Sibu boat terminal - still a long way to Kapit
This morning we’re heading inland along the Batang Rejang a 640km river system which has been dubbed the Amazon of Borneo. We’re actually heading for Kapit which is a small town and the main upriver settlement in the hope of trying to visit one of the Iban longhouses.
The first leg of our journey is an express boat from Kuching to Sibu which takes around 4 and half hours. In actual fact it took 5 and half hours but only due to the many stops along the way and the rough seas we had to cross before heading down the river. Although we are on a bigger boat than I’ve been on so far this trip there was still a couple of times during the journey that I thought it would have been easier to fly or even walk perhaps!
Everything goes on top of the boat including our bags and a couple of tourists
Sibu is just an industrial port town from what we could make out, a gateway to the Batang Rejang and as such is not a terribly nice place to stay in, so we’ve been told. We were also told they hire out rooms by the hour in a lot of places in the town and seeing as if we were gonna stay we would want it for the whole night we decided to try and get another boat straight to Kapit. After a very quick dash into the shop for food and drink supplies we managed to get a ticket on the next boat. For each of the boats we went on we had seats in economy class which although was fine it was very very cramped and you really couldn’t get up and wander around without disturbing everyone else in the row, and to be honest there wasn’t too many places to wander to! They did have business and first class but for some reason we weren’t offered those! On the first boat and after my sub-zero temperatures of the ferry from KK to Brunei I was a bit wise to the procedure and made sure we had plenty of clothes to wear to keep warm, even with all our layers on though by the time we reached SIbu we were freezing! Fortunately the next boat we took was a bit warmer. It seems to be the norm here to try and freeze the passengers to death!
Kapit can only be reached by river, there aren’t any roads that go there, there is an airport (as such) but they don’t have any planes and certainly no flights in and out so the only way there really is only by boat. Apparently they built the airport in anticipation of a busier time but as of yet it hasn’t been used, perhaps in the next 4 or 5 years we were told. I think though if and when they ever do get the airport up and running it will take some of the charm out of the town and surrounding area.
Kapit boat terminal
It was a long time spent on the boat but finally we were there and after finding a nice Inn right near the boat terminal and taking a quick shower we headed out to the night market for dinner. It didn’t seem like many tourists visited this market either which seems a great shame as it’s where all the local people eat so it’s got to be good right? We picked a stall that looked pretty busy and made our order. The guy serving us forgot my drink and the snacks we had ordered but the main meals were lovely. Every other food stall in the market had a tv screen and guess what was playing?? Manchester United and Chelsea live!! So after a quick glimpse and then successfully dragging Keith away we wandered around to see what else Kapit had to offer.
I had managed to find a phone number on a couple of forums on the internet for a lady called Alice who offered tours to Longhouses so when we sat down for a drink a bit later I gave her a call and we’re now booked up tomorrow morning for an overnight tour to Gerakan Daya Wawasan Longhouse.
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