Sarawak
| country: | Malaysia, Borneo |
| location: | Sabah & Sarawak |
| trip type: | Introductory walking holidays |
| departures: | This trip is no longer running |
| price: | From £550 (9 days) excluding flights. We can arrange flights from the UK |
the amazing things you'll be doing
Sarawak holidays; Up Close
This is the Sarawak section of our Adventure holiday to Borneo trip where we explore the heart of Sarawak. An opportunity to follow trails through the lush rain forests, complete a challenging ascent on the Pinnacles and spend time in Iban longhouses - hearing tales of headhunting while sipping local rice wine.
This is the Sarawak section of our Adventure holiday to Borneo trip where we explore the heart of Sarawak. An opportunity to follow trails through the lush rain forests, complete a challenging ascent on the Pinnacles and spend time in Iban longhouses - hearing tales of headhunting while sipping local rice wine.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Arrive Kuching |
| Day 2: | Morning sightseeing, afternoon at leisure |
| Day 3: | Mulu National Park, Deer & Lang caves |
| Day 4: | Wind 7 clearwater caves, commence trek |
| Day 5-6: | Trek headhunters trail, complete trails at Iban longhouse |
| Day 7: | To Limbang |
| Day 8: | Boat to Kota Kinabalu |
| Day 9: | Trip concludes in Kota Kinabalu |
small group adventure holiday
Typically you will be sharing your experiences with between 4-20 like minded travellers (depending on the trip, operator and how many others are booked on the trip) and you'll have a group leader with you. Whether you are travelling alone or with friends its good value, and a great way to meet new people! While itineraries are pre-planned there is some flexibility and you'll have plenty of privacy. This trip will appeal to travellers of all ages who enjoy meeting new people as well as seeing new places.highly commended
This tourism business was Highly Commended in our 2006 First Choice Responsible Tourism Awards - the largest awards of their kind in the world, and organised by responsibletravel.com in association with The Times, World Travel Market and Geographical Magazine, of the Royal Geographical Society. Since 2004, the Awards has recognised individuals, companies and organisations in travel making a big commitment to the culture and economies of local communities and helping to conserve biodiversity.
how this holiday makes a difference
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Our operating concept for trips to Sarawak is to offer an alternative to the ‘staged’ cultural show type of tour but rather to visit the area as guests of the local people. The people of the longhouse community are thus directly involved in the local tourist economy. We travel by locally-made longboats to visit the longhouses and hiking in the jungles and visiting the farms we are able to truly experience the longhouse lifestyle. There have been few changes to the longhouse or local lifestyle for the sake of tourists and we make sure our visitors are given extensive instructions from our guides regarding the local etiquette and customs.
After seeking the permission of the longhouse community to bring visitors to the area, our local operator Borneo Adventure built a simple guesthouse using local materials and labour. The local villagers are employed in the guesthouse as cooks, boatmen and guides. Borneo adventure’s relationship with the people of the area has been one of mutual gain and the longhouse tourism committee was established in the village to ensure an even distribution of labour within the village. The food provided is bought from the local villagers to subsidize their income and anything that is not grown locally is purchased in Kuching and the packaging and non-biodegradable rubbish is returned to Kuching for recycling or disposal. Another aim of the project is to provide an incentive for the local people to conserve the endangered wildlife. Prior to the arrival of visitors, one of the only forms of cash income for the people of the longhouse was to sell fish from their rivers to down river buyers. While this provided a much needed income, there was no control over catch rates and the stocks were in danger of being depleted. With a reasonably steady cash flow where is no need to sell their fish and the stocks have stabilized and thus the very important source of protein for the community. All travellers are provided with our award-winning 20 page Responsible Travel Booklet which outlines our environmental guidelines and practices and will provide you will clear details on how you can play a vital part in reducing your impact on the fragile environments and cultures around the world. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |