Bario

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On thursday I caught a little 12 seat Twin Otter plane from Miri to a small town in the Kelabit Highlands called Bario. I booked this flight for $30 each way the week before which in my opinion is a bargain. There were only 8 of us on the flight and the cockpit door was open the whole 50 minutes of the flight so you could see what the pilots were up to. We flew over Gunung Mulu National Park on the way and finally landed at a very small airport where there about 15 locals waiting to pickup friends or cargo. After having a coffee and chat with the pilots I got a lift to the centre of town and looked for somewhere to stay.

I decided to stay at the Royal Villa homestay where it was $12 a night for my room and a couple of dollars for each meal. I stayed for 3 nights here and really enjoyed talking and hanging out with the family that run the place. When I wanted to go and check out a nearby hill and longhouse they just said to take the motorbike and their 11 year old son Daryl as a guide. In my spare time I would go next door and play pool with Daryl and his friend Maverick, or watch a movie with him and his sister Mariel.

Bario is actually a base for overnight and longer treks to nearby villages where you can stay in longhouses along the way. I didn't really feel up to it seeing I was alone and it seemed to rain pretty much every day which meant the tracks would be muddy. I had a great time though just wandering around town in the cool weather and talking to the friendly locals. I was really impressed with a longhouse I visited where they still cook on woodfires inside the building. There are also gas cookers as well as some tvs in the longhouse, an interesting mix of old and new.

On the last night I moved to Francis and Harris's homestay which was also nice and the price of $20 a day included all meals was very good. Harris cooked me some really nice meals which included wild boar, different vegetables, pancakes, and the local pineapple which is superb. In the morning of my flight Harris set off to the airport early and just told me to use his motorbike for the 2 km trip a bit later. Unfortunately I couldn't get it to start, so I walked most of the way there before getting a lift the last few hundred metres. There were more seats in this plane because the cargo hold was smaller and we set off with about 8 passengers. On the way back we landed at Marudi to pick up another dozen passengers and fill the plane for the final 20 minute flight to Miri.

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