Sabah - Borneo - page 221

Taman Pertanian. The park entrance is about 1km off the main road. A taxi from Tenom
will cost around RM90.
SAPULOT & BATU PUNGGUL
Perhaps even more so than the Maliau Basin, this is as remote as it gets in Sabah. Not far
from the Kalimantan border, Batu Punggul is a jungle-topped limestone outcrop riddled
with caves, towering nearly 200m above Sungai Sapulot. This is deep in Murut country
and the stone formation was one of several sites sacred to these people. Batu Punggul and
the adjacent Batu Tinahas are traditionally believed to be longhouses that gradually trans-
formed into stone. The view from the upper reaches of Batu Punggul may be the best in
Sabah - in every direction is deep jungle, knife-like limestone outcrops and, if you are
lucky, swinging orangutans. It can be difficult and expensive to get here, but this is a
beautiful part of Sabah that few tourists visit, and it offers a chance to rub shoulders with
the jungle Murut. It is almost impossible to get out here on your own, as there is virtually
no tourism infrastructure and English is almost nonexistent, but even the most independ-
ent traveller will likely enjoy booking through Orou Sapulot.
CULTURAL
Orou Sapulot
( 016-311 0056; www.orousapulot.com /; 3-day/2-night around per person RM750)
Orou ('sun' in Murut) Sapulot is an excellent means of accessing the deepest areas of Sa-
bah's interior. Run by Silas Gunting, a descendant of the local Murut who is now a suc-
cessful KK businessman, Orou is one of the more innovative eco-tourism projects in the
state, and offers what may be the best package tour in Sabah.
The trip encompasses the Romol Eco Village , a modern longhouse homestay where
visitors live with the Murut; the Pungiton ('bat' in Murut) Caves, an extensive cavern
system that resembles a bat-shit-laced cheese wheel, complete with rushing underground
rivers and enormous underground chambers plucked from a cathedral; an eco-camp by
Pungiton located on the banks of a heavenly river; a trip to the crystalline Kabulungou
waterfalls, and finally, a river trip to Batu Pungull, along a chocolate-brown river hemmed
in by primary rainforest. You will get the chance to swim in this river, and let us tell you:
swimming through virgin jungle is as Edenic as life gets.
All the while, Orou is doing good work. It is common in Sabah for poorer indigenous
communities to sell their lands to palm oil and timber companies; the liquid assets they
gain are usually spent within a few years. By employing local Murut and encouraging
their families to keep their lands and preserve them for eco-tourism purposes, Orou is try-
ing to stave off the worst ecological and economic impacts of this trend while providing a
sustainable income for the communities of Sabah's interior.