Journey upriver to Kerapa Spak

The newly completed Betong Resident's office and the Beting Administrative Centre.

1. Breakfast in Betong town, four hours by road from Kuching city. This town only wakes up at about 7am or so.

2. This location is Pengkala Kerapa on the Nanga Spak. We board the longboat from this point some 40 minutes from Betong town. The boat ride can cost anything from RM380 to RM600 one way.

3. The journey is about to begin. Our destination is Kerapa Spak longhouse. The journey is expected to take about four to five hours.

4. The longboat can seat a maximum of six persons excluding the boatman who steers the outboard engine from the rear and his navigator who sits right up front.

5.The journey is quite smooth sailing except for very shallow stretches where the boatman has to get off and push the boat through and at stretches where he has to force his boat through resuolting in snapping his propellers. They come prepared to change parts along the way.

6. Crystal clear water all the way. Shallow and rocky bed with smooth surfaced river stones.

7. You might have to get down help push the boat across some really shallow patches along the way.

8. A clear water spring along the way.

9. At the longhouse in Kerapa Spak.. after five hours.

10. The rumah panjai Kerapa Spak - our final destinations.

11. Jungle produce from the kerapa spak longhouse very similar in taste to the buah rampai.

12. We made it.. From left Khabir, yours truly, the tuai rumah and Homery