Niah National Park

Listen first. Under the forest canopy the air is thick and warm, and it carries a constant hum of insects. Your footsteps knock softly on the wooden boards of the walkway. Somewhere ahead, water drips from limestone. And then the smell arrives, earthy and sharp, carried out of the dark. That is the smell of the caves, and of the creatures that have lived in them for a very long time.

Welcome to Niah National Park, in the north of Sarawak, on the island of Borneo. From the outside it looks like a quiet patch of rainforest with a limestone hill rising out of it. Inside that hill is one of the most important archaeological sites in Southeast Asia. People have sheltered, hunted, buried their dead, and gathered food here across tens of thousands of years. Few places on Earth hold such a long human story in one spot.

Your walk usually begins at the park headquarters, beside the Niah River. A short boat crossing takes you to the far bank, and the plankwalk begins there. The boardwalk runs for a few kilometres through damp lowland forest. It keeps your feet above the mud and the roots. Take it slowly. The forest here is dense and layered, with buttress roots, hanging vines, and ferns growing from every crack in the stone.

As you walk, watch the ground and the trees close to the path. Lizards move across the boards. Ants travel in long lines over the railings. Birds call from high in the canopy, and you may hear monkeys before you see them. The limestone outcrops along the way are grey and pitted, softened by rain and covered in moss. The forest is not empty. It is simply busy at a scale that asks you to stop and look.

The first large opening you reach is often called Traders' Cave. Its name comes from the people who once bought and sold here. The traders were not dealing in gold or spices. They traded in bird's nests and guano, the two harvests of the caves. Look for the low overhang and the flat floor. It is easy to imagine people resting here in the shade, sorting goods, before carrying them down to the river.

Then comes the Great Cave. Nothing quite prepares you for the size of its mouth. The opening is so wide and so tall that the forest seems to stop at its edge, as if it is unsure whether to go in. Light falls in long slanting beams across the floor. Your eyes take a moment to adjust. Your voice changes too — sounds carry and echo in a way they do not outside.

Here is the first surprise. In the late 1950s, the archaeologist Tom Harrisson and his team dug into the floor near the cave mouth. Among their finds was a human skull, later nicknamed the Deep Skull. Scientists have dated it to roughly forty thousand years ago. For a long time it was among the oldest known remains of modern humans anywhere in Southeast Asia. That means people stood near this entrance long before farming began in most of the world.

The excavations told a wider story as well. Researchers found stone tools, animal bones, and traces of plant foods. They show that early people here hunted forest animals and processed wild plants, some of which are poisonous unless prepared with care. That points to a deep knowledge of the forest. In 2024, the caves complex was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List, in recognition of this long human record.

Now look up toward the ceiling, high in the shadows. You may see thin poles, ropes, or ladders reaching into the darkness. They belong to the bird's nest collectors. Tiny birds called swiftlets build their nests on the cave roof, and the nests are made largely from the birds' own saliva. These nests are prized in Chinese cooking, especially in bird's nest soup. Collecting them is dangerous work, and families in the area have passed the skill down through generations.

The second harvest lies under your feet. Bats and swiftlets share the cave, and their droppings, called guano, build up on the floor. It has long been gathered and sold as fertiliser. Here is a quieter surprise. At dusk, the two populations change shifts. Swiftlets stream back into the cave as bats pour out to hunt. If you are near the entrance at that hour, the air fills with movement and sound.

Further along the trail lies the Painted Cave. On its walls, red figures are drawn in a natural iron-based pigment called haematite. Many show human shapes, some in dynamic poses, and others show boats. Archaeologists also found burial remains here, including boat-shaped wooden coffins. Researchers often connect the painted boats with ideas about the journey of the dead to another world. The paintings are faint, so give your eyes time, and respect the barriers that protect them.

Niah is not only a place of the past. Communities still live along the river nearby, including Iban longhouse settlements, where many families share one long building under a single roof. The bird's nest trade still supports local livelihoods. Back at headquarters, a small archaeology museum displays finds and replicas from the caves. It is worth a visit before or after your walk, because it helps you picture what lies beneath the cave floors you have crossed.

As you head back along the boardwalk, notice how the light changes as you leave the cave mouth. The darkness behind you gives way to green and gold. The smell of guano fades into the smell of wet leaves. The same path has carried traders, collectors, scientists, and visitors like you. Take a last look at the limestone rising above the trees. Inside it, forty thousand years of human life are still quietly waiting.