Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sleeping
Putra Apari $
(r 60,000Rp)
The only accommodation in town, and surprisingly hospitable. Typical los-
men rooms have no fan and shared
mandi
, but a nice porch with a cross-breeze overlooks
the main street. Small shops and warungs nearby.
LOSMEN
The Muller Mountains
The second stage of the larger Cross-Borneo Trek (
Click here
)
, the journey from Tiong
Ohang across the Muller Mountains to Tanjung Lokan (or vice versa) is a very different
experience from what precedes it. This is neither a cultural tour nor a wildlife-spotting ex-
pedition. In fact, views of any kind are scarce. This is a jungle trek, and a very difficult
one, whose primary purpose is to get to the other side. It can also be dangerous if you are
not prepared. The trailside grave of a Dutchman who died in 2011 after hitting his head in
a fall reinforces this fact.
The trek requires five days of walking steadily eight hours a day. Most people do it in
seven days or more. There are several bare campsites along the way, but otherwise you're
following a narrow path - if that - through a green maze, with the occasional need for the
mandau
(machete). You are also constantly crossing the same river switchbacks. In the be-
ginning the fords are ankle deep, but as you get further downstream they become chest
high. The mountains themselves are an anticlimax, as a pass makes crossing over them far
easier than you'd expect. The leeches are not to be underestimated, however. Even with
the proper protection, it is difficult to keep them out. The walk from breakfast to lunch
will typically yield 20-or so small travellers on your shoes. They pose no danger, apart
from slightly itchy bites, but they are high on the disgusting index, particularly after they
have gorged themselves on your blood, at which point they are the length of a thumb.
The journey should be organised by a tour company such as De' Gigant Tours (
Click
here
)
in Samarinda or Kompakh (
Click here
)
in Putussibau, who will send a guide with
you upriver. In turn, this guide will arrange for local porters and guides near the trailhead
(eg Tiong Ohang). One of the more interesting parts of the journey is watching these
forest people trek, sometimes walking barefoot. Armed with
sumpit
(blowgun) and spear,
and carrying homemade rattan packs, they move through difficult undergrowth as if on a
footpath, hopping from wet stone to mossy rock with the sure-footedness of a mountain
