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Saturday, May 12, 2012

My Hometown - Kapit, Borneo Sarawak Part 1



Map Of Sarawak
I have been away from my hometown since I was 8 years old and only visited her occasionally. My feeling toward her is so close yet so far, indescribable unique feeling. All this while, I would like to write or post something about her and I don't really have time to do so. During my last visit in March 2011, I managed to take some photos of her.

Here we go................

Kapit is an inland town (which can only be accessed by express boat), 126km from city of swan (Sibu).  
To reach there, you need to take flight from Kuala Lumpur to Sibu (1 hour 55mins) and another express boat ride of 3 hours; It took me approximately 14 hours 55 mins to reach Kapit. The boat ride ticket can be purchased at the entrance of the wharf at RM20 (economical class), RM25 (business class) and RM30(VIP class).

The wharf entrance
The only transport to Kapit.
                   








When cruising along the river, you can see mixture of traditional and modern Iban's long house lined up at the river band. After one hour of boat ride, Song is the 1st town to come into sight followed by Kanowit, a township slightly bigger than Song.






Modern Iban 's long house
















River getting busier with tongkang (Tug Boat or Burge) and express boat upon approaching destination due to the timber industry and forestry activity.

The common main transport, "sampan" or long boat used by Iban




Timber is the main stream of income and business along Rejang river.










Tongkangs or tug boats are commonly used to carry and tow the timber logs to Sibu for processing and export.

Tug boat is ready to tow off the timber logs.
Kapit's new bazaar is the 1st segment came into sight upon arriving and most of the Tongkangs are anchored here.  
New Bazaar, 1st segment of Kapit

Most of the express boats are stopped by the main wharf at main bazaar.

The final stopping point at main wharf.










1 comment:

James said...

Thanks for the information.

I am going there tomorrow from Sibu. Hopefully I have a great time.