Lonely Planet Borneo , livre ebook

Borneo

Contents

PLAN YOUR TRIP

Welcome to Borneo
Borneo’s Top 17
Need to Know
First Time Borneo
What’s New
If You Like
Month by Month
Itineraries
Outdoor Adventures
Diving Pulau Sipadan
Regions at a Glance

ON THE ROAD

SABAH
Kota Kinabalu
Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park
Pulau Manukan
Pulau Mamutik
Pulau Sapi
Pulau Gaya
Pulau Sulug
Northwestern Sabah
Mt Kinabalu & Kinabalu National Park
Northwest Coast
Eastern Sabah
Sandakan
Sepilok
Sandakan Archipelago
Deramakot Forest Reserve
Sungai Kinabatangan
Lahad Datu
Danum Valley Conservation Area
Tabin Wildlife Reserve
Semporna
Semporna Archipelago
Tawau
Tawau Hills Park
Maliau Basin Conservation Area
Southwestern Sabah
Interior Sabah
Beaufort Division
Pulau Tiga National Park
Pulau Labuan
Diving
SARAWAK
Kuching
Western Sarawak
Bako National Park
Santubong Peninsula
Semenggoh Wildlife Centre
Annah Rais Longhouse
Kubah National Park
Bau & Around
Lundu
Gunung Gading National Park
Tanjung Datu National Park
Talang-Satang National Park
Batang Ai Region
Central Sarawak
Sibu
Batang Rejang
Bintulu
Similajau National Park
Niah National Park
Lambir Hills National Park
Miri
Northeastern Sarawak
Gunung Mulu National Park
Kelabit Highlands
Limbang Division
Culture
BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
Bandar Seri Begawan
Tutong & Belait Districts
Tutong
Jalan Labi
Seria
Temburong District
Bangar
Batang Duri
Ulu Temburong National Park
KALIMANTAN
West Kalimantan
Pontianak
Singkawang
Sintang
Putussibau
Sukadana
Gunung Palung National Park
Central Kalimantan
Tanjung Puting National Park
Pangkalan Bun
Kumai
Palangka Raya
Sebangau National Park
South Kalimantan
Banjarmasin
Kandangan
Loksado
East & North Kalimantan
Balikpapan
Samarinda
Sungai Mahakam
Muller Mountains
Kutai National Park
Berau
Merabu
Derawan Archipelago
North Kalimantan

UNDERSTAND

Understand Borneo
Borneo Today
History
Peoples & Cultures
The Cuisines of Borneo
Natural World

SURVIVAL GUIDE

Responsible Travel
Cultural Etiquette
Wildlife
Diving
Directory A–Z
Accessible Travel
Accommodation
Children
Customs Regulations
Electricity
Embassies & Consulates
Food
Insurance
Internet Access
Legal Matters
LGBT+ Travellers
Maps
Money
Opening Hours
Photography
Post
Public Holidays
Safe Travel
Telephone
Time
Toilets
Tourist Information
Visas
Volunteering
Women Travellers
Transport
Getting there & Away
Getting Around
Health
Before You Go
In Borneo
Language
Behind the Scenes
Our Writers
Welcome to Borneo

It’s a jungle out there! Borneo has some of the world’s most wildlife-rich equatorial rainforests, incredible landscapes (above and below the waves) and rich indigenous culture.

Ancient Rainforests
Borneo’s equatorial rainforest jungles conjure up remoteness and adventure, with their impenetrable foliage and longboat trips into the ‘heart of darkness’. But look a little closer and nuances emerge: the pitcher plants, lianas and orchids of the lowland forest give way to conifers and rhododendrons as you ascend the flanks of Mt Kinabalu. Deforestation makes for depressing headlines, but significant parts of the Bornean rainforest remain intact, protected by conservation projects whose viability depends in part on income from tourists.

Jungle Wildlife
For many visitors to Borneo, their most memorable moment is glimpsing a wild orangutan or proboscis monkey swinging through the jungle canopy, spotting an Irrawaddy dolphin in the shimmering waters of the South China Sea, or locking eyes with a pygmy elephant, clouded leopard or saltwater crocodile. Jungle animals are shy by nature, but a good guide can help you tell the difference between a vine and a vine snake, between a twig and a stick insect, and between the call of a gibbon and the cry of a hornbill.

Cultural Riches
Borneo brings together an astonishing array of cultures and languages, and age-old traditions of hospitality mean visitors are welcomed. Most cities have significant Chinese communities, the picturesque coastal kampung (villages) of Sabah and Sarawak are populated mainly by Malays, and you can interact with the Iban, Dusun, Murut, Penan and other indigenous groups in the interior, and with the Rungus and Bajau along the coast. Borneo’s Dayak groups stopped headhunting long ago, but ancient customs and ceremonies live on in longhouse communities.

Culinary Melting Pot
The varied ethnic and cultural backgrounds of Borneo’s people means the island’s cuisines are as wide-ranging as they are delicious. Seafood from the South China Sea is served fresh at Chinese restaurants, smoky satay stalls beckon at Malay night markets and Indonesian eateries set your taste buds on fire with spicy sambal. Even Brunei has its own culinary traditions, as do Borneo’s numerous indigenous groups. From the sublime cooking of the Kelabit people to Iban dishes such as bamboo chicken and midin jungle fern, Dayak cuisine is unlike anything you’ve ever tasted.

Cave in Gunung Mulu National Park , Sarawak | ZODEBALA/GETTY IMAGES ©

Why I Love Borneo
By Anna Kaminski, Writer
During my visits to Borneo the island has always struck me as the ultimate all-rounder. Whether you’re trekking through remote, barely penetrable jungle, exploring underwater worlds brimming with reef fish, sharks and turtles, spotting unique wildlife or exploring vast caves, Borneo has it all. In contrast with the sophisticated coastal cities, the remote interior, rich in indigenous culture, is still imbued with a magic and mystique that has drawn travellers to Borneo for generations. Stay in a traditional longhouse, forage for your dinner in the jungle and experience tribal hospitality, and you’ll depart with lifelong memories.
For more, see Our Writers
Borneo’s Top 17

Gunung Mulu National Park
If the only marvels at Sarawak’s Gunung Mulu National Park were some of the biggest caverns on earth, and the only fauna were the twirling, spiralling clouds of bats that emerge from the Deer Cave at dusk, it would still deserve Unesco World Heritage status. And if the only activity was spotting 20cm-long stick insects on a night walk, the flight from Miri would still be worth it. But add in Gunung Mulu and the Pinnacles and you have one of Southeast Asia’s true wonders.

ZODEBALA/GETTY IMAGES ©

Top Experiences
Maliau Basin
You came to Borneo looking for something wild, right? The Maliau in Sabah is as wild as it gets. The basin is a cliff-rimmed depression filled with primary rainforest – that’s untouched, uncut jungle, older than humanity. We asked a local ranger what he thought of the Maliau, and his Malay response was ‘Adan da Hawa’ – Adam and Eve. That’s how fresh and untouched this forest feels, and if you’re fit enough, you can trek through dense jungle, from waterfall to pristine waterfall, retreating to your hammock at night.

NOKURO/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Top Experiences
Tanjung Puting National Park
Arguably one of the best places in the world to experience close-up encounters with semi-wild orangutans, Kalimantan’s Tanjung Puting offers an unforgettable upriver journey on a chugging klotok: a boat that’s both your home and your lookout tower. Sleep with fireflies under the stars on the top deck, wake to the call of gibbons in the morning and watch Borneo’s critically endangered charismatic orangutans as they swing ponderously through the open jungle to the feeding platforms.

PAUL & PAVEENA MCKENZIE/GETTY IMAGES ©

Top Experiences
Mt Kinabalu
Sabah’s Mt Kinabalu is many things. Highest mountain in Borneo and Malaysia? Check. Climbable even by novices, but great fun for veteran trekkers? Check. Abode of the spirits of local indigenous tribes? Check. Home to several unique-in-Borneo ecosystems and 6000 plant species, many of them endemic? Check. Home to the world’s highest via ferrata? Check. Even on an island bursting with astonishing natural beauty, the sight of Mt Kinabalu’s peak early in the morning causes most folks to lose their breath.

R.M. NUNES/GETTY IMAGES ©

Top Experiences
Kelabit Highlands
The air is clean and cool, the rice fields impossibly green, the local cuisine scrumptious and the hiking – from longhouse to longhouse – is some of the best in Borneo, but the star attraction in the Kelabit Highlands is the people, justifiably famous for their ready smiles and easy way with visitors. Getting to this remote corner of northeastern Sarawak is half the fun – you can either bust your butt on logging roads for 12 hours or take an exhilarating flight in a 19-seat Twin Otter turboprop.

Kelabit woman | BOAZ ROTTEM/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO ©

Top Experiences
Danum Valley
If the primeval jungle of Sabah’s Danum Valley makes you think of dinosaurs, we’ll understand – the area really does look like Jurassic Park. Visitors often spot pygmy elephants, wild orangutans, snakes and clouds of birdlife. Some people, though, don’t actually see any animals at all, as the jungle is so thick it can cloak fauna mere metres from where you’re standing. But that’s part of Danum’s enchanting and timeless appeal, as is the opportunity to watch the sun’s first rays illuminating the mist-shrouded forest from a lofty observation tower.

JEREMY RED/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Top Experiences
Kuching
Borneo’s most sophisticated city is a charming combination of old town, romantic waterfront, excellent cuisine for all budgets and buzzing nightlife. Explore galleries and museums preserving the historic legacy of the Brooke family, before taking convenient day trips to discover some of Borneo’s finest natural sites. Spot semi-wild orangutans or search out a giant rafflesia flower in the morning, look for proboscis monkeys and wild crocs on a sundown cruise in the South China Sea, and then dine on super-fresh seafood