MALAYSIA
MALAYSIAN BORNEO – SARAWAK •• Batang Rejang Book your stay at lonelyplanet.com/hotelsactually checking these permits, especially
since, strangely, a permit is not required for
travel in the other direction. The permit office
is located in an ultra-modern building called
Resident’s Office (h8am-5pm Mon-Fri, closed for lunch)
on Jln Airport, past the old airport on the west
side of town. It takes about 15 minutes walking
in each direction. There are plenty of banks
and ATMs around town; if you’re looking for
wireless internet, ask around for ‘wi-five’.SLEEPING & EATING
For accommodation, try Kapit River View Inn
(%084-796310; [email protected]; 10 Jln Tan Sit Leong; s
& d RM55-60; a) or Greenland Inn (%084-796388;
463-464 Jln Teo Chow Beng; s/d RM80/90; a). Kapit is
packed with small restaurants and kedai kopi,
but the best place to eat in the evening has to
be the busy Taman Selera Empura (dishes RM0.50-
3.50), which is near the centre of town, roughly
behind Ing Hing Cold Storage. In contrastTHE BORNEO LONGHOUSE
Longhouses are the traditional dwellings of the indigenous people of Borneo and the island’s
most distinctive feature of tribal life. These large communal dwellings, raised on stilts above the
forest floor, can contain over a hundred individual family ‘apartments’ beneath one long, long
roof. The most important part of a longhouse is the covered common verandah, which serves
as a social area, ‘town hall’ and sleeping space.
The longhouse lifestyle is by no means a forgotten tradition in Borneo, even in the face of
globalisation. Community living is a very sustainable way of life – most youngsters that leave
for greener pastures (read: more money) usually keep close ties to their village and return home
later on in life. Over time, some longhouse communities have upgraded their building materi-
als from thatch and bamboo to wood and linoleum. But don’t let the errant satellite antenna
betray your wild Kipling-esque fantasies; a trip to a longhouse is a must for anyone who wants
to know the real Borneo.Planning a Visit
You may be initially surprised to discover that longhouse visits can be a pricey venture. Tours are
not cheap, and if you go on your own you’ll need to pay for a boat and/or 4WD (figure RM300 to
RM800), a guide (RM80 per day, plus RM35 per night), and lodging (usually RM10 per night).
There are two essential ingredients in organising a memorable longhouse visit: finding an
excellent guide and choosing the right longhouse (the latter is always a function of the former).
A great guide or tour company has a clutch of longhouse options and will always be receptive
to the type of experience you desire. When searching for a tour operator or freelance guide, it is
best to keep an open mind – after all, they are the experts – but do not hesitate to be upfront
about your desires and concerns.
Scouting a tour locally is significantly cheaper than any pre-departure booking on the internet,
and it’s well worth spending a day checking out your options. If you want to assemble your own
trip, the Sarawak Tourism Board publishes a yearly ‘Members Directory’ listing all registered free-
lance guides and their contact information. Membership can be expensive and some of the best
guides opt to work for tour operators rather than renewing their freelancer’s licence. Unregistered
freelance guides may be friendly and knowledgeable, but they cannot be held accountable if
something goes wrong during your trip.
We cannot overstress the importance of doing your research and finding a great guide. Yes,
you could potentially head upriver on your own, but you’ll still need to find someone to take you
to a longhouse. An invitation is essential, and turning up unannounced is not only bad manners,
it can also be a major cultural faux pas. Even if you make your way into a longhouse without a
guide, you will find major communication and cultural barriers. Interacting spontaneously with
locals isn’t always easy as the elders usually don’t speak English, and the younger people are
often out working the fields or have moved to the big city to earn more money. A great guide
usually knows several people at the longhouse (including the chief ) and can act as a translator
while you try to strike up a conversation. Your guide will always keep you abreast of any cultural
differences – like when and where to take off your shoes – so you needn’t worry too much about
saying or doing the wrong thing.518