Blogs from Bario, Sarawak, Malaysia, Asia
September 12th 2011
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 ... read more
August 25th 2010
Stephen ist Kelabit aus der Region von Bario. Seine Frau Tina stammt aus Dänemark und ist vor einigen Jahren hierher gereist. Nun leiten beide gemeinsam ihr Homestay, das gleichzeitig als Stephens Galerie dient. Es befindet sich in einem Langhaus, einem der typischen Wohnhäuser auf Borneo, und liegt auf einem Hügel,von dem man einen herrlichen Blick auf die Umgebung hat. Stephen ist Maler und seine Werke schmücken das sämtliche Räume. Er kann von der Kunst sogar ganz gut leben, so dass das Homestay für die beiden nur eine Art Hobby mit einem nützlichen Zusatzeinkommen darstellt. Beide kümmern ich sehr herzlich um ihre Gäste und lassen es sich nicht nehmen, gemeinsam mit ihren Gästen die Mahlzeiten einzunehmen. Stephen kocht hervorragende Gerichte mit Dschungelzutaten und Tina backt zum Frühstück das Brot selbst. Besonders gut sind die Spezialitäten Barios: Eine ... read more
August 18th 2010
Schon die Anreise nach Bario, verschlafener Hauptort im entlegenen Kelabit-Hochland, ist ein kleines Abenteuer. Die einzige Alternative zu einer beschwerlichen und teuren tagelangen Anfahrt im Geländewagen über unbefestigte Logging Roads (Privatstraßen für den Holztransport), besteht im Flugzeug. Ein Flug ist nicht nur wesentlich schneller (lediglich eine Stunde von der Küstenstadt Miri), sondern mit ca. 25€ einfache Strecke auch deutlich günstiger als über Land. Auch die Einheimischen bevorzugen den Flieger. Die vier westlichen Passagiere in diesem Flug waren der Ire Mossie, die Schweizerin Zuleika, die ich bereits aus Miri kannte, die Australierin Stephanie und ich. Der Flughafen in Bario ist kleiner als ein deutscher Dorfbahnhof und die einzigen Maschinen, die auf der kurzen Landebahn landen können, sind zweimotorige Propellerflugzeuge vom Typ "Twin Otter". Sie bieten Pl... read more
October 24th 2009
I headed to Bario in an even smaller plane than the one i got to Mulu, but surprisingly in felt safer and the views were fantastic, i could see down on the caves at Mulu. The only way to get to Bario, the capital of the highlands, was by plane, but a few weeks before i arrived the bridge on the road from Miri was finished. The town only had 3 4WDs for years but there's already 10 times that now. The people living here seem to have mixed feeling about the road, but its not surfaced yet and its a 13hr drive so there shouldn't be too many changes for a while. I stayed at a lovely lodge, De Plateau, run by Douglas and his family. The food was delicious, its all really fresh and ... read more
September 22nd 2009
Back from the paradise that was Mabul and was time for us all to say our good byes, including Joia who I had met in Kota kinabalu, then refound in Mabul! Then I was off to catch a flight to Bario on the West coast of Borneo. The only way to get here was by a little people plane. I had found out about it from Joia, thought it sounded fun, so there I was on my 10person carrier, with a new bod I met in Miri and a little old local lady with massive stretched holes on her lobes (which, I presume as she had been to Miri, the neasrest local town,) she had the decency - or sense im not sure which, to loop them over the top of her ears, so they didn’t ... read more
Shopping in the jungle supermarket (Kelabit Highlands, Borneo, Malaysia)
Published: June 21st 2009Asia » Malaysia » Sarawak » Bario
June 5th 2009
(Day 427 on the road) I am back from a great week spent in the jungle around the Kelabit Highlands, and it was a very nice week indeed! The Highlands are only reachable by air, and to that end we had to take a small Twin Otter 21-seater plane to reach there from the coastal town of Miri. The flight was great, it went over the greatest expanse of jungle one can imagine (which was albeit crisscrossed by quite a few logging roads). The plane itself was half empty and the feeling on the small craft very intimate. The door to the cockpit was open during the entire flight, so we could also observe the two pilots flying our plane and chat to them during the flight. The main town the Kelabit Highlands is sleepy Bario, ... read more
Making friends with the Kelabits but sadly no longhouse stay
Published: April 28th 2009Asia » Malaysia » Sarawak » Bario
April 27th 2009
Day 298: Thursday 23rd April - Learning about the Kelabits My flight to Bario is on a Twin Otter aircraft, a 20 seater, propeller aircraft. This is the smallest plane I’ve ever flown in with the exception of the one I took over the Nazca Lines in Peru. There are no modern security measures between pilots and passengers and I can see straight into the cockpit from my seat. There are baggage limits on the flight so I make sure I travel light only taking hand luggage with me for the flight. As I have no checked luggage, I am approached by two women in Miri airport as I check-in asking if I’m willing to carry a box to Bario for them. I haven’t a clue what is in the box, I certainly haven’t packed my ... read more
August 23rd 2008
Hello, i have just returned from a week in a small place called Bario in the Kellabit highlands. Had the most amazing time there. Flew from Miri on a tiny twin otter plane with only 12 people. The flight there took about 35 minutes, however, when we got to Bario the pilot decided that he couldnt land the plane because it was too windy so we flew back to Miri again!! The locals were going nuts and i thought there was going to be a riot!! Back in Miri airport we waited half an hour and then set off again, this time we landed succesfully in Bario!! The runway and the airport there are very small and basic and half the village turn out to meet the plane. Although because they had seen our plane return ... read more
June 19th 2008
Bario is a valley in interior Sarawak, close to the border with Indonesian Kalimantan and accessible only by plane. The first European to go into the valley arrived by parachute during WWII. Missionaries followed in 1946. Today the population is Christian and well-educated. The community participates in the e-Bario project. This project, run by Bario community leaders and researchers from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (with infrastructure contributions from Telekom Malaysia), has provided computers and telephone lines. The villagers now have access to globally available information and are able to communicate with families and friends outside the Bario valley. One local told me, "when our parents went down to the coast for shopping they went on foot and the journey took two months". I wondered what they would have made of the instant communications provided by this initiative ... read more
May 4th 2008
BARIO The day breaks so slow, like a question that does not care to be asked the mist diffuses, soft light refuses the answers to which I've been tasked From out of this drifting miasma tree's rise and then disappear it seems what I seek this morning is meek the whole world is shrunk and unclear Now slowly, with no explanation the day deigns I may at last see for what mist concealed is now given, revealed and shines with a brash clarity Around me unfettered abundance cascades from the hills to my feet in soft waves of green, the tree's pose and preen like a shimmering emerald sheet Whilst near me in Douglas' garden the flowers are lightly bejewelled from each hangs a pearl in which colours swirl with rainbow's so perfectly pooled In contrast ... read more
