If you want to visit Batu Punggul, a limestone pinnacle in the heart of virgin rainforest, you can arrange for boats in Sepulut and stay at the Tataluan longhouse, about 10 minutes before Batu Punggul. You can also stay at the accommodation provided by KPD at Batu Punggul itself, in which case you have to make your booing well in advance as there are rarely any visitors to be found in this rough and far off the beaten track area. The trip from Sepulut to Batu Punggul in the traditional long, wooden canoe powered by an outboard engine can take anything from 2-5 hours.

During the dry season (especially January to March), everyone has to get out of the boats to push them over the shallows. However, after heavy rain, the rapids become a boiling mess of water and rocks which the boatman, with the help of a lookout with a pole in front, negotiates with reassuring skill. Expect to get splashes, and have everything well wrapped in plastic; don't forget hat and sun cream. The banks of the Sepulut River are dotted by isolated longhouses, until you reach the last settlement at Tataluan. From here on, the river is enclosed by beautiful virgin rainforest. About 10 minutes upriver from Tataluan, the forest canopy is pierced by a sheer limestone outcrop, Batu Punggul.

Although it presents a formidable vertical face towards the river, Batu Punggul can be scaled by a slightly less challenging route by those who don't suffer from vertigo, while less adventurous souls can content themselves with exploration of two networks of caves within the limestone massif.

According to Murut folk tales, the two cave complexes of Batu Punggul and nearby Batu Tinahas were once longhouses, which were turned to stone. Murut guides point out a massive wooden beam, mystifyingly wedged more than 10 m high in the roof of one cave, claiming it to be a rafter of one of these mystical longhouses.

Batu Punggul has a small cave with the usual complement of bats, while Batu Tinahas, about 20 minutes' walk from Batu Punggul, is a much larger and a more interesting complex. Here, you may be lucky to see mossy nest swiftlets (whose nests are not edible) nesting low down on the walls of the cave. Although not yet surveyed, Batu Tinahas is thought to have at least three levels of caves. Be sure to bring a torch and take care as you explore, as there is at least one very dangerous drop off.

The local Murut will be happy to provide you shelter for the night in their longhouses. Be prepared for cool nights, thanks to the combination of the forest, river and altitude. Apart from jungle trekking (with the chance to see a Rafflesia), climbing and cave exploration, you can also arrange for an evening of Murut cultural dances, performed by the people from the nearby Tataluan longhouse. The evening will, of course, be accompanied by tapioca wine (Tapai), which the Murut take seriously, solemnly sitting down to a huge jar which is topped up for each drinker. You're obliged to sip the Tapai through a bamboo straw until an indicated level on a floating marker is reached. Go easy on the number of sessions you have at the jar unless you want to feel decidedly seedy the following day.

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