The long hike to the Sarawak waterfall; A trip to Sarawak’s jungle Pt. Final

The trail started at an abandoned logging trail

Our group’s objective is to trek to a famous waterfall in Sarawak known by many as the Julan Falls. My objective on this trip however was a little bit different. I have always wanted to experience the Sarawak jungle and meet its natives. This jungle trip to Sarawak gave me a good opportunity to do just that. We engaged local guides for the trip, mainly Kenyahs and Penans.

We started on the long hike into the Upper Baram very early in the morning. With all our gear in tow, we were transported by 4WD to the start of the trail, which unfortunately consists of an hour’s hike on an abandoned logging trail. This means gravel terrain under the scorching sun.

The guides, porters and some of the group’s gear

As we were getting ready to move, our guides started donning their huge rattan baskets. Besides camp supplies, some of the porters were also carrying some of the group’s personal gears. All these on top of their own personal items!

Besides the overloaded rattan packs, all the porters and guides had one thing in common on them…a Parang.  Smartly worn and tucked on their waists are their jungle Parang. Being a bit of blade enthusiast myself, I can’t wait to see how they use their Parang.

Our Penan guides have their trusty Parangs worn on their waist at all time

One of the Penan guides, Augustine with his Parang

Interestingly, Augustine has his Parang worn with the sharp edge facing upwards

The trek was long and winding. It started gradually climbing and later became a constant steep. It reminded me a lot of Bukit Kutu. Yours sincerely was with the last group. We were broken into the fast and ‘slow & steady’ (S&S) group. It took the last group about 9 hours to reach the campsite.

Below is a profile of the hike.

The terrain we covered in about 9 hours

While I totally enjoyed the jungle, the walk really did tire me out. We were all very motivated to get to our campsite…one way or the other and we pushed on. Our guide Willie was with the S&S group the entire time. I was not worried about the group being separated into two because not only were we in capable hands on the local guides but the two groups were also in constant communication via the VHF radios that we brought along (with spare batteries of course).
We were fortunate to have a doctor (a surgeon actually!) with us, medical kits with each walking group and portable evacuation stretchers. The guides also brought in rope to use as anchor and hand lines on steeper terrain.

We had some ropes with us to help us negotiate tricky terrain

There were many great sights along the walk but with all honestly, I was after the initial 5 hours of steep climbing, too tired to reach deep into my pack to grab the camera. The jungle was humid and the air filled with mist at higher altitudes. My SLR camera’s lens got fogged up a couple of times.

Certain part of the trail reminds me of the mossy forest (Gunung Irau) in Cameran Highlands

One scene along the track that really caught my attention was a tree which from a distance looks as if it has been painted white on an entire side. The tree was standing on the edge of a ravine and I couldn’t get close enough to do a size comparison. I got as close as I could and the ‘whitish’ area turned out to be spider web. The web covered the tree in a size that could fit an average young adult. I only manage to lean and stretched my hand out with the camera and snap some pics. This is the first time I saw such a big spider web colony (is it a colony?)

The ‘whitish paint’ turns out to be spider web

Enough to fit a young adult inside.

Then there is the bark-less tree. Occasionally I do see this tree in other jungles in Malaysia. The outer layer part of the tree seems to have been stripped off, leaving the woody part inside. We were already traveling close to the top of the mountain when I saw this tree. It stood out like a sore thumb in the midst of the other moss covered trees.

The jungle bark-less tree

• First time in Miri Town, Sarawak
• Wild durian & Kolok mee at Miri.
• 5 hours on a 4WD into interior off Miri.
• Unique local houses in Sarawak interior.
• Smoked wild boar…nice!
• Loooong hike to look for an elusive waterfall.
• Sarawak river boats and a raging river.
• Jungle vines and rattan used in the jungles of Sarawak.
• Umbut or heart of palm tasting, first experience.
• Harvesting of the umbut by the Penan.
• Malat & Penat; the Penan’s blades.
• Kitchen in a traditional house.
• Video on jungle kitchen & feather stick making.

Click here to read about another rainforest adventure in Semban, Sarawak.