Page 245 - The Guide To Sarawak

THE GUIDE TO SARAWAK 243
The popular Wind Cave Nature Reserve near Bau provides an impressive underground experience just a short distance from Kuching.
FAIRY CAVE NATURE RESERVE
(Kuching Division)
The Fairy Cave is a large limestone cave set into the Bukit Kapor hillside, and is 100 to 150 million years old. The cave
floor has stalactite and stalagmite formations resembling animals and people, including one which is said to represent the Taoist Goddess of Mercy, Guang Yin. Altars and shrines have been erected and dedicated to the formations by the local Taoist Chinese community. The cave is accessed via
a 30-metre high staircase. Once inside, a staircase leads upwards to a large chamber with a natural hole in the roof, where daylight streams in to illuminate the cave floor and rock formations. There are also two good climbing walls, the Fairy Cave Wall and the Batman Wall.
Sarawak’s Nature Reserves
WIND CAVE NATURE RESERVE
(Kuching Division)
The Wind Cave Nature Reserve, 45 minutes
from Kuching, is part of the Bau Formation, a narrow belt of limestone covering about 150 sq km of southwest Sarawak. It covers 6.16 hectares and includes the cave itself
and the surrounding forest. The cave, named for the cooling breeze that blows continuously, is a smooth, tubular limestone cave roughly 60 million years old and inhabited until recently. A 1,000-metre plankwalk runs throughout the length of the cave past some fine rock formations, including large stalagmites and stalactites, pinnacles, pendants and scallops,
as well as thousands of nesting bats and swiftlets. It emerges onto a sandy river bank, the perfect place to swim and cool off after visiting. The
cave system can be easily accessed via plankwalks. As cave formations are fragile, visitors must be accompanied by a park guide.
The large natural chamber of the Fairy Cave, with its remarkably lifelike rock formations resembling people and animals.