiting area was *packed* and full of sickies, so at least we were comfortable and germ-free.

We finally arrived in KL at 10:30PM, caught a cab to our hotel, and fell into bed. Malaysia is almost over.

Using the crappy Wifi at the Miri Airport lounge