After a long quiet (about 3 months), mainly due inacessibility to a broadband connection and hectic schedule, I'm finally able to update this blog-site. Apologies to those of you, who follow our activities closely for the lack of news, though I'm sure many of you are more interested in the resources available here, than our adventure stories :-) Nonetheless I will still try to amuse you with some stories of things which we've been up to, these past few months.
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The Great Rajang
We've been involved in river basin management activities for many years now, and have gone to many places, remote places. However, I would have to say that this one really takes the cake and I'm sure that Dr. Mac will agree with me on this. We were sanctioned to conduct a water quality study of Sg. Baleh (or Batang Baleh) which is a tributary of the great Sg. Rajang. Our journey started in Kuching, where we took a flight to Sibu in-transit for a ferry ride to Kapit. This alone was a one day journey as there was a slight delay in our flight that morning. Thus we had to spend the night in Kapit. On the ferry we observed many wooden debris of significant size floating on the river mouth. I must admit that my heart skipped a beat every time the ferry made a thumping noise, from hitting a log. Kapit is the last small town where people living upstream of the river get their daily necessities. There is a federal building in Kapit where all the relevant government agencies are located. Its about 3 hours by ferry from Sibu (counter-current).
The next morning, we started on our journey to Putai, which is the last stop for commercial ferries. Its located about 93 km from Kapit, which roughly translates to another 5 - 6 hours moving counter-current of the river's flow. We arrived in Putai that evening and immediately proceeded to take a land-cruiser (leased from a logging company, complete with driver and all) to their camp where we would spend the night. Unfortunately, they only provided us with one land-cruiser (single cab only) whilst there were five of us (six if you include the driver). So, we did the next sensible thing, which was to hitch a ride with one of the service trucks en-route to the camp. Besides, the driver of the truck needed the company anyway! There was no mobile network coverage beyond the Putai boat-dock (actually for me, the network coverage was over, after we passed Kapit). It was another two hour journey from the Putai boat-dock to the camp. We arrived at the camp late evening with sore backs, driving through unpaved, logging roads. After a prompt dinner at the camp, we had to turn in early, as we had to be off the next morning by 4.30 am! Breakfast was served at 4.
The next morning (early morning I should say), we were provided with two vehicles for our journey to Baleh. I decided to ride on the back of the land-cruiser just to enjoy the scenery and the early morning highland air (by this time we were already high up in the mountains). I was lucky enough to catch the sight of a couple of Hornbills flyfing across the mountain range, in all their majesty. Mid-way through our journey we had to change vehicles (as apparently we were crossing the boundary between logging camps ?).
Finally after four hours of travel, we arrived at our destination, Long Singut longhouse. The longhouse is located very close to the Kalimantan border. But the challenge was not over yet.
The Long Singut longhouse is located on the Baleh river bank, in order to get there from the roadside, we had to trek down a really steep hill (60-75 degrees by my approximation) and take a longboat across the river. Of course for the longhouse residents, this came as second nature. Unfortunately for me, this was where I sprained my leg. In pain, I still threaded on :-) The local longhouse residents gave us a warm welcome when we arrived. They are really nice people with excellent hospitality.
We rested for a short while in the room provided for us; had breakfast with the Tuai Rumah and had to start our field survey and sampling work immediately. Time was precious as it would take us another two days to travel back. We asked a resident of the longhouse to take us to our pre-determined sampling points on Sg. Baleh on his longboat.
The next part of our journey on the river was simply, breathtaking. Sg. Baleh was, a "classic" river, flowing channel of water interweaving with beautiful rapids on our way to the sampling locations. I lost count to the number of rapids (ideal for whitewater rafting) we passed; the air was as fresh as can be, with hilly banks. According to our boatman, "Empurau" or Kelah can be found on some parts of the river which was already indicative of the pristine water quality. The river's current is also very strong; so strong that I had difficulty in holding on to our propellar type current meter, when measuring the river's velocity. This in turn was also indicative of a sharp drop in elevation, moving upstream to downstream of Sg. Baleh. A fact further reinforced by our GPS readings. Oxygen levels here were also very good, though turbidity on the main-stem was moderate. Many diversified and rare flora can also be seen here.
After we completed our field work, we headed back to the Long Singut longhouse, where we spent the night, before starting our journey back, the next morning. The longhouse occupants celebrated our presence with the traditional Ngajat dance that night. We took a slightly different route this time, stopping at the Entawau longhouse before proceeding straight to Sibu again. It took us about two days to reach Sibu, as this time, we were with the flow of the river going downstream, resulted in shorter travel time.
This was definitely a most memorable experience that I shall never forget, all for the sake of environmental research and preservation.
The Great Rajang
We've been involved in river basin management activities for many years now, and have gone to many places, remote places. However, I would have to say that this one really takes the cake and I'm sure that Dr. Mac will agree with me on this. We were sanctioned to conduct a water quality study of Sg. Baleh (or Batang Baleh) which is a tributary of the great Sg. Rajang. Our journey started in Kuching, where we took a flight to Sibu in-transit for a ferry ride to Kapit. This alone was a one day journey as there was a slight delay in our flight that morning. Thus we had to spend the night in Kapit. On the ferry we observed many wooden debris of significant size floating on the river mouth. I must admit that my heart skipped a beat every time the ferry made a thumping noise, from hitting a log. Kapit is the last small town where people living upstream of the river get their daily necessities. There is a federal building in Kapit where all the relevant government agencies are located. Its about 3 hours by ferry from Sibu (counter-current).
The next morning, we started on our journey to Putai, which is the last stop for commercial ferries. Its located about 93 km from Kapit, which roughly translates to another 5 - 6 hours moving counter-current of the river's flow. We arrived in Putai that evening and immediately proceeded to take a land-cruiser (leased from a logging company, complete with driver and all) to their camp where we would spend the night. Unfortunately, they only provided us with one land-cruiser (single cab only) whilst there were five of us (six if you include the driver). So, we did the next sensible thing, which was to hitch a ride with one of the service trucks en-route to the camp. Besides, the driver of the truck needed the company anyway! There was no mobile network coverage beyond the Putai boat-dock (actually for me, the network coverage was over, after we passed Kapit). It was another two hour journey from the Putai boat-dock to the camp. We arrived at the camp late evening with sore backs, driving through unpaved, logging roads. After a prompt dinner at the camp, we had to turn in early, as we had to be off the next morning by 4.30 am! Breakfast was served at 4.
The next morning (early morning I should say), we were provided with two vehicles for our journey to Baleh. I decided to ride on the back of the land-cruiser just to enjoy the scenery and the early morning highland air (by this time we were already high up in the mountains). I was lucky enough to catch the sight of a couple of Hornbills flyfing across the mountain range, in all their majesty. Mid-way through our journey we had to change vehicles (as apparently we were crossing the boundary between logging camps ?).Finally after four hours of travel, we arrived at our destination, Long Singut longhouse. The longhouse is located very close to the Kalimantan border. But the challenge was not over yet.
The Long Singut longhouse is located on the Baleh river bank, in order to get there from the roadside, we had to trek down a really steep hill (60-75 degrees by my approximation) and take a longboat across the river. Of course for the longhouse residents, this came as second nature. Unfortunately for me, this was where I sprained my leg. In pain, I still threaded on :-) The local longhouse residents gave us a warm welcome when we arrived. They are really nice people with excellent hospitality.
We rested for a short while in the room provided for us; had breakfast with the Tuai Rumah and had to start our field survey and sampling work immediately. Time was precious as it would take us another two days to travel back. We asked a resident of the longhouse to take us to our pre-determined sampling points on Sg. Baleh on his longboat.The next part of our journey on the river was simply, breathtaking. Sg. Baleh was, a "classic" river, flowing channel of water interweaving with beautiful rapids on our way to the sampling locations. I lost count to the number of rapids (ideal for whitewater rafting) we passed; the air was as fresh as can be, with hilly banks. According to our boatman, "Empurau" or Kelah can be found on some parts of the river which was already indicative of the pristine water quality. The river's current is also very strong; so strong that I had difficulty in holding on to our propellar type current meter, when measuring the river's velocity. This in turn was also indicative of a sharp drop in elevation, moving upstream to downstream of Sg. Baleh. A fact further reinforced by our GPS readings. Oxygen levels here were also very good, though turbidity on the main-stem was moderate. Many diversified and rare flora can also be seen here.
After we completed our field work, we headed back to the Long Singut longhouse, where we spent the night, before starting our journey back, the next morning. The longhouse occupants celebrated our presence with the traditional Ngajat dance that night. We took a slightly different route this time, stopping at the Entawau longhouse before proceeding straight to Sibu again. It took us about two days to reach Sibu, as this time, we were with the flow of the river going downstream, resulted in shorter travel time.This was definitely a most memorable experience that I shall never forget, all for the sake of environmental research and preservation.
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