Belaga travel guide

This is the archetypal sleepy town on the banks of the Rejang. There are always interesting visitors in town, from itinerant wild honey collectors from Kalimantan to Orang Ulu who have brought their jungle produce downriver to the bazaar or those who are heading to Kapit for medical treatment. Belaga serves as a small government administration centre for the more remote parts of the Seventh Division as it is the last settlement of any size up the Rejang. It’s also a major centre for the illegal logging business, with many locals having been paid off to say nothing negative regarding the huge scale logging operations close to the Kalimantan border (note the number of 4WDs and expensive cars).

Belaga is also a good place to arrange visits to the Kayan and Kenyah longhouses on the Linnau River. There is a very pretty Malay kampong (Kampong Bharu) along the esplanade downriver from the Belaga Bazaar. The Kejaman burial pole on display outside the Sarawak Museum in Kuching was brought from the Belaga area in 1902. The District Office (for upriver permits) is on the far side of the basketball courts.

Many of the longhouses around Belaga are quite modern, although several of the Kenyah and Kayan settlements have beautifully carved wooden salongs (tombstones) nearby. All the longhouses beyond Belaga are Orang Ulu tribal groups. Even longhouses that seem to be very remote (such as Long Busang) are now connected by logging roads from Kapit, only four hours’ drive away. To get well off the beaten track, into Penan country, it is possible to organize treks from Belaga towards the Kalimantan border, staying in longhouses en route. Officially you need a permit, but local guides and boat owners operate with the minimum of paperwork; ask in Belaga hotels and coffee shops.