Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
PULAU TALANG-TALANG
The two Pulau Talang-Talang, accessible from Sematan or as a stop on the boat trip from
Sematan to Tanjung Datu National Park, can be visited only during the day. You're al-
lowed to land but swimming is forbidden within the core protected zone (anywhere within
a 2km radius of the islands' highest point).
With the park's
Sea Turtle Volunteer Programme
(4 days & 3 nights RM2850;
Jun-Sep)
, paying volunteers can stay on Pulau Talang-Talang Besar and help the staff of
the Turtle Conservation Station patrol beaches, transfer eggs to the hatchery and even re-
lease hatchlings. For details, contact the National Park Booking Office in Kuching; book-
ing is through Kuching-based tour agents such as Borneo Adventure (
Click here
)
.
Getting There & Away
The easiest way to visit the islands is to book a tour with a Kuching-based agency or to
contact Eric Yap at Kuching's
Fairview Guesthouse
( 082-240017;
www.fairview.my
)
, who has connections up and down the coast.
Day-trip charters (RM400 per person) to Pulau Satang can be arranged through tour
agencies. Boats usually set out from the coastal villages of Telaga Air, 10km northeast (as
the crow flies) from Kubah National Park.
If you hire a boat to get from Sematan to Telok Melano or Tanjung Datu National Park
(RM450 return), you can arrange with the boatman to stop at Pulau Talang-Talang for an
additional fee of RM10 per person. Hiring a boat for a day trip from Sematan costs
RM250.
BATANG AI REGION
Ask anyone in Kuching where to find old-time longhouses - that is, those least impacted
by modern life - and the answer is almost always the same: Batang Ai, many of whose
settlements can only be reached by boat. This remote region, about 250km (4½ hours by
road) southeast of Kuching, is not really visitable without a guide, but if you're genuinely
interested in encountering Iban culture, the money and effort to get out here will be richly
rewarded.
Managed with the help of an Iban community cooperative, the 240-sq-km
Batang Ai
National Park
(
www.sarawakforestry.com
)
is part of a vast contiguous area of protected
rainforest that includes the Batang Ai Reservoir (24 sq km), Sarawak's Lanjak Entimau
Wildlife Sanctuary (1688 sq km) and, across the border in West Kalimantan, Betung Keri-
hun National Park (8000 sq km). The park's dipterocarp rainforests have the highest dens-
