From Kuching, we drove through the countryside and along a mountain ridge to the Ai River to begin a 3 days/2 night Batang Ali combination. It was over a three hour drive to the Hilton Batang Ai Longhouse Resort and from there, we got into our longboat (a large motor-powered canoe), to travel upstream on the Lemanak River.

Our destination was Nanga Sumpa, a large Iban (formerly known as Sea Dayaks) longhouse for a two-night stay. An Iban longhouse is a single building in which each family has their own apartment and shares a large common space for social activities. Today, the longhouses are fairly modern, with electricity and other modern conveniences. A far cry from their infamous headhunting days.

ex-Marine ready for Longboat travel upriver, Borneo
Batang Ai means “main river”. The river was dammed for hydroelectric purposes and formed a huge reservoir that provides easy accessing upstream of the dam. The primary means of transport is by boat on the rivers.

Right off the bat, neither of us were happy campers. Hot…steamy…there are no words describe the heat, humidity and sweat pouring off us…that is why they call it a “Jungle. ” The Serubah Longhouse didn’t look too bad from the outside even though it was a little on the rickety side…then we saw our sleeping facilities for the next two nights. A small room, an 1/8″ mattress on a wooden platform made from planks with a mosquito net dangling from the ceiling. Okay…ex-Marine is already muttering in my ear, “I did this in the Marine Corps…we paid good money to do this? Are you nuts? What possessed you to think this would be fun?..”, etc., etc. I didn’t know what possessed me either but I was determined to be a good sport.

We were served a dinner of “jungle” delicacies (fortunately just chinese-style food) sitting on the floor, dripping sweat beads into puddles on the wood, having conversations with the Chief and his family as well as two other crazy guests, from France, who were also staying there. The French told us that they saw lots of snakes in the jungle and had leeches all over their bodies and came close to heat prostration on their jungle explorations! That did it…there was no way we were going to explore jungle tomorrow…

Chief in longhouse
The plan had been…”today we explore a jungle that is believed to be 130 millions old…rich with insects and plants…after our morning hike we swim in a waterfall and have an Iban-style lunch over an open fire…” This required a fast consultation with out guide… No, we were going to head downstream, back to the beautiful Hilton Batang Ai, where we could learn about medicinal plants, flowers, etc., on a guided nature walk and that is exactly what we did…