I woke up a few times in the night but got a decent amount of sleep so at 6.30 I stayed awake and when it was light enough I carried on supergluing my shoes. There wasn't enough glue but I got the front tread on both and a bit near the back so I was ready to give them another shot since the alternative might just split in two soon. I looked at the map and we would get to Bukit Niah soon which is near to some caves I was planning to see. At almost last minute I decided to get off the bus and go to the caves and then get another bus to Miri thus saving some time and a bus journey. I tried to find a ticket office to buy a ticket and leave my suitcase but there was none I could see. Then I had to wait for the driver to have his breakfast so I could get my suitcase out. After that I had breakfast myself and packed the things I didn't need in my suitcase. I ended up leaving it outside an office that was closed. I started walking towards the park and someone offered a lift for 30 RM which I declined. I put my music on and carried on walking about 20 minutes when I saw a car stopped in front by a bus stop. I crossed as the person was waving at me and she offered me a lift so I went with her. Her name was Rita and she was on her way to do some shopping. We stopped as she wanted breakfast so I had time to join her and had a longan fruit juice which had the longan in the bottom like the lychee juice the other day. Rita had 2 eggs and 2 sausages and gave me half to try but I think she just thought I looked thin and wanted to fatten me up. We talked for a bit and then she dropped me a bit further along and I started walking along the road but I saw a path off to the side that wasn't on the map but there was a path near the river that would be a nicer route so I went along this path which wound all over and I nearly ended up back at the round or in a few peoples back gardens. It wasn't so easy going down in the mud as I literally had very little grip on my shoes (I like to use the word literally people use it a lot these days and they literally mostly use it wrongly) but I did find the path and got to the park ticketing area around 11am and signed in and paid my 10rm. There were a few people there before me including a French guy who'd arrived at 10. I went to the pier and the ferry guy took me across for 1 ringgit. On the other side there was an archaeological museum with a few people outside who had done the caves which they said took about 2 hours. I headed on and was considering which way to go first and eventually decided on the caves as I thought it might be possible to loop round and maybe get across the river at the other place or even walk back to the bus station from there. So I went to the caves along a boardwalk past some women selling beads and drinks and got to the first cave called traders cave where people (traders) used to live. After that there was a larger cave with some archaeological dig on one side someones house on the other. I walked in and after a bit it started getting darker and there was a wooden walkway and steps. I gave up on photos as it was too dark and carried on in and had a couple of paths to choose so I headed to the painted caves. The French guy came from where I was going and I carried on through the really big cave network and saw a snake on the wall. It was impressive how the roof in places seemed as high as the sky looks and eventually I came to the painted cave which was where people had done pictures around 30,000 BC or something. It was hard to see the pictures as they have it fenced off to protect them and I carried on to the other part of the cave where I saw that there was no path onwards so I couldn't climb the mountain and do a ring or head back to the bus station that way. I walked back all the way and missed the other path to the hill and other caves. I ended up back at the archaeological museum so I had a look around before going back to the other path. It was 2pm and the path was marked as 3.5 hours so I probably should have not gone considering I had just left my suitcase somewhere outside. The path was ok for a bit but then became muddy. I got to the first cave which was marked on maps.me as private but the staircase looked open so I went up and found a locked gate before the cave which looked like it had bats in or maybe swiftlings. I went back down and carried on the path which was not well maintained and had trees fallen on the path to climb over. My left shoe started falling apart in that the top and bottom layers were separating so I got the insulation tape out and taped it together. Next I came to a river with a wooden boardwalk and the map had a cave a short detour away so I went there and it was fairly small. Heading back on the main path it was again muddy and not so nice and it was hot as well and time was ticking on. The next cave was again private but I needed to climb up for the mountain so I headed up the stairs and tried to stick to the path which was a pretty sheer climb up with ropes and ladders. It was a tough climb and I was low on water now and it was still hot but I made it up and took a few photos and had a very short rest taking my soaking t-shirt off before heading back as it was quite late. My right shoe had trouble and split in the samevway as the left but even more so. I got the tape out but there wasn't enough left so I tied a plastic bag around my shoe to hold it together. It was harder to go down with my broken shoes which were slipping and I had to ficus on holding the rigyt one together on the way back. I looked at the map and decided to try for the old pier which is no longer used but maybe there was someone with a boat there who could help me across and save me an hour walking back. I got there around 4.30 and the hut before was deserted and boarded up and there were no obvious boats but there was a small one moored on the other side and there was a canoe in front of a house with a woman in. I shouted but nobody came to take me across and so I called up the national park and spoke to a woman there and told her very slowly as she didn't have good comprehension that I was at the old pier. She told me there should be a boat there and said she would phone him. I hung up and called back 10 minutes later as nothing had happened and she hadn't called me. She said he was there as normal, so I explained where the old pier was and she said I would have to trek back to the new pier, otherwise the boat could pick me up for 80 ringgits. I hung up and shouted some more for a boat but the woman in the house with the small boat wouldn't help me so I headed back with my dodgy falling apart shoes. It was tough and at a swampy part my shoes got stuck and the left sole came off so I gave up on the soles and took them with me so as not to litter and now I was walking in the uppers which was actually ok but if I stepped on something sharp it could go straight into my foot. It still took a while to get back and it was getting close to 6 but the boatman was still there waiting for me, I think he would have preferred to pick me up and go hone early as I only paid 1.50rm to cross and I would have paid 10 or 20 but not 80. I went to clean up but the toilets were locked and everything was shut. I asked a man walking around how do I get back and he gave me a taxi ride for 30rm back to the bus station which to be fair did take a while to get to. My suitcase was thankfully still there and I went into a large supermarket which had some footwear but no trainers but water, juice, fruits and nuts were all good and I re-hydrated a bit before going to get a bus which was there. I got to Miri around 9.30 and I didn't have a hostel. There were no city buses running but the taxis wanted my money. I found a nearby hostel about 1.5km away and started heading there on the main road and a girl offered me a ride in her boyfriends car. She apparently helps quite a few backpackers like me which is really nice. They were going to the shopping mall and dropped me off nearby at a hostel most backpackers like. Unfortunately it was closed so I walked round the corner to my homestay which wasn't quite where the map said it was. They wanted 35 for the room which I thought was a lot but when I searched online that was the normal price for Miri so I booked it for 33 and picked up my luggage I'd left at the other hostel. I checked in and it was a small room with 1 bunkbed and I was on top. I went to get some food and then went to the mall to look for shoes but the stores were all closing. I did see the girl and the guy who had given me the lift and said hi. I went back and used the internet to plan what to do before going to bed.
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