29 November 2022
When we planned our journey in Borneo the itinerary was dominated by visiting as many airports as possible, which is great as some of the places either have no roads (just rivers) or very basic roads.
They are inhabited by various tribes that have been living deep in the Borneo jungle for generations before they were discovered by the outside world.
Bakelalan sounded great and is located practically on the Indonesian border.
We wanted to get there from Bario, and although there is a weekly flight from Bario to Bakelalan, we could not get the schedule to work taking into consideration availability (or lack of) on the MASWings website. Despite calling Malaysia Airlines, we didn’t get much luck, just what we could find on the website.
Our idea was to fly to Bario and then get to Bakelalan somehow. Bario and Bakelalan are very close when you look on the map. And our guidebook says there is a road under construction, otherwise it’s a 2-day trek with one night in the jungle. Well in reality in 2022 the road still does not exist and we didn’t fancy a 2 day jungle trek so we came back to Miri from Bario and then made our way from Miri to Lawas via Brunei (quick stop) and from Lawas got a land transport to Bakelalan. Simple ;-)?
I love the look of the jungle, but not so much to trek in it for 2 days. Therefore, this drive was perfect to get the views.
It’s an off-road experience in 4×4 and took over 5 hours in the dust and rain on the back bench. The seats inside of the car were clearly reserved for the elderly, us youngsters had the back seats. This pleasure cost 100RM pp (about 20GBP).
The guy who introduced himself as our driver, Balang, said he would travel with us at the back. Very cool looking dude. The only logical question we both asked simultaneously was “who is driving?” If you are sitting with us at the back. Balang said that he was getting old and that he was training a young lad who would be the driver. Before we hit the road we picked a lot of cargo from various places in town and finally hit the road.
We were warned about this old logging road that it is not passable in places with landslides and flooding – well let’s see – in the hands of the young driver, surrounded by cargo which included among other things a box of noisy chickens and a shooting gun we were excited to go to this jungle settlement of Lun Bawang tribe.
As soon as we were on the road, our passenger/driver opened a can of beer and offered us one each – what could be better ;-). It was after 0930, after all.
FYI tribal people are Christians, so they do not follow the “no alcohol” rule, of some Muslims.
The road was not as terrible as expected and we stopped on the way at the local “cafe” where our companions enjoyed the lunch made of rice wrapped in banana leaf, salty fish paste, can of sardines and something called Guapayan.
We have tried Guapayan only 😉 it was a relatively tasty fruit.
5.5 hours later, covered in dust and a bit wet, as it decided to rain towards the end of our journey, we got to Bakelalan. One of our travelling companions told us that when he was young before the road was put in he would walk for 5 days to get to Lawas, with hardly any money he would rely on the kindness of the people to offer him food on the way.
Why there is an airport here who knows as it’s only a cluster of houses.
A lovely girl, Esther, who we’ve met in Miri, had arranged a home stay for us in Bakelalan with one of her uncles. There was no address, just a name. Gladly everyone knows each other and our driver knew where to drop us.
Accommodation was basic, welcome without a smile, but the key selling point was the airport view. It is quite literally about 40 metres from the runway. A planespotter’s paradise if there were more than 3 flights per week! But, undoubtedly, an airport collector’s paradise.
We dropped our bags and went for a walk: the gate to the airport was open, so we followed a local to explore the runway and terminal building. Walking the length of the runway was fun – it’s only 549 meters long.
Surrounded by mountains and rice fields, it’s a very picturesque proposition. However, the proximity of the mountains means that the weather better be good in the morning for the Twin Otter to land and take us back to Lawas. Fingers crossed.
Dinner at our homestay was very tasty, but as there wasn’t much to do after dark, we retired early. Bakelalan is very close to the Indonesia border, and a lot of Indonesian people come here for shopping. Equally, a number of people from Bakelalan have parents or other relatives still living on the Indonesia side. It only shows how the border split the local tribal community. The border, by the way, is not an international border but the local crossing only.
Watching the airfield in the clouds, we consumed our breakfast and wondered if the plane would land and subsequently take off.
It would be such a shame to come here and not to add this airport to our collection. But we were in luck, I thought, as there was some activity at the airport and all the “staff” were coming in to work.
I have to say that these MASwings boys seem to be quite sensible about their schedules: there are no early morning flights to the rural airfields and none past 3pm. They clearly recognise their window of opportunity to fly when the morning mist clears but before it gets dark again. The morning mist through the valleys really is quite magical, so long as it doesn’t outstay its welcome.
We were amused when we left our homestay when the girl asked who was taking us to the airport! They really don’t like walking in Sarawak. Seriously, it’s less than 70 metres from homestay to the terminal, if you went the long way 😉
The departure lounge was brilliant – there were 20 seats for when they carried a full payload, and now only 9 passengers are allowed on board, apparently for health and safety. There are 3 check-in staff, 4 security, 2 firemen for a maximum of 9 passengers. Today, we are 6. Alan has just been asked to sign the airport visitors’ book! Another first. And another: I am the first Pole in the book, going back to 2012! Alan is the first Brit since 2018. IT’S COMING….IT’S LANDED! The joy is unbridled. We had been considering if we could get Malaysia Airlines and/or Tourism Malaysia to sponsor us for a return to Bakelalan for our 500/1000th. Now we can turn our attention to Long Banga and Long Lellang, if they’re interested.
Check this out. The plane arrived 20 minutes early, and we left 10 minutes late. Why? Because the pilots have gone off for some noodles for breakfast;-)
I wish we stayed longer in Bakelalan as there are a few things to do, for example, a salt factory, great birdwatching, and some trekking with great views.
