The Bario 'Reebok' is the local's choice of shoe. The rubber shoe has moulded stops on the bottom for ultimate grip in the often muddy terrain ( unfortunately they don't keep leeches out!). We can recommend the shoes, but not the local socks...
On organized jungle treks, the accommodation provided is at traditional longhouses, where you are expected to make yourself at home ( and get to meet some inspiring people ). The obvious feeling of remoteness, is balanced by the warmth of the Kelabit people. A minimum of ten families live within one longhouse and while being accommodated with one family, the others all visit to welcome you and have a chat.
You can choose to do all your trekking on foot. Some of the walks can take anything up to 12 hours to complete, some of this is through extremely muddy, mountainous terrain. We chose to break some of our days up by utilising FWD and boat trips up river. This allowed us to socialise more with the wonderful people in the longhouses.
We stayed at Pa' Mada longhouse for 2 nights and had 1 night at Pa Dalih. We were made to feel like family as the longhouse atmosphere was so friendly and laid back. Each family has a seperate kitchen set -up running off a shared area which runs the length of the longhouse. Across a verandah there are individual sleeping and lounge quarters.
( for more information about the Bario Highlands check out the Borneo Jungle Safari website )
No comments:
Post a Comment