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Cultural, Adventure & Cycling Tours in Borneo

Journey Through Sarawak’s Rajang Basin: Sekapan Panjang and Mebong Cove (Bakun Lake) | Part 3 of 4

Sekapan Panjang Longhouse

After a village breakfast, we continued our journey by express boat to Sekapan Panjang Village. The Sekapan is a small indigenous group found primarily along the Belaga River. They a sub-group of the Orang Ulu, a diverse group of ethnic people living in the head waters of Sarawak.

Their story unfolded before us, particularly their unique two-story longhouse design and a grand hall that treated us to a captivating cultural display. Sekapan Panjang was once known as Temenggong Matu Longhouse. The name changed with the demise of the last longhouse community leader. This is common practice of longhouse culture in Sarawak.

Who are the Sekapans?

This is the ancestral heartland of the Sekapan people, a little-known community numbering only about 1,000 today. They are a small Kajang sub-group in Belaga, Sarawak who can trace their roots back over 200 years.  Their lives are rooted in farming, fishing and longhouse traditions. However, many of their youth now drift to cities, returning only for Gawai or Christmas.

A framed cut-out of a press article headlining 'Sekapans among most endangered ethnic groups
A 2012 article sounding out the shrinking population of the Sekapans.

Walking the wooden ruai, we heard how the Sekapan once commanded respect as warriors, holding the Kajang leadership title of Temenggong. Their culture links closely with Kejaman, Lahanan and Punan neighbors, yet Sekapan identity is distinct — preserved in dialect and customs. That said, Sekapans share a common practice in honouring their aristocrats. Burials was done in form of the towering ironwood burial poles, the kelirieng. A few weathered ones still stand around the Belaga region.

Christian hymns now drift from the SIB church, though elders remember the Gawai harvest festival that once echoed through these hills. Roads are slowly replacing riverboats… promising easier access.

A participant posing with a Sekapan lady with arm tattoo while another plays the congkak by the side. An older gentleman looks on the background back resting against the wooden wall of the longhouse.
A participant pose for a keepsake. Sekapan ladies with arm tattoos.

After another morning immersed in the culture of Sekapan Panjang, we checked out and boarded a longboat for the journey to Belaga. We explored the town. Across the river, we caught glimpses of abandoned burial poles—relics of a past era, now overgrown and awaiting restoration.

An orang ulu burial hut peered through thick river bank vegetation, perched high on the bank of a river.
Orang Ulu burial hut: a common sight in the upper stretches of the Rajang Basin. This one is at the opposite bank of Belaga town.

From Belaga to Bakun

Following a simple lunch, we headed overland to Bakun, home of Sarawak’s most ambitious and controversial dam project. After clearing dam authority security, we took yet another boat to Mebong Cove, an island that was once a hilltop before the valley was flooded for the dam.

A sweeping view of Bakun Lake from a floating pontoon.
Bakun Lake was created from the Bakun Hydro Electric Plant Project in 2011. It is the second-tallest concrete-faced rockfill dam in the world

Customising Your Rajang Basin Itinerary

Your Rajang Basin exploration can be done in parts. Let us know in the form here.

Next: Journey Through Sarawak’s Rajang Basin: Bakun Cultural, Nature and Adventure Experience| Part 4 of 4