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Close to the Indonesian border in the north-eastern corner of Sarawak and dominated by Gunung Murud are the Kelabit Highlands, the highest inhabited area of Borneo. It can only be reached by light aircraft or on foot, not by road or river. Kelabit, Murut, Sabahan, Lun Bawang and Penan are people who live in longhouses at an altitude of 3700ft. wet padi farming is the main source of food, supplemented by hunting and the cultivation of fruit and vegetables for local consumption. In the past salt springs and a fairy rich soil, plus the people’s own industry and ingenuity, made them self-sufficient, needing only iron which was traded for salt and tobacco. Although many people have left the area to work in the towns, enough rice is still grown for home consumption and for sale to other parts of the state.
Bario rice is considered the best in the country. In 1945 the Royal Australian Air Force dropped eight men into the Highlands, and together they set up a base from which to organize guerilla operations against the Japanese. At about this time, groups of missionaries had arrived and the people began to embrace Christianity. Today the majority are practicing members of the SIB Church. Christmas and Easter celebrations have replaced the traditional birth and death ceremonies, but the practice of renaming people when their first child is born still continues, celebrated by guests in traditional costume dancing, singing & feasting.
During Malaysia’s confrontation with Indonesia, from 1963 to 1966, British and Gurkha troops were stationed in the Highlands, and people from outlaying longhouses converged on the garrison at Bario for protection. Today Bario, the centre of the Kelabit Highlands, consists of several longhouses and a number of individual dwellings, the airstrip with daily flights to Miri, few shops, school, clinic and immigration post.
Bario, which means ‘wind’ in the Kelabit language, a remote plateau surrounded by rolling hills, has many paths leading off into the forest, tempting one to explore further afield.
Arrive Bario. Greeting at the airport and transfer to checkin at The Ngimat Ayu House. Lunch and free at leisure before tour to villages in Bario. Back to the homestay for a bbq dinner and rest.
Breakfast before pickup to the Penan Settlement and take a dip at the stream here and lunch before visiting the salt spring perhaps to witness the Kelabit traditional way of producing their mountain salt. Stop at the pineapple farm and sheep farm on the way to visit other villages on the way home. Lunch at the homestay while free at leisure or pond fishing activity near the house or self Bario discover before dinner and urgent to Ulung Palang Longhouse for a cultural night with beverages being serve and participate in traditional dance and games. Back to the homestay and rest.
Weak up at wee hours (4.30am) for light breakfast before pickup to the Arur Dalan Village where the sunrise hike up the prayer mountain start for a panoramic view of rolling hills over Bario Highlands. Trek back to the homestay for breakfast and freshening up before pickup to the airport.
