Kampung Meritam's Mud Volcanoes in Limbang,Sarawak.

 Buak,Buak This is how the local folk call it. This is the only mud spring in Limbang (or in Sarawak, perhaps). It has been a place for the  people to come and shower for fun, but it is less known by the town people in Limbang. There you will see many  mud springs (of various sizes, either dead or alive) all over the place. Being there just makes you feel like walking on the surface of The Moon.
When visiting Limbang go for a mud bath in Kampung Meritam's mud volcanoes. The mud volcanoes form natural, cool mud baths that locals and occasional tourists enjoy. Wallow in the mud pools, enjoy the mud slides and clean up in the site's excellent shower and toilet facilities afterwards. 
The mud volcanoes have free entry, though it is 35km from Limbang. Take the road to Kuala L (the Brunei road) and turn off when you see the Kampung Meritam sign. The mud volcanoes are signposted about 10km down this road, up a driveable track. A good landmark is a cellphone tower. Free showers are available. Visit the village just past the entrance to the mud volcanoes on your trip to see a delightful sarawak village. There are no shops nearby.

Pesta Babulang in Limbang.

Babulang is the largest or grandest of the many rituals, ceremonies and festivals of the traditional Bisaya (Borneo) community of Limbang, Sarawak. It is a joyful occasion; involving many people; and incurs quite a substantial amount of expenditure to organize. The festival showcases various music, songs, and dances; displaying colourful traditional costumes; decorations and handicrafts.
It is only during 'Babulang' that these Bisaya's dances, songs, handicrafts and hospitality to their guests are on display.
Highlights are the Ratu Babulang competition and the Water buffalo races which can only be found in this town in Sarawak.

I'm from Sarawak Bloggers Society and My trip hosted by Sarawak Tourism Board.
Sarawak Tourism Board  has been generous to offer Sarawak Bloggers special passes to numerous tourism related events in Sarawak.  In return, bloggers and social media users from Sarawak Bloggers have promoted the event via their networking.  Among the notable events are the award winning Rainforest World Music Festival, Miri Jazz Festival and home stay trips.

 Below is the photographs taken during my visit to Limbang for Pesta Babulang 2013..continue from my previous entry. Thank You.

cooking  competition of Bisaya culture traditional food.

Bisaya Maiden..

 Bisaya Traditional Food.

 Bisaya next generation...

 Traditional food..

 The Bisaya Batu Danau in Limbang.

 Traditional handicraft of Bisaya..

Media Visit for Pesta Babulang Lumba Kerbau in Batu Danau in Limbang. (part4).

The program for 8th of June 2013 (Saturday).
.Bisaya traditional cooking contest
.Buffalo race competition
.Exhibition and sale of handicrafts
.Official opening ceremony of Buffalo Race 2013
.Buffalo Race & Kuntul berhias (decorated float)
Myself, Amirul of Sarawak Tourism Board in Miri and Lim of Borneo Touch Ecotour heading to Batu Danau about 40 KM from Limbang Town and less than 10 KM from the border with Brunei.Well,,I would say it was a carnival like atmosphere as buffalo racing is a traditional pastime of the community here and they keep it alive thru Pesta Babulang.The pesta is included in the Tourism Package offering Culture and Buffalo races as part of the attractions among local and tourist from Sabah and Brunei.Do you know that the buffalo 'Jockeys' need to be agile to get on their beast of burden before hurtling down the race track.The unpredictable temperament of the animal would add to the excitement  of the event.The jockeys need not have to wear safety suit like those jockey who ride Horses.."Watch out and do not stand too near as these buffaloes don’t have brakes and proper steering wheel. They can go out of control and barrel at you,” came the warning loud and clear by the event commentator over the public announcement system.".
There was also the colorful parade of ‘Kuntul’ depicting Bisaya history, including the single pole paddy barn.It was fun but the weather that day was 'HOT' ,It was a feast for both cultural and photo-bugs to savour, as almost everyone was snapping pictures and videos of the colourful event to be posted on Facebook, Instagram and other social media while the more serious ones, including photographers from Brunei, came armed with top photographic equipment to capture the magic unfolding at this Buffaloes that provide thrills and spills, fun and hilarity.
Below is a set of photograph that I shoot during the 'Pesta Babulang (Lumba Kerbau)' in Kampong Batu Danau in Limbang.

Photo by Awang

 Are you ready for the show ?

Lawas Town.

 More picture in my next entry.....of Pesta Babulang in Limbang.

Media Visit for Pesta Babulang Part3...Tagang Long Lidung(Eco-Tourism)

On our way  from Merarap Hotsprings to Lawas Town. Myself, Mr Lim of Borneo Ecotour & Amirul of STB Visitor Center Miri .We stop by for fish spa in TAGANG Long Lidung.We want to experience the thrill of the wild river fishes feeding from hands and you can even even swim with them.On our arrival we meet by the person incharge Mr Raut Kading & his family.We proceed to Sungei Tengoa but it appears nothing significant has happened. But on the river banks, Raut Kading, a tall pony-tailed man, puts down the can and pours some dried fish feed onto the palm of his hand. He casts the feed into the waters.Immediately, the river’s surface begin to bubble with fish rushing to grab their share of the nutritious fish food.Satisfied that the fish have heard his call, Raut call Lim and Amirul  stands on the water’s edge and drops more feed into the churning water. The fish respond by literally throwing themselves at his feet to get at more tasty morsels.
The village is just off the Lawas-Ba Kelalan road which was recently improved and is experiencing increasing traffic. The villagers hope to be able to divert some of the visitors towards their system Tagang(System Tagang is basically a mean to maintain the ecological balance of a river. It also prevents unsystematic harvesting of fishes and other marine life).

The public interested in visiting Long Lidong to find out more about their unique tagang system can contact Madam Roselyn Kading (0198468079). To help cover maintenance costs of the system, a minimal entrance fee is charged — RM2 per Malaysian adult, RM1 per Malaysian child, RM4 per person for foreign nationalities and RM2 per child).
For visitors wanting to immerse in the water with the fish, fees of RM5 per Malaysian adult and RM10 per adult of foreign nationality is charged for every 10-minute block. For those justing want to dip their feet, the charges are RM2 (for Malaysians) and RM4 (for foreign nationalities) for every 10-minute block.

 Fish foot SPA........

Media Visit for Pesta Babulang (Lumba Kerbau) Limbang. Part2.

Before I write about Pesta Babulang in Batu Danau in Limbang .I thought it is better for me to insert the photograph that I shoot during our trip to Merarap Hotspring in Lawas & my experience traveling off-road journey with gravel, riverbeds, mud, rocks, and other natural terrain.Our guide and experience off road driver is Chong Teah Lim (Mr Lim) from Borneo Touch Ecotour and Encik Amirul (Paul) from Sarawak Tourism Board base in Miri.

Upon arriving Lawas, Sarawak, we drove another 15 mins to the entrance of the forest. The journey to get into this hot-spring took us another 2 hours. Partly because it was an off-road journey with gravel, riverbeds, mud, rocks, and other natural terrain as you can see from this album. One mistake you could be in disaster. Only experienced 4WD drivers dare get in (for now). Along the journey, I learned a couple off-road driving communication signs especially to oncoming trucks and 4WD. Since its deep rainforest, phone lines are yet developed. Whether you’re Maxis,Tune Talk,Celcom or whatever telco..all zero.

Actualy from Lawas to Merarap our journey started late evening after Magrib prayer and dinner & the photograph that I share here is shoot during our return trip from Merarap.We arrive quite late in the evening and almost midnight as Mr Lim could not drive faster due logging truck activity also active during the night.We arrived safely. From the entrance of the Lodge, I heard water rushing loudly. Curious me.I saw a huge muddy river with powerful water that brushes over stones. From my judgement the width of the river is at least 100ft wide. It rushes from left to right. Its already very late and we are tired so everyone say goodnight.When I woke up next day ..wow !! I see such a beautiful scenery this place is blessed with various attractions.. from diverse flora and fauna. Nevertheless, it is still largely unknown to the rest of the world, even to most people of Sarawak or Malaysia.More effort need to be made to promote this region. It's world class.. we should be proud of it..

Encik Amirul enjoy the hotspring spa.

• Get closer to nature.
• Enjoy the surrounding at the same time enjoy the nice cold weather.
• Enjoy beautiful scenery along the long and winding road on a 4 wheel drive from Bakelalan to Merarap Hot Spring.
• Take a dip in the lukewarm water in the pools.
• A great place to relax and rejuvenate your body and mind. Do bring along your reading material; here you can rest and read comfortably at the common area while listening to the sound of the stream nearby. 

End of part2 & next part3: On our way back to Lawas from Merarap Hot Spring we stop by Tagang Long Lidung Eco-Tourism.

Media Visit for Pesta Babulang,Limbang .. Part 1.

So I was happy indeed when Sarawak Tourism Board  invited me as a blogger to be one of the representative of Sarawak Blogger Community for media visit for Pesta Babulang in Limbang from 6th to 9th June,2013.It;s largely to-do with Bisaya Community cultures from Limbang and Lawas in Sarawak.
So I look forward to telling you more and sharing the photograph of the event that I shoot during my trip.First of all I would like to Thanks and Thank You very much to my host Sarawak Tourism Board..
About Sarawak Tourism Board:
VISION - Making Sarawak the naturally preferred tourism destination.
MISSION- Positioning and promoting Sarawak as a safe and friendly Eco-tourism destination.
                   Be the catalyst for tourism growth.
                   Providing networking and synergy among the official gencies and tourism promotion partner.
                   Increasing awareness among Sarawakian on the benefit and importance of tourism industry.
                   Enhancing performance though motivation and teamwork.
My itinerary on the 6th June is flying to Miri by MAS and Miri to Limbang by MASwings.I reached Miri almost 3PM and Limbang almost 4:30PM.In Miri airport I meet Mr Amirul (Paul)the officer from STB Visitors Center Miri and in Limbang airport Amirul introduce me with Mr Lim from Borneo Touch Eco Tour  who arrange our trip to Merarap Hotspring Lodge in Lawas.
Merarap Hot Springs :: Lodge is in Lawas division and Mr Lim drive us all the way from Limbang airport straight to Lawas via the Malaysian border town of Limbang in Sarawak and Temburong District in Brunei.To cross the border we use ferry, the ferry services are operated by two companies on a rotation basis, each ferry has a maximum load of 10 for saloon cars and six to eight for bigger vehicles, and takes approximately five minutes to transport vehicles across the river.The bridge over Pandaruan River is scheduled for completion in August 2013 three months before the 2013 ASEAN Summit which will be hosted by Brunei.With the increase in cross-border traffic for various purposes, the bridge will facilitate connectivity, increase transport and logistics activities and create a spin-off for the both Limbang and Temburong especially in social-economic and tourism activities.
We reached Lawas town almost dark and from Lawas we heading straight for Merarap .
About Merarap Hotspring Lodge:Located on a 5-acres in Ba'kelalan Highlands, Lawas District, Limbang Division, Sarawak..its a good place to seek rest and recreation. Merarap Hot Spring Lodge is a private/family owned business..How to get to the lodge)  because its' quite remote into the jungle, you have to get-into a four wheel drive (4WD) and it takes 1 1/2 - 2 hours journey (approx 68km) from Lawas town. Fares..is rm600 -max 10 person in 1 car (to & fro) - current fares.

You have to get into a 4WD .

Merarap Hot Spring Lodge.

Crossing the border...
More on part2 & will updated soon.
Thank You.

 

SABAH and SARAWAK Fest.

Happy Kaamatan( Harvest Festival),to all Sabahan and Happy Gawai to all Sarawakian in Malaysia.
 The Sabah fest is an immensely popular cultural event that is held in the state’s capital city, Kota Kinabalu, in early May every year. This event is usually held as a prelude to the statewide harvest festival, the Pesta Kaamatan, celebrated during the first week of May.
 Gawai Dayak is a harvest festival celebrated by the Sarawak state's indigenous people, particularly the Ibans and Bidayuhs, in their traditional costumes. Ceremonial offerings of various local traditional delicacies and 'tuak' (home-made rice wine) are made to the gods of rice and prosperity. This unique festivity is a 'must-see' occasion for local and foreign tourists alike.
Visit SABAH Tourism Board & SARAWAK Tourism Board for more info.