The Usun Apau plateau is a region of cool tablelands with a height of about 1000 m above sea level.
It is located about 170 km east of Bintulu. The plateau separates the headwaters of Sarawak’s two largest rivers, the Rajang and the Baram. Its remoteness and difficult access, with steep cliffs dropping 300 m or more, has ensured that much of the plateau remains a pristine natural area.
The spectacular Julan waterfall drops off the northern rim of the plateau. This is Sarawak highest waterfall with a sheer plunge of 250 m. Extinct volcanoes stand above the tablelands, the highest reaching 1433 m above sea level. Until less than one million years ago,these volcanoes spewed glowing clouds of ashes and lumps of molten rock into the sky. Cool mossy forests with rhododendrons,orchids, and pitcher plants in the understorey cover much of the table lands.
A few years ago my husband was planning to make a second trip to Usun Apau plateau, this time to see a large waterfall which drops of the edge of the plateau. This is in the Ulu (Upper) Baram river area.
The year before, he had seen a trail that seemed much easier than the one he used with a friend, while he was looking through his binoculars from the top of a hill.
I had no intention to join him because I worried that it might be too tough for me.
Suddenly some friends convinced me to go and he told me that it was an easy trip and I gave in.
At 6 o’clock in the morning, our guide Turan and the driver of the 4 wheel drive came to pick us up, and we were lucky that the weather was fine because to be on a logging track is already an adventure and it becomes scary when it is wet.
We arrived somewhere in the afternoon at Long San mission were we stayed for the night at Father Jacobs’ house.
Next morning we left and had to cross several rapids. Paulus, the boatman was very good in navigating but the guys insisted that we had to walk at the shore and they crossed the rapid and picked us up again a bit further.
After a few hours by boat we stayed at a pondok that they use when they go to their fields but probably they don’t stay their for a long time because when I wanted to walk to the place were we put the tent, I almost fell through the floor and just managed to grab a pole above my head. All the guys were laughing including me.
At night they had seen a Kantjil(not the car) around the camp The next morning we started walking on flat ground among high grasses until we had to climb the first hill.
Than part of my sole got loose and we had to tie it with a rope because walking became almost impossible with a flapping shoe.
Suddenly the trail disappeared and the guys were looking around to see were it went and couldn’t find it.
This was not far from a ridge were we sat up camp. Turan and Paulus decided to go back to a Penan village to get guides helping us to find the trail and come along with us.
When I asked the guys were to go for a bath they pointed to the river, some 60 m below us and it took me about 15 minutes to get down the very steep slope on a very narrow muddy, slippery trail and 30 minutes up again. My husband repaired the sole of my shoe with a needle and fishing line which took him 3 hours and he wasn’t amused while he repaired it.
The next morning Turan, Paulus and 2 Penans came back and we continued our trip.
The trip became thougher and we had to climb steep hills. Going up and down frequently was not fun, so I started to complain that my husband had told me it was easy and this was further from easy than it possibly could be. The trail was also no trail at all because the Penans had to cut one and it was very steep. Once I almost lost my balance but lucky me I didn’t fall. Turan had the shock of his life when it happened: below was a ravine so it could have been a terrible accident. The Penans were really good in finding the tracks and we didn’t get lost anymore. We had to climb at least 3 more steep hills and were walking on a very narrow ledges, just wide enough to put your feet on it. From time to time we saw beautiful orchids impressive lianas and huge trees.
I was exhausted and angry that it became more and more difficult and got really crossed and my husband walked miles ahead so that he couldn’t hear me complaining and left me walking with Paulus who was very helpful.
When we found a very nice spot between a stream and the main river I told my husband that this was the end and I wouldn’t walk any more and that he had to send a boat (which was of course impossible because of the fast-flowing, rocky rivers).
They decided to make a base camp and make trips from there and I could take a good rest. The other sole came loose as well but this time it took only an hour to repair.
I had no spare shoes with me so he had no choice to do this awful job again. This was because of the humidity and walking through streams that we had to cross many times.
Lucky for me our base camp was really beautiful and nice forest, we could swim in the river, saw nice butterflies and heard Gibbons every early morning nearby, or in the distance.
Almost every night we had rain and once it rained so heavenly that we were watching our camp carefully because the water rose till almost the edge from our camp. It looked as if we were on a island. The only painful experience was that I got stung by a hairy caterpillar when I held on to a branch.
One day the guys shot a red leaf monkey: this made me angry and told them not to hunt anymore and refused to eat it.
After a week in our base camp it proved not possible to reach the waterfall from there in one day. We went back by crossing the main river, wading through waist-deep fast-flowing water on slippery boulders. No way I was going back the same way.
To my surprise this side of the river, walking was easier and there were not so many steep hills, this was the main track that the locals are using and it was not at all difficult. We passed also one of the camps that my husband and his friend made the year before and slept in the same old pondok that we used when we started our journey.
This time I was more careful and watched every step so that I would not go through the floor again.
It had been raining and the river was very high and fast and we arrived in the afternoon at Long San.
I was happy to get rid of my shoes, but at least they survived the journey, otherwise I had a big problem with no spare shoes with me.
The driver was a day earlier and we left at 6 pm back to Miri.
I learned a good lesson on this trip and that is “ Never trust your husband when he says to you it is a easy trip, you can make it”
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