Reddish - our guide and host in Bario

It was an amazing and rewarding experience getting to know the highlands with Reddish.

Reddish is the welcoming, softly - spoken host of Bariew Backpacker's Lodge in Bario. He encourages guests to make themselves totally at home - in his home. He leaves you to chill out, but if asked, will provide information about the Highland lifestyle and the Kelabit culture and history, as he is a decendant of these people.

Typical of his generous manner, Reddish conscientiously tailor - made a trek for us. After we explained our interest in local cuisine, he came up with a unique means of achieving a ' food tour ' through the remote parts of the highlands, via treking, longboats and 4WD. After 4 days of Reddish guiding us through the jungle and small villages, we discovered his fun - loving, larrikin nature that wasn't apparent initially. He is an extremely skilled guide and aims to provide an amazing experience, while being sensitive to individual needs.

The Bario ' Reebok '

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 )

Bariew Backpacker's Lodge, Bario

" You may be our guest for one night, but we pray for your health for one hundred years "

Bariew Backpacker's Lodge is centrally located in the Bario township, close to the few shops, churches, internet and local longhouses. It has a small library, including treking maps, historical and cultural information and books and a local guide can be arranged from here. It is warm and comfortable with various lounge areas and displays interesting crafts and artwork.

Rm55 ( AUD$20 ) per person, includes meals; always local produce, including the internationally renowned Bario rice and sweet pineapple and often wild boar , the meals are substantial and satisfying. Self - serve tea and coffee is available all day and beer can be purchased. Reddish and Ness the owners, supply a pick - up and drop - off service to the airport.

The Kelabit People

The Kelabit people are the original inhabitants of the Bario Highlands area. They have a colourful history and while in some ways their lifestyle still reflects their traditional culture, they have adapted in impressive ways to modern influences.

The strong character and build of the Kelabit people has been shaped by the harsh remoteness of their enviroment. They are productive, independant and proud people, with an amazing ability to adapt to circumstance. They are expert hunters,decorated war heroes ( for their part in fighting alongside the allies against the Japanese ) and to this day, are extremely self sufficent. Despite their lack of modern comforts and facilities ( eg. the town is powered by generators for only a few hours per day ), the Kelabits place high importance on education and keeping up with the outside world. They have organized a website for the area and market the Bario rice over the internet.

The Bario Highlands

Bario is located in a remote valley in the Kelabit Highlands, 1200-1500m above sea level, bordering Indonesia. The only access is via twin otter ( from Miri:FAX airline, Rm 70; AUD$25 ).

Bario is a stunning area, with beautiful vistas of mountain ranges, jungle and rice paddy fields. It has become a hub for the Highlands area, though is really just an airport, a few shopfronts, church, school and homes. All products not made or grown locally, have to be brought in via aeroplane or 4WD and boat. The latter option involves an extremely rough 9 - 10 hour road trip from Miri, on the newly created ( courtesy of a logging company ) unsealed mountain road. Simple longboats are then loaded for travel up river to Bario - a very challenging feat through rapids. It would be a daunting task for most, however the Kelabit people take it in their stride.

Jungle Produce, Bario- Kelabit Highlands

The longhouses we visited in the Kelabit Highlands are set in clearings where fruit, vegetables and rice are grown and areas for the oxen, hunting dogs and chickens are provided. The surrounding jungle is a reliable food source. For meal preparation, fresh greens are accessed and the longhouse hunters are able to kill and butcher an animal ( and return home ) in a matter of an hour. This game meat is killed as required and shared with the longhouse inhabitants. Depending on how it is processed, the meat can be kept for a couple of weeks. Common meat options are wild boar, porcupine and deer.

Maran Umong, our host at Pa' Mada village, is an extremely skilled hunter and jungle survivor. We watched him effortlessly butcher and prepare meat ( on the kitchen floor ), after his nightly jaunts. He seems to have the ability to see in the dark and move silently through the jungle. Luke was honoured to accompany Maran on a hunting trip and after 2 hours he returned with 2kgs of mud, a few leeches, a handful of bull ant bites and one shoe. Maran managed a porcupine ( in between cigarettes ) and came home with a big grin and stories about how white men can't hunt.

Longhouse Cuisine

In the villages where we stayed, there is no refrigeration, so the food has to be ultra fresh. Considering the lack of facilities available, the quality and range of food we were served was amazing.

During our trek through the Highlands, we enjoyed some real taste sensations...

sago worm : eaten raw, it has a slightly nutty, coriander flavour.

wood worm : when raw, the taste is sharp, musty and resin - like.

: roasted wood worm is like pork crackling; fatty, rich and crunchy.

: poached in soup, the raw flavour was intensified.

ginger - flower blossom and shoot : lightly sauteed, it is intensely floral on the palate.

heart of palm : cooked in salted water, creamy and tender texture.

rattan : looks like a stick of bamboo or sugar - cane; stringy texture.

bamboo shoot : crisp,subtle, acidic flavour.

porcupine : slow braised, it is a mixed flavour between oxtail and rabbit, with a gamey essence.

bucking deer : the heart and liver are preferred; usually smoked over open fire. Rich, tender and nutritional.

Sago Worm Snack

Wandering through the Kelabit Highlands, surrounded by nothing other than dense jungle,a protein rich snack is never too far away.

Our guide, Reddish, was extremely keen to ensure we didn't go hungry on our trek through the breathtaking Kelabit Highlands. Although it would have been tastier fried over a BBQ, the raw Sago worm had a "unique" taste, to say the least.