Sarawak's Rejang River
I took an extensive trip (by public ferry) from Kuching, out into the South China Sea and up the Rejang River to Sibu (nearly 6 hours by water), a commercial city with not a lot to see. I enjoyed the pagoda and especially its 150 year old rain tree, supposedly planted by a rickshaw driver to shelter from the sun and/or rain - often both occur at the same time in Sarawak. The Rejang is the longest river in Malaysia (540 km).
The next day I caught the Express Boat to Kapit (two and a half hours at 50 kms per hour) which is only accessible by air or water. This is curious since there are lots of cars and 4 wheel drive vehicles there but the guide book says there are only 'tens of kilometers' of paved road. The hotel manager looked a bit sceptical when I asked for a room for 3 nights .. he wanted to know what I planned to do (clearly thinking there was not 3 days worth of activity in Kapit). It turned out that 3 days was quite enough but mostly because places to eat and drink were so limited. The only place describing itself as a restaurant (The Orchard Inn) was a real non-event with higher prices for the same limited menu that I was getting from the cafes and food stalls. I found a reasonable place for breakfast on the town square (Famous Bakery) that served me black coffee. In most of Malaysia, they drink it with milk and sugar and even instant coffee (called 3 in 1 ) comes preloaded with milk and sugar. Black coffee is considered a rarity. The only other place I liked was the Ark Inn Cafe ; the food stall at the rear had a good selection of meat and vegetables which you could have either on rice or noddles. Beer was cheap enough and the place was normally filled during the day with people who were either visiting or working in the market. I established a daily walk, got out to the sad Lily Pond which must have been their pride and joy when it was built back in the 1950s .. deteriorating and neglected like so many public facilities in Malaysia. My main activity in Kapit was monitoring the rise of the river ... heavy rain up stream meant that it was a raging and rising. When I saw the debris and logs littering the river I understood why our Express Boat kept weaving and dodging on the trip upriver. The locals are not happy about the state of the river .. it is polluted with dirt from the logging activity upstream. This has had adverse effects on fishing and the river is silting up near Sibu which is causing flooding of farmland there. This seems to be a case of the government in Kuala Lumpur selling logging rights against the will of the local people.
Kapit seems to be a pleasant and peaceful place with none of the Wild East atmosphere that pervades some Thai and Cambodian towns.
Near the end of my visit I saw a young man with a skeletal hand (I think it was plastic) attached to his back pack .. perhaps the headhunters have become handhunters?
The next day I caught the Express Boat to Kapit (two and a half hours at 50 kms per hour) which is only accessible by air or water. This is curious since there are lots of cars and 4 wheel drive vehicles there but the guide book says there are only 'tens of kilometers' of paved road. The hotel manager looked a bit sceptical when I asked for a room for 3 nights .. he wanted to know what I planned to do (clearly thinking there was not 3 days worth of activity in Kapit). It turned out that 3 days was quite enough but mostly because places to eat and drink were so limited. The only place describing itself as a restaurant (The Orchard Inn) was a real non-event with higher prices for the same limited menu that I was getting from the cafes and food stalls. I found a reasonable place for breakfast on the town square (Famous Bakery) that served me black coffee. In most of Malaysia, they drink it with milk and sugar and even instant coffee (called 3 in 1 ) comes preloaded with milk and sugar. Black coffee is considered a rarity. The only other place I liked was the Ark Inn Cafe ; the food stall at the rear had a good selection of meat and vegetables which you could have either on rice or noddles. Beer was cheap enough and the place was normally filled during the day with people who were either visiting or working in the market. I established a daily walk, got out to the sad Lily Pond which must have been their pride and joy when it was built back in the 1950s .. deteriorating and neglected like so many public facilities in Malaysia. My main activity in Kapit was monitoring the rise of the river ... heavy rain up stream meant that it was a raging and rising. When I saw the debris and logs littering the river I understood why our Express Boat kept weaving and dodging on the trip upriver. The locals are not happy about the state of the river .. it is polluted with dirt from the logging activity upstream. This has had adverse effects on fishing and the river is silting up near Sibu which is causing flooding of farmland there. This seems to be a case of the government in Kuala Lumpur selling logging rights against the will of the local people.
Kapit seems to be a pleasant and peaceful place with none of the Wild East atmosphere that pervades some Thai and Cambodian towns.
Near the end of my visit I saw a young man with a skeletal hand (I think it was plastic) attached to his back pack .. perhaps the headhunters have become handhunters?
Photo Gallery
Handhunter ?
To see a full version of the slide show, double click on the image to the right.
To see a full version of the slide show, double click on the image to the right.