Belaga Discovery | Day 1 Long Urun

On Day 1 of our Belaga trip, we set off to explore the rich culture of the Orang Ulu in the heart of Borneo. Our journey began with a pick-up at the Bintulu City Hotel where we boarded a 4WD that took us on a 5-hour drive to the beautiful Uma Pawa, Long Urun in Belaga.

Long Urun Uma Pawa is situated along the Upper Belaga River and has an approximate population of 300 people. The area was established as a result of migration from Belaga downriver in 1941.

The local community in this area consists of the Kenyah people, who live in a 35-door longhouse with 70 families. This longhouse is located around 50 km from Sungai Asap Resettlement.

The highlight of Long Urun Uma Pawa is the culture of the Kenyah people, and visitors can also enjoy the natural surroundings and adventure activities in nearby Lepau Uten. This includes the Lepau Uten chalet, which is just 10 km from the Uma Pawa longhouse. The owner of the chalet is passionate about tourism and has helped establish it as a new and exciting destination for campers, trekkers, and waterfall enthusiasts.

As soon as we arrived, we were welcomed with tuak, local cultural performances, and handicraft displays, prepared by the local Kenyah communities. This was a rare opportunity for us to learn about their customs and practices and appreciate their unique way of life. I bought 2 of the small parang, cost RM35 each, super cheap. One for me, and one for my dad.

We were treated to a delicious lunch at Uma Pawa, Long Urun, Belaga where we indulged in local cuisine and took in the peaceful surroundings. In the afternoon, we organised a Responsible Tourism session with the local communities of Long Urun.

After that, we went to visit the Penan Resettlement about 3km away from the longhouse. It is something like a mini Cultural Village for the Penan where they built huts that show how they used to live many years ago.

We then took a break from the activities and stopped by the nearby stream with clear water. Some of us took a bath there.the water was so cold.

Then we went back to the longhouse and had our dinner.

After dinner, we enjoyed a cultural performance: 1. “Saga asok (papan)” - a bamboo dance, only performed by women. For healing sickness and removing evil spirits. 2. "Liling" - a Kenyah cultural performance participated by 10 or more participants which is usually performed during any occasion, for example, to welcome visitors to their longhouse or any other celebrations in the longhouse. Liling means, you make a round and round or a circle until the song ended. 3. A Kenyah traditional song called 'Along' to welcome visitors to the longhouse. For this song, only 1 will be the lead singer and the rest will follow or answer the song's lyrics.

We were served with supper consisting of 'pito/adut/upey' in Kenyah dialect, Pulut or glutinous rice wrapped in either 'daun biruk/kan' leaves or in 'sang' leaves. Fried kampung chicken and Tuak.

The night's programme continued until midnight, but I was feeling quite exhausted from all the activities and decided to retire for the night at 11 pm. I'm going to share more about the adventures of Day 2, so stay tuned.

This beautiful manik beg cost more then RM600. 

Promenade Hotel, Bintulu

I had the pleasure of staying at Promenade Hotel in Bintulu for a business trip in October 2022. The location was ideal, with Farley supermarket and numerous dining options within walking distance.

My twin shared room was clean and provided a comfortable stay. The breakfast was also quite decent, offering a good selection to start the day right, including Sarawak Laksa.

Overall, I enjoyed my brief stay at Promenade Hotel in Bintulu and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a convenient and comfortable accommodation option in the area.

View from my room for the day.

My room.

The bathroom.

The breakfast.

Laksa Sarawak

GoldenBay Hotel, Bintulu

All is good about this hotel except for 3 things.  See at the end of this post.

The lobby..

My room, thank you 317..

Room is clean and spacious.

But there’s no lock at the bathroom door.

Breakfast Day 1

Breakfast Day 2

Breakfast Day 3

No photo for breakfast day 4, rushing to the airport.

The drawbacks:

1. Only 1 room card is provided per room, a bit difficult for room sharing as you need the card to access the lift as well.

2. Quite far from the city area, no shop nearby, nearest is the Spring shopping mall, about 10-15minutes' walk, can be quite dark at night.

3. The rooftop pool is just a shallow wading pool.

Family Suite at Kemena Plaza Hotel

Kemena Plaza Hotel, Bintulu, formerly known as Regency Hotel.

This is a Family suite in Kemena Plaza Hotel, Bintulu.

 

It has..

• A king size bed + 2 single beds
• A living area with sofa set, table and TV
• A study/working table and chair
• And other usual hotel rooms facilities/amenities

Pros:

• Room size is big
• Location

Cons:

• The aircond is making an irriting noise.
• No lock on the bathroom door.
• Wifi in the room not reliable.
• TV channels not clear.

When we checked-in, we were told that our room is not ready yet, after waiting for more than an hour we finally got our keys to the room, but to our surprise, there was already another person in that room.  Adoi.. reception, how can you make such mistake!

One the last, we asked the hotel to arrange a taxi to send us off to the airport.  The taxi arrived 10 minutes late, and we had a 20 minutes heart-stopping-roller-coaster ride to the airport. What an experience.

Borneo International Kite Festival 2014

I attended the 10th Borneo International Kite Festival in Bintulu last month.

It was my 1st time there, I was so impress with all those beautiful kites, and the sport kites competition were not what I expected, it's like the kites were dancing to the music.
I really enjoyed it.

 It is such a fun family activity; my only problem is the heat.

To avoid the heat, it is best to go around 5pm.

Remember to bring your cap and sunglasses too ;)

Bintulu Night Market

I see food.. everywhere.. and that's make me so happy.

Halal corner..

 BBQ corner..

Kuih corner..

 

Non halal corner..

Pau or hot steam bun and Siao bee

Fruit and veggie corner..

Kids corner..

My travel buddies bought cap for themselves, it just too sunny here in Bintulu.

This daily night market is located somewhere nearby the Old Bintulu Airport.  That's where the Borneo International Kite Festival is held annually.

Breakfast at Kemena Plaza Hotel

 The ambiance..

On Day 1, I had..

Nasi Lemak, Rendang, Fried kuey teow 

Bread and watermelon

Cereal with milk.

Yup I had a lot, I need the energy to do trekking at Similajau National Park later that day.

On Day 2..

Nasi lemak

Fruits

Pasar Utama Bintulu

Pasar Utama Bintulu is a walking distance from where we stayed, Kemena Plaza Hotel.

Pasar Tamu Bintulu is located right next to the Pasar Utama.  This is where you can find all kind of local jungle produce.

 Bamboo for cooking pansuh or lemang.

 The very famous Bintulu belacan, my belacan-expert-friend told me that Bintulu belacan has a stronger smell (fragrant) compare to Miri belacan.  Me, I like them both, as long as it looks a bit pinkish, not too dark brown.

 

Durian

 Buah keranji

 Buah rambai - buah ni lebih masam dari buah langsat, nak makan pun ada cara tersendiri, saya kurang minat.

 Bertih beras - poprice

 Local veggie, and petai - a local jungle produce.

 Items for Iban ritual ceremony - mini ketupat for Miring ceremony.