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4x4 Discovery of Borneo

Sabah, and Sarawak on Malaysian Borneo offer some of the most challenging 4x4 grounds in the world. As logging companies pull out of the jungle in the wake of ever more stringent conservation policies they leave behind abandoned logging tracks that become the playground for challenging cross-country expeditions that satisfy the most demanding. Or they become the pathways to nearly mystical, almost inaccessible destinations in the far interior where adventures and discoveries lie.

For me personally, 4x4, or “off-roading” is only part of the fun. It is really in the destinations where the appeal lies. Walking through the jungle is arguably more eco-friendly than dashing through it by 4x4, but walking also takes considerably more time to reach certain destinations. Always fond of a couple of days hiking in the jungle (see also our feature on Crocker Range Trekking), the most recent 4x4 outing I have joined has nevertheless been enjoyable, even though in a rather bumpy way. I could see with my own eyes that there are still vast tracks of jungle untouched in Sabah’s far interior, and also in Sarawak’s hinterlands. They remain perhaps the last frontier for true adventure journeys. In a little more than a week we covered several hundred kilometres of challenging mud tracks and gravel roads, some of which had become perilous with the relentless tropical rains. Added excitement – almost too much – came in form of dangerously swollen rivers that had to be forded, landslides, and trees that were uprooted in the nightly storms and barred our way. But, mud-caked and tired we made some interesting discoveries along the way, in form of massive waterfalls and natural hot springs hidden away in nearly inaccessible valleys and surrounded by the world’s oldest tropical rainforest.

Our first day took us over good roads (meaning “sealed” here) from Sabah’s capital, Kota Kinabalu, to Lawas in neighbouring Sarawak. Our first night was spent in the comfort of the ‘Southern Comfort Lodge,’ a simple but nicely designed jungle abode with a distinctly local Sarawak feel to it: intricate native carvings and fabrics, and simply great hospitality. From there we left for the true hinterlands and to the Indonesian border in Ba Kelalan. The roads, though well travelled were demanding and despite its exotic sounding name Ba Kelalan is of surprising dimensions inclusive of its own airport and nice and friendly Murut people, the Lun Bawang. In Ba Kelalan one is only two day’s walking distance from another mystical Sarawak destination: Bario. We did not have the time to go for this two-day jungle trekking, which could have been organised without troubles on an ad-hoc basis, but we decided then and there to walk across the border into Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. Lun Bawang is the closest town to the border, and a town it turned out to be albeit with a definitive ‘wild west’ taste to it: the two main-roads – concrete single lanes – are bordered by wooden shop-houses that either are restaurants, sell groceries, or repair motorbikes, virtually the only transport in those areas. It had the aspect of a truly remote, and very relaxed nice place to be and the hotels where we stayed at overnight were simple but very clean. But then, what else do you need in those areas if not the basic definition of a hotel: a private room with a bed, clean sheets and a neat bathroom. The next morning I was woken up with a knock on the door, and the hotel-boy brought hot tea to my bedside. That certainly beats 5-star service!

We had our breakfast of Bakso, a delicious noodle soup with meat balls only the Indonesians can cook to such perfection before we walked back over the border into Sarawak. We continued by 4x4 over demanding mud-tracks through rural villages with their park-like fruit orchards. In the higher hinterlands of Sarawak, where the nights are relatively cool and the climate rather temperate people do not only plant tropical fruits, but also apples! We camped one night on the banks of the upper reaches of the Lawas River and had a delicious BBQ. A villager brought us the chicken! However, the night was short and troubled. It was raining and in the early dawn the fast raising water level threatened to wash our camp downstream. We left in a hurry and headed further down to a newly discovered hot spring. Newly discovered is a bit pompous because the local people living in the area have long known about it. They have come across the springs on their hunting expeditions and knew that animals would frequently gather here. The waters are rich in minerals and natural salt-licks have formed, an ideal place to prey upon game. We stayed overnight at the hot springs that are now being developed carefully into a travellers’ destination. Soon they will open to the public, but getting there will still require 4x4 for some time to come. Situated within a huge timber concession they are now protected and the difficulties in reaching them only add to that. Don’t expect to see mainstay tourism here!

Crossing back into to Sabah we headed straight for Long Pa Sia. It is one of Sabah’s most remotest villages and populated by the friendly Lun Dayeh people, close cousins to the Lun Bawang in Sarawak. We were greeted with the customary hospitality so typical for Borneo and we soon had very comfortable beds to sleep in at a local house. In Long Pa Sia you find a Homestay programme in which various families take part. They have been trained in ‘basic hospitality,’ which is somewhat of a misnomer. The locals here definitively don’t need hospitality training! Rather, they are taught what to expect from travellers and how to maintain basic facilities such as bathrooms which those under the programme have to provide. In the evening we were offered a sumptuous evening meal of local specialities in the vast kitchen of our host family, cooked at the traditional wooden stove. The rice served was of the ‘Bario’ type, an extremely fine grained and smooth rice with a delicate flavour. I was assured that this was the local type of rice and it is only called ‘Bario’ because it was in Sarawak that it was ‘discovered’ by outsiders and made marketable. It remains though a special treat, as this rice is never widely available commercially.

The next morning we took off towards Tenom, from where we were looking for some way across Sabah towards Keningau without following the ‘normal’ route. Our journey took us across a massive waterfall visible from far. Seemingly in the middle of the jungle and inaccessible we were surprised to find a well developed site with wooden plank ways taking us right to the foot of the waterfall. This is what I call ‘luxury’ jungle trekking! Besides being out of the reach of leeches walking along the bridges also protects the unique flora. After a refreshing swim in a rock pool we continued our journey and on the whim of an inspiration we stayed a night at the community hall in Kampung Mamaitom near Tenom. We witnessed Timugon Murut youths training their unique bamboo dance, the Mogunatip, once performed after successful headhunting raids… later in the evening, after a delicious local dinner at the house of a local authority we were invited to drink ‘tapai.’ The Murut in Sabah ferment their own ‘beers’ and use either rice or cassava roots. The resulting brew is none of the worst!

After a night of too much tapai, nevertheless, we headed again into the interior and it was tough and slow going. We took a couple of dead-end roads where there should have been a track, but since logging has stopped a couple of years back those roads are obviously not maintained and some had become not passable any more. I made a mental note on those ones, you still can travel by foot to amazing places now nearly cut off from what we perceive as ‘civilisation.’ Here, people live an age-old life style that has not much changed since the days of their ancestors. In the end, we finished up sleeping along the banks of a clear river, virtually at the end of the road. There was a small logging camp with a mere four workers, busy only collecting the last felled trees and loading them on trucks, and this only when they manage to drive the trucks over the dangerous and half-collapsed bridges. Looking at the verdant jungle I was wondering where these logs might have come from. It was my first time that I really saw what is meant by ‘Low Impact Logging.’ Done with care and responsibility the crucially important canopy of the rainforest is disturbed as little as possible, and there are indeed areas where the operations have been performed according to the book. I will never be an advocate for timber harvesting in virgin rainforest, though I see the necessity of it for the country here. However, I have now seen areas where efforts are indeed underway to protect the environment as best as possible, a reassuring step towards better forest conservation in Sabah.

Bumpy, slippery and at times dangerous roads took us back to Keningau, where the effects of logging half a generation away are much more depressing. This, however, seems not to have affected the friendliness of the local people. I headed back to Kota Kinabalu over the sealed main-road, musing about all the sights and adventures of the past week.

Off-roading in Sabah and Sarawak can be organised on a custom-basis. If you are a serious challenge-seeker and if you wish to try to test man and machine, the rainy seasons are the best. Then even the regular roads into the interior become demanding and sometimes even treacherous. Outside the rainy seasons tracks tend to be bone-dry and dusty. However, 4x4 is not only to test men and machines - it is the best way if you wish to discover the remoter parts of Borneo and get into contact with the locals living far away from ‘civilisation.’ This way you can visit far and off-the-beaten track destinations and off-roading becomes an accessory exciting part of the expedition. Watch out for 4x4 packages that will appear shortly amongst our offers, or contact us to-day for more information!