Outdoor Treks - Treks in Borneo Series
Treks in the Meligan Highlands
General information about the places that we go to on our treks to the Meligan Higlands that includes Ba'Kelalan, Lepo Bunga, Reked Meligan (Church Camp), Summit Plateau, Batu Linanit, Long Repun, Pa'Lungan and Bario.
Here are the expeditions that we run.
Note: a few guide books recommend the trek from Ba'Kelalan to Bario via Indonesia. We strongly advice against this as a number of visitors have been extorted by the Indonesian border patrol.
See YouTube our video of a Trek to Mt. Murud to Bario. Click this link.
Click places on the map to find out more about them.
Here's some description and pcitures of the places that we go to in the Sarawak highlands.
Ba'Kelalan is a Lun Bawang* village made up of several smaller
ones. This rice growing village is set in a pictureous fertile valley
with temperate fruit orchards and undulating terrain. Our stay here
includes a walking tour to visit the agro areas as well as meeting the
friendly locals. MasWings flies here 3 times a week and is accessible by
road from Lawas.
* Lun Bawang is one of the many ethnic native group of Sarawak.
Pa'Lungan is a small Kelabit village with a population of 60
people. It's famous for producing Bario rice seeds. This village is
popular with trekkers who wants a short trek to and from Bario. Philip
and Aunty Supang are some of the warmest hosts at their homestay. Meet
Omar, one of the most popular porters here.
Mt. Murud, Sarawak highest mountain at 2,423 m
Mt. Murud, a) Reked Meligan, b) Summit Plateau and c) Batu Linanit - are all found in the Pulong Tau National Park in the Mt. Murud area. Average elevation 2,100m.
a) Reked Meligan is the
Church Camp area where there are many houses as well as a large church
building. We have a 2 story mountain hut here that offer basic comforts
from the cold mountain environment. Hot drinks and meals are produced
from the wood burning fire place.
b) Summit Plateau is an open
area sometimes referred to as the 'rock garden'. It has a unique upper
montane environment with a rich variety of flora. It's a 2 hour trek to
this area from the Church Camp and another additional hour to the summit
of Mt. Murud.
c) Batu Linanit is a breath
taking look out point about half hour from Church Camp. One can look
down at the rainforest and hear gibbon calls, hornbills and other birds
and look at the Summit of Mt. Mulu. On a clear day, it is possible to
see Mt. Kinabalu too.
Bario is
a main village for the Sarawak highlands with a population of 800. The
main group here are from the Kelabit tribe. It serves as an
administration centre. There are many lodges, homestays and local cafe
here. It's perfect as a starting or ending point for trekking the
highlands. It is served by daily MasWings flights. It's a long 12 hour
drive from Miri. Here a link to one good old story of Bario
click this.
Ngimat Ayuh's homestay at Bario.
Lepo Bunga, Long Repun are jungle shelters with no amenities except for
a wooden building with metal roof. Long Repun is a by a river whereas
Lepo Bunga have a few steel drums that collects rainwater and it may run
out if others have gone through this shelter.
Camp 2 is
just a small basic bamboo shelter with a bamboo lined floor on the
ground. It is located by a river.
Merarap Hot Spring Lodge is a get away in the middle of the rainforest 70km from Lawas. It almost is the half way point on the road from Lawas to Ba'Kelalan. The hot water from natural underground springs are piped into pool and mixed with cooler water for a relaxing comfortable dip in the cool of the evening.
Lawas is the northern most town in Sarawak. It lies between Sabah and Brunei. One would drive through it to get from Sarawak to Sabah. It also has road access to Ba'Kelalan and the villages along the way. Rural air service has several flight here linking it to Bario and Miri.