A mere seventy years ago the Kelabit people were an isolated tribe of fierce and feared head hunters. Today it's their hospitable reputation that attracts visitors.

The Kelabit Highlands is an isolated spot inaccessible by vehicle. Access is by walking tracks through the rainforest and fortunately by a regular air service to the tiny settlement of Bario, the starting point for most excursions.

Local guides escort visitors along jungle trails with overnight stays in longhouses. These can be arranged through the Sarawak Tourism Board or in Bario itself with local guides who meet the incoming flights.

Visiting Bario is like stepping back in time as facilities are basic and time like hospitality seems to be in abundance. The Kelabit people will likely invite a visitor to sit, drink tea and chat.

Getting There

From the town of Miri on the west coast it’s only fifty minutes before the 18-seater twin otter plane touches down in the settlement of Bario. The view from above is of brown rivers snaking through lush rainforest, small settlements and logging camps.

When to go

Avoid the high rainfall season from October to March.

Bario Town & Tourist Facilities

Bario is a pretty valley settlement back dropped by mountains covered in pristine rainforest. The town has a few general stores, simple restaurants and basic dormitory style lodges to service visitors. There are no banks, credit card facilities or tourist hotels. Electricity is supplied by generators. For more information on facilities in Bario see the Kelabit website.

The Longhouses

A longhouse consists of one very long common room with private sleeping quarters attached for each family unit.

Traditionally travelling tribesmen relied on longhouse hospitality to provide food and a place to sleep. According to tribal customs it is an honour to welcome guests and an insult to be offered money. Today it is this tradition of hospitality that attracts tourists.

However despite Bario’s remoteness increasing tourist numbers make offering of traditional hospitality difficult, putting pressure on food supplies, interrupting domestic chores and fieldwork to feed and entertain guests.

These days visitors pay for meals and to stay overnight in longhouses.

Hiking

Forest trails lead to longhouses surrounded by wet rice-fields, the walking being much more comfortable in the cooler highland air than in the heat of the lowlands.

Local flora like insect trapping pitcher plants, wild orchids, and rhododendrons make it an interesting journey. You can sample jungle fruit like mangos, jackfruit and the infamous durian, which smells like a sewer. The durian is called the ‘King of Fruit’ and is highly prized and expensive. Reputed to be a powerful aphrodisiac, it is said to be the only fruit craved by tigers.

Jungle hiking and staying in longhouses is not a soft journey. There are leeches in the jungle which the Kelabits remove easily with a vicious sideways flick of the fingers.

The Kelabit Tribe

The 21st century came to the Kelabits during the Second World War when British and Australian soldiers arrived by parachute to organise resistance behind Japanese lines.

Since then Christianity has replaced tribal pagan beliefs and shoulder length ear lobes, weighed down by huge brass earrings, are now out of style. Many take a flight to Miri Hospital to snip ears fashionably short.

The Kelabits still hunt traditional game like mountain rat, wild boar, and monkey. These days a rifle rather than poison tipped darts from a blowpipe fell the pray.

For further information on the history and origins of the Kelabits see the Kelabit website.