Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting Around
Pretty much the only transport arteries into and around the Batang Rejang region are
rivers. A road from Kapit to Kanowit (already connected to Sarawak's highway network)
is being built and a rough logging road already connects Bintulu with Belaga, so come be-
fore easy land access changes this part of Borneo forever.
Boats can navigate the perilous Pelagus Rapids, between Kapit and Belaga, only when
the water level is high enough - these days, determined mainly by how much water is re-
leased from the Bakun Dam. In an attempt to make navigation safer and less subject to
fluctuating water levels, the government has recently been attaching explosive charges to
some of the boulders that create the Pelagus Rapids and blowing them to smithereens.
Express river boats - nicknamed 'flying coffins' because of their shape, not their safety
record - run by half-a-dozen companies head up the broad, muddy Batang Rejang from
Sibu with goods and luggage strapped precariously to the roof. If you opt to ride up top
for the view (not that we recommend it…), hang on tight! The passenger cabins tend to be
air-conditioned to near-arctic frigidity.
From Sibu, boats to Kapit (140km, 2½ to three hours) leave once or twice an hour from
5.45am to 2.30pm; from Kapit, boats heading down to Sibu depart between 6.40am and
3.15pm. If you travel 2nd or 3rd class (RM20), boarding is likely to involve inching your
way along a narrow, rail-less exterior gangway; 1st- (RM30) and business-class (RM25)
passengers board near the prow.
If the water level at the Pelagus Rapids (32km upriver from Kapit) is high enough (for
the latest low-down, call Mr Wong in Sibu at 013-806 1333 or Daniel Levoh in Belaga at
013-848 6351), one 77-seat
express boat
( 013-806 1333)
a day goes all the way to
Belaga, 155km upriver from Kapit, stopping at various longhouses along the way. Head-
ing upriver, departures are at 5.45am from Sibu (RM55, 11 hours) and 9.30am from Kapit
(RM35, 4½ hours). Coming downriver, the boat leaves Belaga at about 7.30am. When the
river is too low, the only way to get to Belaga is overland via Bintulu!
KAPIT
POP 14,000
The main upriver settlement on the Batang Rejang, Kapit is a bustling trading and trans-
port centre dating back to the days of the White Rajahs. A number of nearby longhouses
can be visited by road or river but the pickings are thin when it comes to finding a good
local guide.
Fans of Redmond O'Hanlon's
Into the Heart of Borneo
may remember Kapit as the
starting point of the author's jungle adventures.
