Marudi travel guide

Four major tribal groups – Iban, Kelabit, Kayan and Penan – come to Marudi to do business with Chinese, Indian and Malay merchants. Marudi is the furthest upriver trading post on the Baram and services all the longhouses in the Tutoh, Tinjar and Baram river basins. Most tourists only stop long enough in Marudi to down a cold drink before catching the next express boat upriver; as the trip to Mulu National Park can now be done in a day, not many have to spend the night here. Because it is a major trading post, however, there are a lot of hotels, and the standards are reasonably good.

The town’s main sight, Fort Hose, was built in 1901 and is named after the last of the Rajah’s residents, the anthropologist, geographer and natural historian Dr Charles Hose. Also of note is the intricately carved Thaw Peh Kong Chinese Temple (near the express boat jetty). The temple was shipped from China and erected in the early 1900s.

The Marudi Kampong Teraja log walk is normally done from the Brunei end, as the return trek, across the Sarawak/Brunei border, takes a full day. It is, however, possible to reach an Iban longhouse inside Brunei without going the whole distance to Kampong Teraja. The longhouse is on the Sungai Ridan, about 2½ hours down the jungle trail. The trail starts 3 km from Marudi, on the airport road. There is no customs post at the border, but trekkers are advised to take their passports as they may be required in the unlikely event of being stopped by police.