Mount Santubong Sarawak

MOUNT SANTUBONG KUCHING SARAWAK

Mount Santubong (Malay: Gunung Santubong) is a mountain in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. It is located about 35 km north of the state capital Kuching.
On a clear day, it can be seen from Kuching. The mountain and its surrounding area is a popular tourist attraction.

 A legend often associated with the mountain is of two beautiful princesses of heaven, Santubong and Sejinjang. Santubong was an expert weaver while Sejinjang was an excellent rice tresher. When war broke out between two villages, Kampung Pasir Puteh and Kampung Pasir Kuning, the King of Heaven sent the princesses to keep peace in both villages. The villagers saw both beautiful princesses and stopped the war. After the war, both princesses taught the villagers their expertise and both villages began to trade and became prosperous. Many princes heard of them and came from the whole island to marry them, but all was denied by them. One day, a handsome prince came, and the princesses had a quarrel and exchanged blows because both of them fell in love with the prince. Sejinjang swung her tresher which hit Santubong's cheek. Santubong threw her weaver at Sejinjang, hitting her in the head. Putting an end to the quarrel, the King of Heaven cursed both of them into mountains. Santubong turned into Mount Santubong while Sejinjang was turned into Mount Sejinjang. It is said that both mountains resembles women lying on their back and a crack on Mount Santubong was the scar on Princess Santubong's cheek.

 In 1855 a British naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace who was collecting animals in Santubong, wrote a paper called "Sarawak Law" which can be considered as a precursor to the biological theory of evolution. A year later, Wallace left Sarawak and wrote another article on evolution based on his years of observation in the Far East, that was sent to Charles Darwin and was simultaneously published by the Royal Society. Similar to Galapagos, Mount Santubong should be considered as a scientific world heritage in biological science and should be preserved for the future generations. Unfortunately, the proposal to established the area as a national park never materialise and human settlements as well as touristic development (hotels, golf course and condominium) are claiming most of the low lying areas. It is suggested the world community to set up a fund to buy back the land and save Mount Santubong that is very important in the development of concepts and theories in biological sciences.

Pesta Benak Sri Aman

PESTA BENAK SRI AMAN

Discover & Experience the Unique Tidal Bore Phenomenon at Batang Lupar, Sri Aman.
The annual Pesta Benak (Tidal Bore Festival) will make a return along the mighty Batang Lupar with two new activities from Oct 18 to 20.
This year, the festival will include a bodybuilding competition (Mr Benak) and a hot air balloon ride.
The Festival is to promote harmony among local community and to introduce Sri Aman town through tourism. Tidal Bore or locally known as Benak accurs everyday with different warelenght and heights. During spring tide, tidal bore with high magnitudes can be observed clearly. The Benak continues its journey another 30km inland, ending near the small village of Engkilili in Sri Aman.

How to get there:
Sri Aman town is located about 194km from Kuching and the journey takes about two and hald to three hours by road.  Public transportation like express buses and taxis are available from Kuching to Sri Aman town.

SKRANG RIVER ADVENTURE

SKRANG RIVER SAFARI

 

SKRANG RIVER ADVENTURE

Skrang River is one of the must-visit destinations in Sarawak to experience the authentic Iban lifestyle and culture in a longhouse. Skrang is an exciting destination which is famous for once housing the notorious pirates and head-hunters.

The early Iban settlers who migrated from Kalimantan set up home in the river valleys of Skrang River, and along other rivers, such as Batang Ai, Saribas and Rajang. During the Brooke White Rajahs era in the 1800s, there was a great uproar in among the community at Skrang River, when James Brooke took action to eliminate the Ibans at Skrang because he thought the they were pirates. Rentap, the leader of the Iban community at Skrang then, rebelled against Brooke by attacking his fort at Skrang River called Nanga Skrang. Eventually, though Rentap was defeated, he never once gave in to surrender. Thus, he went down in history as a national hero and freedom fighter.

The Ibans celebrate Gawai Dayak on June 1, to mark the end of the harvest season and to usher in another year of bountiful goodness. It is a feast with colourful rituals, traditional music, food and games. One of the best places to experience this festival is at the Iban longhouse by the Skrang River.

There is also a longhouse safari available, which begins with a 4-wheel drive to the banks of the Skrang River. From there, the safari continues by motorised longboat down the shallow Skrang River, occasionally "shooting the rapids". A thrilling journey along this scenic river brings you to a series of wooden Iban longhouses.

Visitors may also choose to extend their trip by spending the night at a longhouse to experience the traditions and customs of the Dayak Ibans. The highlight of the Skrang River Safari is an evening of entertainment by the longhouse residents, featuring traditional dances and music. Tuak, a specially brewed rice wine, will be served during the evening's entertainment.

The surrounding jungle is also available for exciting trekking and exploration.

The journey to Skrang is about 232km from Kuching. It takes about 5 hours by road, followed by a 90-minute longboat journey along the Skrang river.

Gunung Mulu at Miri Sarawak

GUNUNG MULU NATIONAL PARK MIRI SARAWAK

Deer Cave is located near Miri, Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo and is a show cave attraction of Gunung Mulu National Park. It was surveyed in 1961 by G.E. Wilford, of the Malaysian Geological Survey, who predicted that Mulu would yield many more caves in the future (Wilford, 1964). The cave, which is also known as Gua Payau or Gua Rusa by the local Penan and Berawan people, is said to have received its name because of the deer that come to the cave to lick salt-bearing rocks (Tsen, 1993) and shelter themselves.
The cave was surveyed for the first time in the year 1978, producing measurements of 174 m wide and 122 m high in one section that passed through the mountain for a distance of one kilometer. Subsequently a next survey increased the acknowledged passage length to 4.1 kilometers and connected Lang Cave, another show cave within the park, to the Deer Cave System. This survey made in 2009 by the Hoffman Institute Of Western Kentucky University revealed the maximum cross sectional area to be in the large southern passage. This was documented at 169 m wide with a ceiling height of 125 m. The northern passage registered the greatest ceiling height at 148m with a cross sectional width of 142 m. The main entrance of Deer Cave was measured at 146 m.

                                                                       
Gunung Mulu National Park near Miri, Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, is a UNESCO World Herritage Site that encompasses caves and crust formations in a mountanious equatorial rainforest setting. The park is famous for its caves and the expeditions that have been mounted to explore them and their surrounding rainforest, most notably the Royal Geographical  Expedition of 1977–1978, which saw over 100 scientists in the field for 15 months. This initiated a series of over 20 expeditions now drawn together as the Mulu Caves Project.
The national park is named after Mount Mulu, the second highest mountain in Sarawak.


Gunung Mulu National Park is famous for its limestone crust formations. Features include enormous caves, vast cave networks, rock pinnacles, cliffs and gorges. Mount Mula is a sandstone mountain rising to 2,376 m (7,795 ft).
Gunung Mulu National Park has the largest known natural chamber or room - Sarawak Chamber, found in Gua Nasib Bagus. It is 2,300 feet (700 m) long, 1,300 feet (396 m) wide and at least 230 feet (70 m) high. It has been said that the chamber is so big that it could accommodate about 40 Boeing 747s, without overlapping their wings. The nearby Deer Cave was, for many years, considered the largest single cave passage in the world.


Other notable caves in this area are Benarat Cavern, Wind Cave, and Clearwater cave; which contains parts one of the world's largest underground river systems and is believed to be the largest cave in the world by volume at 30,347,540 m³.
Mulu's limestones belong to the Melinau Formation and their age is between 17 and 40 million years (Late Eocene to Early Miocene).
Stratigraphically below the limestones, and forming the highest peaks in the south east sector of the Park including Gunung Mulu, lies the Mulu Formation (shales and sandstones). The age of these rocks is between 40 and 90 million years (Late Cretaceous to Late Eocene).