Up the Rejang River

A trip up the Rejang River is just another journey … or is it? Rivers are still the highways of Sarawak’s heartlands. The river banks are rich in foliage and longhouses are spaced along them. The wooden forts, built by the White Rajas when they ‘pacified’ the inland tribes, have been turned into museums. Tall durian trees and painted burial boxes look down on the passing speed boats.

Our adventure began the day after the Rain Forest Festival of World Music finished for 2005. Four of us (Robert, Dave, Sarah and me) left Kuching and went by large ferry down the Sarawak River, across Sarawak bay, into one of the distributaries of another delta, and finally into the Sungai Rejang proper. It was a longish trip, with no food provided. We spent Night One in a cheap hotel near the Sibu wharves, sandwiched between dinner in one of the best Chinese restaurants possible and breakfast at a market stall. We visited the Chinese pagoda and received a very detailed exposition of Taoism from the caretaker.

Day Two of the journey was in a river express boat. Being inside this boat felt just like sitting in an aeroplane; outside it lacked wings but had a very powerful motor. We couldn’t see much out of the tinted windows, but the seats were comfortable and this time we’d known enough to carry lunch with us. We landed in a small town called Kapit. Kapit was accessible only by water. The wharf was crowded with passenger boats and cargo barges.

Stage Three of the journey didn’t happen on Day Three as intended because suddenly we found that there wasn’t enough water in the river. Instead we had the opportunity to visit a very traditional longhouse. These longhouses are l-o-o-o-n-g! They are like a whole street of terrace houses built on stilts. Imagine there being a communal verandah at the front instead of a pavement. Each individual unit has it’s own door which gives straight into a living room and then goes through into the kitchen. Big ones may have one or two rooms upstairs. The size of a longhouse is described by the number of doors. The one in the picture had 20-odd doors; we saw one the next day from the water with over 50. Quite a long walk to visit the neighbours! This one was long-established and was constructed from a mix of cut sticks and sawn planks, tin roofing and old shingles. I sat with the women and sketched while they plied traditional crafts such as mat and fabric weaving, coffee and rubber collection.

The next day we were able to continue in a smaller express boat (in line with the narrowing of the river upstream). It was full of folks who’d been stuck in town for two weeks waiting for some rain to fall and bring the water level up. This time we were able to break the rules and sit out on the roof. The boat went up rapids and pulled into beside many longhouses to let travellers off. We reached journey’s end successfully, well - almost. Belaga is the last town before the top of the river and a pleasant place to stay.

We really did reach the top of the river on Day Five, when we hired a longboat to go as far as the river is navigable. A longboat is the modern successor of a dugout canoe. It’s made of planks and has an outboard motor at the back. Eight or so people sit cross-legged on the floor in a straight line. (Don’t rock the boat!) We visited more longhouses, and a local school. Then we ignored a No Entry sign and got in close enough to illegally photograph the huge earth works, which are turning into the new Bakun Dam and hydroelectric scheme. This is a project which is totally not needed, according to its critics, and is ripping communities out of their land.


That was Day Five. On Day Six we got a view of the devastation which is E Malaysian logging. They don’t clear fell and they leave a band of untouched vegetation along the river banks, so it wasn’t obvious from the water. We had been scheduled to fly directly to the coast, but the flight was cancelled. (The locals said they didn’t know if it was due to engine trouble, low cloud, or a hungover air traffic controller.) We hurriedly fixed up a ride down the mountain in a 4x4; some wag in the market told Dave itwould be more exciting than shooting the rapids in a longboat. And he proved correct!

So that was that. We made our connections in Bintulu, believing we had really earned a night in the Marriott Resort at Miri, before going back to work.

We saw the Rejang in less than a week. I imagine that to come to know the Sungai Rejang would take a lifetime.

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