Borneo

- Shtigje per hiking ne parkun Gunung Mulu National Park, ne park shkohet me avion nga Miri ose
Kuching cmimi rreth 35 euro

1. Headhunters’ Trail***

2. Gunung Mulu Summit

3. The Pinnacles**

4. Deer Cave

5. The Sarawak Chamber****, the biggest cave chamber a tourist can visit, is located in Gunung Mulu
National Park

Maliau Basin Conservation Area- eshte pyll tropikal i rrethuar nga male si nje
loje Jurassic Park eshte shume veshtire te shkohet por mund te realizohet (duhet bere ne
menyre te pavarur idealisht me motorra me qera nisja nga Kota Kinabalu deri te parku me
motorra me pas prenotimi i guidave tek parku). Duhet te jesh i pregatitur me ushqime te
gatshme ne menyre qe dy vakte mengjesin dhe darken ti realizosh vete ndersa dreken ta
paguash. Për te realizuar hiking prej 5 ditesh per tek ujvarat duhet te stervitemi me hiking
per distanca te gjata ne shqiperi ne menyre qe te dime sa ushqim sa veshje duhet per keto
distanca si dhe duhet blere nje paisje e mire gpx.

INDEPENDENT EXPEDITIONS TO THE MALIAU BASIN

During our research, no private tour operators or employees of Sabah Tourism said it was possible to visit
the basin without a prior tour arrangement, but we have found this is not necessarily true. With that said,
you’ll probably need at least RM1000 (and a fair bit of elbow grease) to make the following plan work, so
this isn’t an entirely budget proposal.
It’s best to first contact the Maliau Basin Conservation Area Authority ( 089-759214;
maliaubasin@gmail.com; 2nd Floor, UMNO Building; Jln Dunlop) in Tawau. You may need to
show up to the office in person, as this is not a tourism body accustomed to dealing with visitors. You can
also try driving to the park entrance from Tawau (2½ hours) or KK (at least five
hours); a 2WD Proton can make the trip with cautious driving, while a motorbike would be dodgy but
doable.
To get into the park you need to pay an administration fee (RM60), a vehicle entry fee (RM5 per vehicle),
and if you stay overnight, a conservation fee (RM50). If you plan to hike (and
what else are you going to do?) you must hire a guide, which costs RM200 per day. The different camps in
the basin cost RM180 to RM205 per person per night for a room; some offer
dorm beds for RM70, and you can camp in your own tent for RM30. Meals can be taken in the guest houses
for RM40/50/60 per person for breakfast/lunch/dinner. You can also arrange
meals while trekking; this requires a porter and costs RM70/100/130 for breakfast/lunch/dinner.
We have talked with travellers who were able to arrange all of the above at the park entrance without even
stopping by the Tawau office. Our sense is this scenario will not be possible if
a flood of travellers starts pounding on the basin’s gates, so you may still want to check with the Tawau
office before coming all the way out here (although hey, the drive is pretty).
Kelabit Highlands (Bario)
The air is clean and cool, the rice fields impossibly green, the local cuisine scrumptious and the
trekking – from longhouse to longhouse – some of the best in Borneo, but the star attraction here is
the people, justifiably famous for their ready smiles and easy way with visitors. Getting to
Sarawak’s remote northeastern corner (Click here) is half the fun – you can either bust your butt on
logging roads for 12 hours or take an exhilarating flight in a 19-seat Twin Otter turboprop.

JUNGLE SURVIVAL SKILLS

Always wanted to learn how to survive in the rainforest? Bario-based Highlands Jungle Academy ( 019-
891-2974; www.borneojungleadventures.com) offers three-/six-day introductory
courses (from RM400/850 per person) as well as tailor-made itineraries. Longer sessions include overnights
in the jungle.

BARIO SALT (per tu blere krip tradicionale)

If you’re interested in the Kelabit’s culinary traditions, you might want to walk out to Bario’s main tudtu
(literally ‘salty sweet’; natural salt lick), on the way to Pa’ Umor, where mineral-rich
saline water is put in giant vats over a roaring fire until all that’s left is high-iodine salt that goes perfectly
with local specialities such as deer and wild boar. This traditional production
technique is beginning to die out, but in Bario you can still purchase salt made the old way – look for
something that resembles a 20cm-long green Tootsie roll wrapped in a leaf.

RICE & PINEAPPLES

Bario is famous throughout Malaysia for two things: Bario rice, whose grains are smaller and more aromatic
than lowland varieties; and sweeter-than-sweet pineapples that are free of the
pucker-inducing acidity of their coastal cousins. Outside of the Kelabit Highlands, 1kg of Bario rice costs a
whopping RM22 and Bario pineapples are usually unavailable at any price
(except, perhaps, at Miri’s two Kelabit restaurants).

CROSSING INTO INDONESIA

Thanks to long-standing cultural and personal ties across the Sarawak–Kalimantan frontier, drawn in
colonial times by the British and the Dutch, a local trans-border initiative has made it possible for both
Highland residents and tourists to cross from Ba Kelalan into Kalimantan to visit nearby settlements such as
Long Bawan, Lembudud and Long Layu. All you need is a pas lintas batas (transboundary pass), issued
locally according to an agreement signed between the Malaysian and Indonesian foreign ministries.
Passports are not stamped and you must return to Sarawak within 14 days. To make arrangements, contact
John Tarawe in Bario. Malaysian ringgits are very popular in this remote part of Kalimantan but US dollars
are not.

Home Stays in Sabah

The Sabah sleeping situation generally divides between hostels, chalets and high-end hotels. Sadly, none
of these experiences are dedicated
to putting you in touch with locals. Home stays, on the other hand, are an excellent way of experiencing
indigenous hospitality, enjoying homecooked
meals, being a cross-cultural ambassador and, while we’re at it, getting a good bargain. They’re
particularly popular with families
travelling with children, but anyone will find good home stays a refreshing change from the usual pace
of Sabah lodging.
Batang Ai Region
Ask anyone in Kuching where to find authentic, old-time longhouses – ie those least impacted by
modern life – and the answer is almost always the same: Batang Ai,
many of whose settlements can only be reached by boat. This remote region, about 250km (4½
hours) southeast of Kuching, is not really visitable without a guide, but
if you’re genuinely interested in encountering Iban culture, the money and effort to get out here will
be richly rewarded.
Managed with the help of an Iban community cooperative, the 240-sq-km Batang Ai National
Park (www.sarawakforestry.com) is part of a vast contiguous area of protected rainforest that
includes the Batang Ai Reservoir (24 sq km), Sarawak’s Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary (1688
sq km) and, across the border in West Kalimantan, Betung Kerihun National Park (8000 sq km).
The park’s dipterocarp rainforests have the highest density of wild orangutans in central Borneo
(sightings are not guaranteed but are not rare either), and are also home to gibbons (more often
heard than seen), langurs and hornbills.
Trips to the Batang Ai region can be booked in Kuching, either with a tour operator or with a
freelance guide. SeeClick here for everything you need to know about planning a longhouse visit.

Sungai Kinabatangan
Wildlife River Cruises Boat****
Wildlife is the number-one reason to visit Sabah, and a cruise down the Kinabatangan is invariably
a highlight for visitors to the state. In the late afternoon and early morning, binocular-toting
enthusiasts have a chance of spotting an ark’s worth of wildlife – from nest-building orangutans and
nosy proboscis monkeys to stealthy samba deer and timid pygmy elephants.
Mammals can be seen all year, moving around in small groups while travelling through plantations.
Colourful birds are a huge draw: all eight varieties of Borneo’s hornbills, plus brightly coloured
pittas, kingfishers and, if you’re lucky, a Storm’s stork or the bizarre Oriental darter (also known as
a snake-bird) all nest in the forests hugging the Kinabatangan. Avian wildlife is more numerous and
varied during rainier months (usually October to late March), which coincides with
northernhemisphere migrations. Though friendly for birds, the rainy season isn’t very
accommodating for humans. Flooding has been a problem of late and a couple of lodges will
sometimes shut their doors when conditions are severe.
The success rate of animal-spotting largely depends on luck and the local knowledge of your guide
– don’t be afraid to ask hard questions about the specifics of your trip before you sign up. Elephants
and other larger animals come and go, as herds often break up to get through the palm plantations.
River tours should always be included in lodge package rates. If you prefer to explore
independently, contact local home stay programs (Click here), which will be able to hook you up
with a boat operator. Or ask about renting a boat in Sukau – everyone in the village is connected to
the tourism industry either directly or through family and friends, and someone will be able to find
you a captain. Another option: just before the entrance to Sukau village is a yellow sign that says
‘Di sini ada boat servis’ (Boat service here); different river pilots hang out here throughout the day.
Whatever way you choose to find a boat and a guide, expect to pay RM60 to RM80 for a two-hour
river cruise on a boat that can hold up to six people (ie you can split the cost with friends).

HOME STAYS ON THE KINABATANGAN (si gjithmone duhet shkuar vetë tek fshatrat
e meposhtem ose me transport publik ose me transport privat motorra)
If you talk to tourism information types in places like KK or Sandakan, it’s easy to walk away with the
impression that the only way to reach the Kinabatangan is via a package tour. This is hardly the case. Home
stay programs are popping up with increasing frequency in Sukau, Bilit and other villages, giving tourists a
chance to stay with local Orang Sungai and inject money almost directly into local economies. Please note
the contacts we provide below are for local home stay program coordinators who will place you with
individual families.
In Sukau, Bali Kito Homestay ( 013-869 9026; http://sukauhomestay.com; su kauhomestay@yahoo.com; r
from RM50) can connect you with several different families and, for
additional fees, hook you up with cultural programmes, fishing trips, opportunities to work on traditional
farms (we’re sure the villagers love it when foreigners head into the fields for their
vacation), treks, wildlife cruises and other fun. A special walk-in rate of RM30 is also available if you just
rock up to the village. A four-person three-day, two-night package that includes
meals, four river cruises, transport to and from Sandakan and a visit to the Gomantong Caves runs to RM650
per person, but different packages can be arranged for smaller groups.
In tiny Bilit, we often wondered which houses weren’t home stays. Contact the exceptionally helpful Bilit
Village Homestay ( 013-891 3078, 019-537 0843, 019-853-4997;
http://bilithomestay.wordpress.com; bilit2002@hotmail.com; r from RM55). This outfit offers package deals
that are much the same experience as what you would find in Sukau. Three-day,
two-night rates, which include river cruises and trekking, run RM360 per person.
Near Batu Pulih (the village adjacent to the Batu Tulug caves; Click here), Mescot/Miso Walai Homestay
( 089-551064, 551070; www.misowalaihomestay.com; r RM70) is one of the
oldest, best-run community ecotourism initiatives in the area. By dint of its location, this home stay also
happens to be outside the tourist crush in Sukau and Bilit, so your chances of
spotting wildlife are a bit better.
When staying in a home stay, it is important to act as a guest in someone’s home as opposed to a tourist on
holiday. Privacy will be reduced, and you may be expected to help with chores, cooking, cleaning etc (this
depends on the family you stay with). Men and women should dress modestly and couples will want to avoid
overt displays of affection, which locals tend to frown on. English may not be widely spoken, especially at
newer home stays, although you’ll be impressed at the multilingual abilities of kids who have grown
accustomed to meeting travellers from around the world! The experience is a different one, one which many
visitors absolutely love, but it’s certainly not everyone’s cup of tea. That said, we strongly encourage giving
home stays a shot if you haven’t done so before.

Getting There & Away

Transfers are usually arranged with your lodging as part of your package, but you can save by arriving
independently. Arrange transport from any of the drop-off points (see below) with your tour operator or with
a local minivan. Don’t get on Birantihanti buses – they stop anytime someone wants to get on or off, which
could quadruple travelling time.
Bus & Minivan
From KK Board a Tawau- or Lahad Datu–bound bus (RM35) and ask the driver to let you off at ‘Sukau
Junction,’ also known as ‘Meeting Point’ – the turn-off road to
reach Sukau. If you are on a Sandakan-bound bus, make sure your driver remembers to stop at the Tawau-
Sandakan junction – it’s called ‘Batu 32’ or ‘Checkpoint’
(sometimes it’s known as Sandakan Mile 32).
From Sepilok or Sandakan Expect to pay around RM15 to reach ‘Batu 32’, and around RM20 if you’re on
a Sandakan–Tawau bus and want to alight at ‘Meeting
Point’.
From Lahad Datu A minivan ride to ‘Meeting Point’ from Lahad Datu costs RM20. When buying your bus
tickets remember to tell the vendor where you want to get off
so you don’t get overcharged.
Car
If you are driving, note that the Shell petrol station on the highway at Sukau Junction (at the turn-off to
Sukau) is the last place to fill up before arriving at the river. The road to Sukau is pretty smooth, but as you
get closer to Bilit you’ll start running into some dirt patches. These may be paved by the time you read this,
and even at the time of research we found it was possible to get to Bilit via 2WD – just drive carefully,
especially if it’s been raining.
Bandar Seri Begawan to Bangar
You roar down Sungai Brunei, slap through palm-lined waterways and then tilt and weave among
mangroves