The whole trip was very well organised and we enjoyed every minute of it. We are very grateful for all your help and we will recommend “Responsible Travel ” to our relatives and friends.
3-Day Authentic Iban Longhouse & Jungle Discovery
Explore the Fascinating Mukah Region
Discover the Culture of the Melanau Tribe
Visit Sibu, known as the Swan City
Visit the descendant of the feared headhunter warriors in one of the last remaining remote Iban’s longhouses in Sarawak, and immerse yourself in the native’s daily jungle activities. This 3 days 2 nights Borneo cultural experience to the Iban Heartland from Kuching allows you a real taste of traditional Iban living, including some delicious traditional tribal cuisines.
Tour Highlights
Away from the more popular tourist attraction of Batang Ai, this isolated longhouse, about 200km due east of Kuching beyond the outpost town of Debak, has retained it's original authenticity even though it is now accessible by hilly backroad.
The natives here continue to follow primitive modes of subsistence like jungle food gathering, pepper farming, rubber tapping, feeding of livestock and fishing.
The 3 days 2 nights tour stays with a local host and participates in their daily farming and traditional community activities.
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Itinerary
Trip Details
Price
- Adult (13+): MYR 1488.00
- Children (3-12): MYR 744.00
Departure Time
8:30 am
Meeting Point
Hotel
Availability
Monday to Sunday, year-round
Duration
3 days, 2 nights
Group Size
Min 2 people, max 8
Included
- Land Transfer
- All Meals Stated
- 2 Nights Accommodation (basic facilities)
- English speaking local community guide
Not Included
- Juices and alcoholic beverages
- Travel Insurance
What to Bring
- Overnight bags with multiple sets of spare casual clothing, including long trousers and shorts for evening;
- Wear light comfortable clothes that dry easily;
- Comfortable walking shoes;
- Sandals or pair of flip flops;
- Water bottle or bladder system;
- Sleeping bag (if you have them) for more comfort;
- Personal care: small towel, toiletries, personal medication, personal first aid kit, sunscreen, mosquito repellent, extra tissues or toilet paper;
- Torch, raincoat or poncho, plastic bag to keep phone / cameras dry;
- Sun hat / cap and sunglasses;
- Extra snacks and drinks for the trekking.
Tour Staff
Our community guides are from the local villages and are most willing to share their knowledge of local culture, farming and hunting technique and the remarkable diversity of local fauna and flora so that you will have plenty of information about your journey in this beautiful nature area, and at the sametime ensure safety and Great FUN in this remote area! One passionate local English Speaking guide will serve up to a maximum of 8 guests.
Good to Know
- Reservation required 2 days in advance.
- Suitable for families and visitors of all ages.
What You'll Do
Today, we start our journey into the Borneo interior for about 5 hours, passing through paddy fields, pepper plantations, farms, roadside kampung and tropical jungles. Stop at the small local market town of Serian and later for lunch at Lachau.
After Debak junction, the winding road heading inland is hilly and you can enjoy the great view of the rainforest dotted with small scale pepper farms, rice fields and rubber plantations. You’ll disembark at an authentic century-old longhouse, to meet with the longhouse host with welcome tea and biscuits. In the evening, enjoy a native dinner prepared by your host.
At dinner time, spend time with the rest of the longhouse folks to exchange stories. Longhouse hospitality is from the heart, but the facilities tend to be fairly simple; be prepared to eat seated on the floor, and sleep on a mattress under a mosquito net.
Meals : Lunch & Dinner
Explore the local community with your local host and enjoy spontaneous ‘longhouse hospitality’ at its best. The main sources of income in the interior is rubber tapping and pepper planting. You’ll see raw rubber being dried in front of the longhouse and you will get a hand on experience on the rubber tapping, which requires an early morning 30 minutes hike to the rubber plantation at 7:30am!
Your local guide will demonstrate the art of rubber tapping before your turn to try it out. On the way back from the rubber plantation, you will also learn how to harvest the jungle for food such as picking wild ferns and vegetables. Returning to the longhouse, you can assist your host to cook the jungle food for lunch at the longhouse.
After lunch, we take an hour hike to the nearby waterfall that will involve crossing 4 jungle streams so be prepared to get wet. Do bring your swimwear as there may be opportunities to swim in the pool under the waterfall and soak in the “jungle Jacuzzi”. If there has been no rain in the days prior to your visit, the waters will be clear and refreshingly cool. Later, return to the longhouse for leisure to enjoy time with the community over a bottle of homemade rice wine, Tuak.
Meals : Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
After breakfast we will take a 25 minutes trekking to the Kebun (farm) and take part in some of the farm activities. Under the guidance of your local guide, try the trade of pepper picking and learn how the native processes both the black and white pepper.
Enjoy lunch the traditional way in the farm, with food cooked in bamboo or in a natural stone BBQ pit before returning to the longhouse to bid farewell to your local host. Continue on to the city and drop off at your city hotel in Kuching.
Meals: Breakfast & Lunch only.
Good To Know
- We recommend guests bring your own refillable water bottles and avoid using one-off plastic water bottles.
- During our tours, we recycle wherever possible, and try to keep our waste as low as possible. We discourage the use of plastic bags, and suggest that you bring your own dry bag or small waterproof backpack.
- Check out OUR RESPONSIBLE TOURISM COMMITMENT.(opens in a new tab)
See What Our Guests Are Saying
Well, we have done the Wetlands wildlife morning cruise, the Bako one day tour and the Anah Rais+kayaking daytrip. Very nice places and not hard exercise (european people must be a bit careful with hard trekkings in Borneo, we are not used to so high humidity).
Very well organised activities. Good guides and drivers. They are always on time, kind and skilled. Absolutely not-crowded activities, this was fantastic (maximum 4 people).
Premises of Paradesa are well located, easy to find. Very professional people there too. You can arrange little questions with no problem, so you can make good use of each one of your days in Kuching. We have really enjoyed this place. Visit Sarawak!!
