Category Archives: Adventure

Climbing Mount Trus Madi, the 2nd highest mountain of Malaysia – Part 1 of 3

(Note: The trail & accommodation have improved a lot after 2014. Please check out my latest Guide on Climbing Mt. Trusmadi.) God really blesses Sabah, because the top 3 highest mountains of Malaysia are in Sabah. I guess the highest mountain, Mount Kinabalu (height: 4,095M), is no stranger to Sabahans. Many even climb it more than once. But most of us haven’t tried to climb the second highest mountain of Malaysia, Mt. Trus Madi (height: 2,642 Meters or 8,668 feet).

>> Click Here to see more photos of Mt. Trus Madi

Lack of promotion is responsible for lack of visitors to Mt. Trus Madi. Another reason is – the climb is so challenging that someone even call Trus Madi “Terus Mati” (mean “Die Straight” in Malay language). Of course it is only a joke, as accident in climbing Mt. Trus Madi is rare. Though 1,453 Meters lower than Mt. Kinabalu, Mt. Trus Madi is harder to conquer. Some say if the trail to Mt. Kinabalu is a highway, Trus Madi trail is a countryside road then. The climbers have to be reasonably fit. Personally I would not recommend people younger than 15 years or older than 60 years to challenge the real “mountain power” of Mt. Trus Madi.

>> Click Here to see more photos of Mt. Trus Madi

Earlier this month, I climbed Mt. Trus Madi with 5 ladies and all of us made it to the top, despite the poor weather. Thanks to the Internet, I can bring my photos and experience to your screen. I strongly recommend Mt. Trus Madi to hardcore hikers and nature lovers. You will be dearly impressed by the pristine conditions of Mt. Trus Madi. At least you will be proud of yourself for conquering this mountain.

About Mt. Trus Madi

The name “Trus Madi” is originated from the Dusun words “pinotorusan Madi”. Pinotorusan means Hunting Ground and Madi is the name of a hunter who was used to hunt in Trus Madi. Due to higher altitude, the temperature on the mountain is about 10 to 25 degree Celsius. The flora of Trus Madi is very rich and unique. About 600 species in 160 families of plants were recorded in forest here.

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Mt. Trus Madi encompasses 5 different types of vegetations, i.e. lowland mixed dipterocarp (427-600M), hill mixed dipterocarp forest (600M – 1,500M), lower montane forest (1,500M -2,000M), upper montane forest (2,000M – 2,500M), and summit scrub (2,500M – 2,640M). You will pass through all these vegetation zones during the climb. The hybrid vegetation of montane forest and summit scrub is so unique that it is not even found on Mt. Kinabalu!

The Itinerary

The climb will take 3 days 2 nights. The climb starts in Tambunan (90 KM away from Kota Kinabalu). You can choose not to overnight in Tambunan town, but you need to move early at 6am from Kota Kinabalu, to drive 1.5 hours to meet the tour operator in Tambunan town before 8am. Below is the standard itinerary:

DAY 1
5:00pm	Depart to Tambunan (from Kota Kinabalu city)
6:30pm	Arrive Tambunan town & overnight there
DAY 2
7:00am	Breakfast
8:00am	Briefing and preparation
8:30am	Depart to Mt. Trus Madi’s Starting Point by 4-Wheel
9:30am	Arrive Forestry Check Point Gate & Register
9:45am	Proceed to Starting Point
10:30am	Starting climbing Mt. Trus Madi (3.4 KM). Lunch enroute
5:00pm	Arrive Cabin
7:00pm	Dinner
9:00pm	Overnight at cabin
DAY 3
2:00am	Wake up call
2:30am	Breakfast
3:00am	Ascend to summit (1.5KM)
5.30am	Reach summit to view sunrise
7:00am	Descend to cabin
9:00am	Arrive Cabin. Tea break & Packing
10:00am	Descend to Starting Point
4:00pm	Arrive Starting Point and proceed to Kota Kinabalu
6:30pm	Arrive Kota Kinabalu

For the first day, I stayed in a resort in Tambunan. Its service sucks so bad that I don’t want to mention its name here, coz I don’t want to promote this stupid resort.

Day 2

The next day I wake up around 7am to get prepared for the climb. After I had my breakfast at 8am, the guide and porters met us at the resort. After a short briefing and loading my bags to their 4-wheel, we headed to the starting point of the climb at 8:30am.

Going to Starting Point

The road, mainly gravel and muddy path, to the starting point is about 30 KM away from Tambunan. The mud is the soft, sticky, smooth and slippery yellow clay soil, so the road is only accessible by four-wheel drive. The engine of our 4-wheel roared and tried really hard to catch very bit of the almost inexistent fiction.

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On the muddy road, the car was like gliding and skiing on the mud, and swing violently in zig-zag like a wild bull. The steep slope with loose pebbles also posed a challenge. Our highly-skilled 4-wheel driver shifted gear quickly back and forth, to fight for every inch forward. To be frank, I was freak out. I held the handler so hard that as if I was giving birth a baby. May be I can call it an adventure.

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After 35 minutes, we reached the gate of the Forestry Check Point, where everyone was required to register. We also used the “tree” toilet there. It is a man-made structure, not a real tree.

>> Click Here to see more photos of Mt. Trus Madi

After taking a group photo at the gate, we continued our 4-wheel journey to the starting point. After the checkpoint, the ride was not that bumpy. But then I was terrified when the driver attempted to cross the river. I started to have horrifying imagination of our car being swept away by the river. My worry was needless and we crossed two rivers without any problem. Only now I truly realize the power of 4-wheel drive. Since 4-wheel is meant for adventurers, I wonder why those old aunties and uncles drive 4-wheel in city only and keep it so clean?!!

>> Click Here to see more photos of Mt. Trus Madi

After 40 minutes, we arrived the starting point of the climb. There is nothing there except a “4900 M” signage, which means we are 4.9KM (4,900 Meters) away from the summit of Mt. Trus Madi. 4.9 KM sounds like a short distance on flat ground, but it is not the case for the rugged terrain. They say this is a new starting point, which cut down the distance by 2 hours (about 3 to 4 KM). Many say we would see many blood-sucking leeches at the Starting Point, but luckily we didn’t see any.

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Part 8 of 8. Trip to Maliau Basin – Conclusion & Notes

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Continued from Part 7

You can skip this if you are not interested in visiting Maliau Basin. This is the last blog entry for my Maliau Basin trip. It is more like some post mortem records that might be useful for anyone who plans a trip to Maliau Basin.

Notes for Travellers

You need to be reasonably fit to go to Maliau Basin. The terrain is rugged and trail is not tourist-friendly. If you are too exhausted, you won’t be able to enjoy the view. You don’t need to be as strong as a hunk. A few months of regular exercise before the trip will help a lot.
Control your water ration during jungle trekking. Sip a bit for every 500 Meters to 1 KM. If you take big quantity of water at a time and you sweat heavily, your body will ask for more water, drinking too much then you will sweat more and lose more body salt. Later you will find that no matter how much you drink, your body is getting weaker. At last, you run out of water and suffer dehydration. Bring a few packs of rehydration salt (costs only RM0.50 per pack) with you to replenish salt if necessary.
Reduce the weight that you carry. For example, I had only 2 set of clothing in 6 days. I wear the “dirty set” during daytime trekking, wash it in the evening and leave it to dry over the night, and another “clean set” is for bed time.
You can save some $ if you don’t ask the travel agent to cook for you. In that case, you must have a good cook in your team, and that person should be an experienced cook who can plan the menu and ration the food quantity accordingly. It’s stressful if everyone is really tired and hungry but doesn’t know how to cook a proper meal.
The trip will be much more enjoyable if there is a botanist, birdwatcher or naturalist joining you, as they can point out all the unique things in Maliau Basin. It is quite a sad thing to pass by those rare flora & fauna, without knowing that they are worth a closer look. The rangers speak very limited English. I’m afraid they can’t tell you much unless you can speak our local language.
Start the trekking early in the morning and walk slow. You can walk slowly if you start early. Besides, it is a bit warm in the afternoon. Even the most photogenic place will look less ideal for photography if we get there in the afternoon, due to the harsh afternoon light.
If you only want a short trip and ask me what are the “must-see” attractions in Maliau Basin, I will say (1) Maliau Falls and (2) Heath Forest (many pitcher plants).
I will go to Maliau Basin again. Next time I want to visit (1) the 12 hectares Linumunsut freshwater Lake, (2) Takob-Akob Waterfall, and (3) Garden of Eden (currently inaccessible due to land erosion. They say it looks like Japanese garden full of flower).
There are only 5 ways to get cheaper tour package to Maliau Basin:-
(1) going in big group, you can get nearly 50% discount if your group is big, say, 10 people.
(2) DIY. Try to do everything yourself, e.g., cook your own meal, use own transport, don’t use porter.
(3) Write-in to Yayasan Sabah (Management of Maliau) to waive various fees such as permit, photography and guide. You can try this if you organise trip for education, tourism, government or NGO sector. But no guarantee they will approve.
(4) Malaysians get cheaper price than foreigners. For those foreigners who like to complain about the discriminating pricing, well, many Malaysians study in overseas universities and pay expensive school fees in “international rate” for a few years. I don’t see any problem to charge foreigner tourists for higher price.
(5) The prices offer by different travel agents in different time can vary greatly. You need to shop around for the best deal. But cheap doesn’t mean good. You have to be careful of the hidden cost.

Notes for Photographers

Below are some advices for the photographers. Even compact camera users will find the guide below contains very useful tips:

You need a permit to photograph in Maliau Basin. Mine was waived so I am not sure how much it costs. But I heard that it is very expensive. Anyway, it may sound unreasonable to stop a tourist to take photo, so I don’t know how strict this is enforced. Do ask if you want to photograph Maliau.
Tripod is a must, though it adds extra weight to your back. You will really appreciate it for waterfall and landscape shots. Under the forest canopy is also a dark world. My sturdy Manfratto tripod is 2 Kg. At first I bought a mini 1Kg-tripod to replace it. Then I decided to bring the best tripod. My extra effort did pay off.
If possible, organise the trip with a group of photographers. If you go to Maliau Basin with ordinary travellers, they will not wait for you to setup tripod and spend a long time to shoot an object. Non-photographers are also lack of motivation to wake up and move earlier, so you cannot earn more time for taking photos along the trail.
Taking photos needs a lot of energy. Exercise as much as possible, to make sure you are physically fit. If you are really fit, you can afford to stop by to photograph, then catching up with the group who always leaves you behind. Do not forget you need to carry heavy camera and tripod.
Use LCD Screen Protector for the LCD of your camera. It is only RM50 (about USD$15). I am glad I did because it did stop a severe damage to my LCD. In long hours of jungle trekking and climbing in hostile terrain, bad thing can happen to your camera anytime. Just treat this RM50 as an insurance for your fragile camera.
Bring spare batteries, and a lot of them. Instead of spending a few thousands to buy too many DSLR camera batteries, you can buy a battery grip, which costs RM300 to RM500 (about USD$90 – 160), then buy many AA batteries, which can be used for your camera (and external flash). For this 6-day-5-night trip, I finished all 50 AA batteries. In Maliau Basin (except Maliau Basin Studies Center), the camps have no power point for you to recharge your batteries.
Get the best AA batteries. I was using Energizer brand AA batteries. I found that its Ultimate Lithium battery (blue & silver color) can last 3 to 4 times longer than its ordinary alkaline battery (black color). Though Ultimate Lithium battery is very expensive (RM8 each) compared to ordinary black Energizer battery (RM2 each), I recommend you to cut down your weight by using more Ultimate Lithium batteries. Though holding more power, surprisingly this Lithium battery is half the weight of ordinary alkaline battery. I was annoyed that 6 ordinary alkaline batteries (for battery grip) could not last even one day.
Bring more memory cards. Without enough memory card, extra batteries are also useless. It’s better to have spare memory cards, especially if you shoot in RAW format. The less you worry about memory constraint, the more you shoot and the more likely you will get more good photos. Make sure you format the cards before the trip. Instead of buying one big memory card, it is safer to buy a few smaller cards. For example, it is better to buy two 8GB cards than one 16GB card. If your single big memory card damages, you lose all eggs in a basket.
You can hire a porter to carry your camera bag. But you should keep some spare memory cards and batteries with you. The porters understand very limited English. Even though I instructed them a few times to stay close with me, they “disappear” when I was out of memory card or battery!
Raincoat is necessary. Raining is very common in Maliau. In case of rain, the raincoat will protect your camera from the rain. And make sure your camera bag comes with a rain cover. If your porter carries your camera bag, show them the rain cover so they know how to keep your camera bag dry in rain.

If you are interested to go to Maliau Basin, you may contact Borneo Nature Tours for more info.

Photos taken in Maliau Basin, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

All Articles of Maliau Basin Trip:
Part 1. Introduction to Maliau Basin
Part 2. Day 1 in Maliau Basin
Part 3. Day 2 in Maliau. Trekking to the 1st camp
Part 4. Day 3 in Maliau. Maliau Waterfall
Part 5. Day 4 in Maliau. Entering the garden of pitcher plant
Part 6. Day 5 in Maliau. Skybridge & Night Safari
Part 7. Day 6 in Maliau. Leaving Maliau
Part 8. Conclusion & Notes

More Photos

You may check out my Maliau Basin photo album for more pictures:

BONUS! More new photos of Maliau Basin…

Part 6 of 8. Trip to Maliau Basin, Sabah’s Lost World – Day 5

Continued from Part 5

Hundred-Feet Observation Tower

I wake up early at 5am in day 5, when others are still in their dream. Next to the Nepenthes Camp is an observation platform on top of a 33-Meter Agathis borneensis tree. I want to climb up there early to see the sunrise.

Soon Mr. J and Mr. T also wake up to join me. Ms. S doesn’t join coz she has issue with the height and says there is no way she will do it. It is already frightening just looking at this tall tree. Anyway, adventure is doing something that scares you. At 5:15am, one by one, we climb up to the tree top with aluminum ladder that fixed to the tree body.

Imagine you climb a ladder to the top of a building over 10 floors high in the dark (about same height as the Karamunsing Complex in Kota Kinabalu). This is the second scariest climb that I attempt so far (the first is Batu Punggul). A misstep and you will be a free falling object for hundred feet.

One good thing to climb in the dark is, you can’t see anything under your feet, so it is not that terrifying. Mr. T and J got up there first. I hang the camera and tripod over my shoulder and move up carefully. After a few days of holding camera to take thousand of photos, my fingers are really painful. The extra camera weight also makes my legs tired and shivers. I have to stop a few times to rest. Finally, I reach the top within 10 minutes.

Above: a helipad not far away from Nepenthes Camp

Above: Nepenthes Camp looks so small from top. You can see the solar panel on the roof.

Strictly speaking, the observation tower is only a wooden platform on top of a tall tree. It is not really a tower. The structure is fenced and solid enough to take 5 to 6 persons. It is 5:40am. We look out from this platform and see that our house is so small under our feet. We also admire and appreciate the pretty Agathis borneensis tree that house the structure.

Above: the beautiful skin of Agathis borneensis tree, note the pocked-marked, greyish-reddish bark.

Above: Mr. J waits to video sunrise

The sunrise comes at 6:10am. The surrounding and the trees are painted with golden hue of colors. The birds also start their days. Many colourful birds such as Iora and Scarlet Minivet gather around the canopy of this tree. This platform is quite a nice bird watching spot. We climb down at 6:40am for breakfast, when the sunrise show is over. Damn it! I find a crack on the LCD protector. Luckily it helps to block the damage to LCD which would cost hundreds to fix.

Above: Mr. T climbing down

Above: it’s me climbing down the tree

Back to Maliau Basin Studies Centre (MBSC)

We are very relaxing today, coz we will leave the total wilderness of Maliau Basin and the trail is mostly descending (easy) path. Even though I am cut off from civilisation for many days, I don’t really feel homesick, it’s a sad day for me actually. After we have our breakfast, we depart at 8:30am to Agathis Camp, which is 7.5 KM away and a move from 1,005 to 421 Meters above sea level.

Above: trail in red is our path to Agathis Camp today

Above: the trail in 3D model

The guides warn us about the steep downhill trail and we should “brake” always and don’t run too fast. And they are right. The descending trail is not easy and it does not make us move faster, and it poses another challenge. There is no way you can tell if the soil is soft or solid until you step on it. The slope area is dangerous coz the soil is soft and slippery. The slippery “trap” is so evil coz the mud layer is just thin enough to make you slip, but not deep enough to hold your foot. I have to make sure both of my hands are supported by a rope or tree before I take the next step. I can survive a fall but my camera might not. Just be careful of the precipitous hills…

Over the days, I discover a special ability of women. They just can’t stop talking, during trekking, eating and sleeping, ALL the time. I am already out of breath trekking and they still talk to me. At the end, I just pretend I don’t hear them. Sorry, I am just too tired.

Above: lookout point, where you can see Maliau rim through gap between the trees.

Since this is the last jungle trekking of our trip, we just walk slowly, open all our senses and enjoy the surrounding view. We saw a family of 3 Bornean gibbons swings on tree branches. Red & Hose’s Leaf Monkeys (langurs) and Bornean gibbons are very common primates in Maliau. We also hear the distinct calls of Black & Yellow Broadbill and Bornean Bristlehead, and also the loud pecking noise of a woodpecker. Then Mr. T is very excited and shows me a flower of Dendrobium cinnabarinum. He says this flower is very rare, the two (all) varieties are found in Maliau Basin only.

Above: flower of Dendrobium cinnabarinum.

Finally at 12:30pm, we arrive Agathis Camp, where we have our pack-lunch. We are asked to take a shower and put on clean clothing, before we are allowed to sit in the beloved 4-wheel of the guide. Then we leave Agathis Camp and go to the hostel of MBSC, where we will spend the last night in Maliau Basin. After staying 3 days in jungle camp, the hostel is really a 5-star accommodation to us now. The guides and porters are very happy too coz now they can watch World Cup 2010 in MBSC.

Above: don’t know who brings this tiger leech back to the hostel. It is fully fed with 1 year worth of meal, so fat… lol

Skybridge (Canopy Walk)

You are wrong if you think we are holidayers who can sit still for day doing nothing. After we unpack our bags in hostel, we start to get restless and want to go to Skybridge (suspension bridges built between tall trees high above the ground). It rains heavily in the afternoon so we go around 4PM.

The Skybridge is only a 10-minute drive from MBSC. Constructed in April 2007 and linked up with about 8 super tall trees (Uratmata, Sepatir, Merbau and Seraya), Skybridge is the second longest canopy walk of Sabah, with a length of 293.8 Meters (Highest Point: 21.35 Meters).

Above: can you see them? They look so small…

Maliau Basin is an Important Birding Area. More than 290 bird species are found here, with more than 20 are endemic to Borneo, and 26% are listed as threaten or near-threaten by IUCN. Here you can find all 8 species of hornbill of Borneo, 6 species of kingfishers and all 9 species of Bornean barbets. We see fruits of fig species (Ficus), which is the favourite of hornbills, who visit as many as 240 species of fruit trees. We spend an hour here and back to hostel later.

Above: fruit of Ficus tree

Above: a weird praying mantis looking at us

Night Safari

Tonight we have a night safari at 8pm. We just sit on the jeep and let the guide scans for wildlife by using a spotlight. If the guide spots anything, the car will stop and he will show and tell us what we see. This is highly depends on luck. In bad day, you would see nothing.

Above: this wild boar (Sus barbatus) always comes to MBSC. She got 8 babies.

During an hour of fun drive, we see Malay Civet cat, Sambar Deer (cervus unicolor), Flying Squirrel, Rhinoceros Hornbill and Buffy Fish Owl.

We have been seeing the fresh dung of Banteng and elephants and hope to see them tonight, but too bad none of them turn up. Anyway, below are their photos for you to know how they look like.

Above: Banteng (Bos javanicus), Asian Wild Cattle or Bornean Wild Ox, known as Tembadau locally. Left is the female and right is male Banteng. Banteng is extinct in West Malaysia (since 1950) and Sarawak (since 1980). It was used to be the favourite game species of hunters but now it is endangered and protected in Sabah. The domesticated Banteng becomes Bali cattle. Note the white “stockings” on the legs. About 15 to 20 Banteng are recorded in Maliau.

Above: Pygmy elephant of Borneo is the smallest elephant species in the world.

Above: Common barking deer (Red Muntjac), known as Kijang locally. It can grow in length up to 98 to 111 cm, a height of 50 cm and a weight of 15 to 35 Kg. You can buy its meat as it is still the game species.

FYI, all 5 cat species (i.e. flat-headed cat, marbled cat, bay cat, leopard cat, clouded leopard) of Sabah are found around Maliau Basin. They are very elusive and secretive animals active at night, so they are very hard to spot.

Finally, we have joined all the programme In Maliau Basin and will go back to Kota Kinabalu tomorrow. But there is still one more unplanned programme waits for us tomorrow.

>> Next Article (Part 7)

Photos taken in Maliau Basin, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

More Photos

You may check out my Maliau Basin photo album for more pictures:

BONUS! More new photos of Maliau Basin…

Other canopy walk in Sabah:
Poring Canopy Walkway (highest in Sabah)
Canopy Walk of Danum Valley (award-winning attraction)
Rainforest Discovery Center (best for bird-watching)

Part 5 of 8. Trip to Nepenthes Camp (Heath Forest)

Continued from Part 4…

Day 4 in Maliau Basin

I am ready to go home today morning. We have to cancel our trip halfway coz Ms. S is injured and suffer muscle pain. When all of us are in “quitting” mode, Ms. S has geared up and I can sense the “Go! Go! Go!” mood on her face. “Did you tell her… our decision?” I ask the others quietly. They look at one another and shake their heads. What?!! None of us told her the bad news? Probably nobody dares to upset her.

Then she is quite shock to find out the rest of us have decided (without her) to cancel the trip and return to Maliau Basin Studies Centre today. She assures J, our guide, and O, Senior Ranger, that she is almost fully recover, after she did the stretching exercise advised by the doctor over the night. J is very doubtful and tries to convince her to stop. Then they quarrel. The rest stay away from the “storm” and wait. It is not for us to decide because only Ms. S knows her own condition.

Above: GPS reading of Ginseng Camp

Soon the thunderstorm is over, the face of our guide looks pale, like a cock losing a fight; he comes and informs us to get ready to Nepenthes Camp. We almost jump and scream in joy. Though we wish to continue the trip, we really concern about her condition. We don’t want her to proceed just because she doesn’t want to spoil our trip. Again, she shows no intention of quitting. The guides say they will observe her condition, if she can’t make it for the first 500 Meters, then we have to turn back. If you read my last blog, you know how terrible the trail is. Later we find that we worry too much. She always walks at the front. The “Iron Lady” is back!

Above: GPS reading of Nepenthes Camp

Going to Nepenthes Camp

At 8:30am, we start walking from Ginseng Camp (566 M above sea level) to Nepenthes Camp (formerly Camel Trophy Camp) at 1,005 Meters. Today is also one of the best days. In 7KM of jungle trekking from 566M to 1,000M in elevation (a lot of climbing then!), we will pass through 3 types of forest, namely, mixed dipterocarp rainforest, lower montane forest and heath forest. We will stay in Nepenthes Camp for a night.

Above: trail (in red) from Ginseng Camp to Nepenthes Camp

Above: trail in 3D model

The terrain is as undulating as our previous trails. We first walk in mixed dipterocarp rainforest with many hundred-feet trees, quite similar to what I saw in Agathis-Ginseng trail. For every 100 Meters we ascend, the temperature drops by 0.75 degree Celsius, so it is getting cool and fresh.

About two hours later, a forest of huge trees changes to a forest full of slim and short trees only about 15 to 30 Meters high. Conspicuous green cushions of mosses, liverworts and lichens are seen along the trail. We have entered the Lower Montane Forest (750M – 850M above sea level). There are some weird plants that you would notice in montane forest (see photos below).

Above: Tristaniopsis sp. tree with orange bark, you can peel off the skin easily.

Above: a Rengas tree which can cause intense allergies, and is related to the well known Poison Ivy.

Above: Fan palm is common in montane forest

Heath Forest: Garden of Pitcher Plant

Then we saw the first pitcher plant at 11am. Very soon we saw many more small pitcher plants along the trail. The guide asks us not to waste our time to photograph these ordinary pitcher plants, because there are more big and special ones ahead. And they are right. We enter the tropical heath forest, also a garden of pitcher plant! We can see very obvious change of vegetation; the heath forest contains dense stands of smaller sized, small-crowned & shorter trees mostly shorter than 20 Meters. The trail is quite narrow, but more sunlight due to smaller canopy.

Above: first pitcher plant

Occur from 900 to 1,600 Meters above sea level and occupy 21% of Maliau Basin, heath forest is a type of tropical moist forest found in areas with leached, acidic, white sandy soils that are extremely nutrient-poor. Heath Forest is locally known as Kerangas in Iban language, the word means a forested land with underlying soils which are unsuitable for growing rice. There are not many heath forest in Sabah and this is the first time I see it.

Above: white sandy soil in heath forest

Because of the infertile soil, the plant is rich in tannins, which is indigestible or toxic to plant eaters. The tannins leaching out of the peaty leaf litter is hard to be broken down, so it stays in the water. The reddish brown color of river water in Maliau Basin is mainly caused by heath forest. The forest floor is criss-crossed by tangled roots encrusted in moss, making the ground very marshy and soft.

We can see fascinating pitcher plants in every few steps. Some are on the ground, and some dangled up to tree top, attempting to capture high flying insects. Except Maliau and Mesliau, there is no other place in Sabah where I can see such a big concentration of pitcher plant. 9 species of pitcher plant are found in Maliau Basin, namely, N. veitchii, N. tentaculata, N. stenophylla, N. mirabilis, N. hirsuta, N. lowii, N. gracilis, N. reinwardtiana, N. stenophylla x veitchii (hybrid). Most of the pitcher plants I see in this heath forest are Nepenthes veitchii and Nepenthes stenophylla.

Besides rich variety of pitcher plant, we also found some flowering orchids and Rhododendron. 21 species of Rhododendron are found in Maliau Basin. I was told that many Japanese tourists and botanists don’t want to leave this natural botanical garden as they love it so much. Mr. T is a plant expert, so he keeps me busy taking photos by showing me some unique and rare plants around.

There are fewer leeches in heath forest, but they are bigger here. Probably due to the white sandy soil here, the tiger leech has white, instead of yellow, stripes at the side of its bodies. We don’t see any other animals except a noisy Temmink’s Sunbird. We are close to the camp when we enter the Jalan Babi (Wild Boar Road), which is a clear and wide trail created by migration of wild boars that feed on fallen acorns. You better stay close with your guide because there are many junctions here, as you could be lost easily.

Above: “Wild Boar” road

Nepenthes Camp (formerly Camel Trophy Camp)

We arrived the Nepenthes Camp at 2pm (a total of 5.5 hours of walking). Constructed by the participants of Camel Trophy (hence the old name “Camel Trophy Camp”) in 1993, Nepenthes Camp was the first and oldest permanent camp within the Maliau Basin and it is located strategically at the meeting point of lower montane forest and heath forest on southern plateau of Maliau Basin.

Nepenthes Camp is a 2-storey wooden house smaller than Ginseng Camp. It is complete with bunk beds, showers, kitchen, toilet and solar electricity, which can accommodate up to 15 visitors. Personally I think it is more comfortable than Ginseng Camp, coz it has proper rooms with beds. The ground floor is the kitchen, dining area, toilet and shower room, and our rooms are in 1st floor.

Nepenthes Camp is the oldest camp and frequented by most visitors, so it has the most number of plaques (nearly hundred) created by tourists. Some plaques are very creative and interesting. We can spend hours just to look at them, which is great, as we have nothing to do at night. We also find the names of our friends on some plaques.

Above: part of the plaque collection in Nepenthes Camp

Above: Honeymoon in Maliau Basin. Are they serious?

Above: this one made in 2002, probably the oldest plaque

Giluk Falls

I have a quick lunch at Nepenthes Camp, then proceed to Giluk Falls at 2:30pm. Ms. D and Mr. T are tired and so they don’t follow me and Ms. S. We walk so fast that we arrive Upper Giluk Waterfall in an hour. Giluk Falls is also a multi-tier waterfall but it is much more smaller than Maliau Falls. However, it has the beauty of its own.

We can see white foams flowing slowly on the water (look like someone does her laundry in the upstream). Actually these frothy white foams are created by soapy saponins from the leaves, and they are commonly seen on the river around heath forest. The reddish brown river is rich in Humic acids, produced by, and washed from, the very slowly decaying leaf litter beneath the heath forests and highest montane forest. Humic acids are difficult to degrade so they remain in the river. The water is also low in oxygen level, so only 4 fishes and 2 crab species are found in the rivers of Maliau Basin.

Due to time constraint, we don’t go to Takob-Akob Waterfall, which is far away with very challenging landscape. We are back to the Nepenthes Camp around 5:20pm.

Update (May 2011): I visited Takob-Akob Falls, the tallest waterfall (38 Meters) in Maliau Basin, in my second trip. You may watch the video below:

Click Here for bigger video

The Evening

The water pump in Nepenthes Camp broke down, so we have very limited water that we have to take our shower in a river nearby. But I have to climb down a 5-feet drop, walk on the dirty muddy riverside to the river, so I give up. I get a scoop of clean water in the toilet to wash myself with wet towel.

Nepenthes Camp is powered by 6 solar panel on the roof. The electricity is only enough for lighting of our dinner. During dinner time, about 3 Malay Civet cats (Viverra tangalunga) turn up outside our house. We give them our leftover food and they enjoy it. Though they keep a distance from us, they seem to get used to human already. One of them is lack of one limb and being chased away by other two. If you stay still, they can come as close as 2 Meters away. From the info of other web sites, visitors and guides have been feeding them since year 2001 (but I’m not sure if it is always the same group of civets).

The night in Nepenthes Camp is not too cold, probably we sleep in a proper room. The sky is so clear and full of stars. I can even see the Milky Way (our galaxy) runs across the sky like two parallel silver rivers. It’s so great to be alive. You can’t see this in city coz it is overshadowed by street light and dusty air. We feel so relaxing because we have finished all the challenging trails. Tomorrow we will go back to Agathis Camp and it is mainly descending trail.

Late in midnight, I heard someone was shouting to the air. Next day I was told that it was a guide who asked for “permission” from spirit so he can pee from the balcony. The reason was – when he took shower with another guide at the river in evening, they felt that “someone” throwing thing at them. He might think that the spirit in forest dislikes him, so he tries to be respectful.

>> Read Next Article (Part 6)

Photos taken in Maliau Basin, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

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You may check out my Maliau Basin photo album for more pictures:

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Part 4 of 8. Trip to Maliau Waterfall

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Continued from Part 3

Day 3 in Maliau Basin

I open my eyes and say good morning to a cockroach on my bed. Today we will go to the famous 7-tier Maliau Waterfall, which is one of the highlights of our Maliau Basin trip. Due to its hilly terrain and network of rivers, Maliau Basin has the densest number of waterfalls in Malaysia. To date, about 20 waterfalls were discovered in Maliau, and there should be more waterfalls that are not found and named.

Above: route in red is our trail to Maliau Falls today

Above: trail in 3D

The book “Maliau Basin” describes, “The Basin represents a single catchment, and is drained by a set of radiating tributaries of the Maliau River, one of which descends a magnificent series of waterfalls, known as Maliau Falls. The Maliau River then drains through a gorge out of the southeast of the Basin into the Kuamut River, which in turn feeds into the Kinabatangan, the longest river in Sabah.”

Going to Maliau Waterfall

We will come back to Ginseng Camp after the visit, so we can pack light and don’t need any porter. Unfortunately, Ms S hasn’t recovered from her muscle pain so she cannot join us. To stock more energy, I eat as much as I can for breakfast, and we depart for Maliau Falls, which is about 4.8KM one way, at 7:50am. Folklore has it that the Maliau Falls keeps a secret of a sleeping dragon under the water falls, and the movement of its big tail can cause flood.

Very soon we reached the most torturing part of the trail. It was a 300 Meters of very steep trail, which is our fierce battlefield with the gravity. We have to get a hold of the ropes and small trees next to the trail to move up slowly. It is only a small section of the trail but the climb already drains nearly half of my energy. This day is my worst day in Maliau trip. The straps of my heavy camera and tripod causing pain to my shoulder too. The good news is, after this challenging part, there are about 3 easier hilly trails to overcome ahead. The bad news is, tomorrow we will need to cross this part again to go to Nepenthes Camp.

Above: a huge Agathis tree

We stopped by Lobah Camp for a refreshing break. Lobah Camp (formerly Helipad Camp), which is 2 KM away from Maliau Falls, is a helipad on a clear hill. From here you will get a 230 degree panoramic view of Maliau Basin, a nice midway stop between Ginseng Camp and Maliau Waterfall. FYI, there is a water tank nearby for you to refill water (unboiled rain water).

Above: Lobah Camp got its name from the Lobah palm tree, which is abundant around the camp.

Above: Lobah Camp

Above: view from Lobah Camp

Below is a 1-minute video of Lobah Camp and its water tanks.

Part of the trail is quite flat and comfortable to walk on. I really enjoy the “ridge walk” on Bambangan ridge, the constant cool breeze there is like a natural air-cond. We are greeted by the calls of numerous Bornean gibbons (Hylobates muelleri) and even see a few of them swing very fast from tree to tree (but they look really clumsy walking on the branch, haha..). We saw a group of red-leaf monkey too. Do you know that every square KM in Maliau Basin has 35 individuals of gibbons / leaf monkey? This is the highest density in Sabah.

The guide in front also spotted a sun bear. Very often we hear the loud wing flapping noise of hornbills passes by the canopy, and the funny call of Helmeted hornbill that sounds like laughing. In Maliau Basin, you can find all 8 species of Hornbills of Sabah, with Rhinoceros Hornbill as the dominant species here. We see some interesting mushroom and fungus along the trail.

We start to descend to lower altitude (about 300 Meters asl) and feel the sweltering heat of lowland forest. Then we hear the waterfall about 1KM away. It should be a gigantic waterfall as it is so loud. We are motivated to walk faster. The last 100 Meter to the Maliau Waterfall is another steep descending trail. It was such a joyful moment to reach the waterfall at 11:35am! We were at the 6th tier of the 28-Meter-high Maliau Waterfall. The cascading waterfalls are caused by alternating hard sandstone and softer mudstone beds, wear out in different speed of water erosion.

Above: The signage of Maliau Falls. Don’t you think the warnings “No Swimming” and “Swim at Your Own Risk” are contradict to each other?

Below is a 1-minute video of Maliau Falls:

The Majestic 7-tiers Maliau Falls

OMG OMG WOW it is so cool! Due to last 2 days of raining, the roaring Maliau Waterfall is in its most beautiful form. In no time, I setup my tripod and shoot photos like crazy. Ms D swam in the tea-color water (rich with caustic tannins & soapy saponins leached from the fallen leaves). Actually we are between the 6th and 7th tier of Maliau Falls. With a height of 28 Meters (about 9 floor high), the 6th tier is the highest. The lowest tier is about 15 Meters. To me, the Maliau Falls look more like a few separate waterfalls on the same river. Is the “7-tier” a marketing gimmick or it is really a multi-tier waterfall “technically”? No matter what, Maliau Falls is one of the most photogenic waterfalls in Malaysia.

Maliau Falls is the most popular attraction of Maliau Basin and most visitors target for it. FYI, any visitor who reaches Maliau Falls will earn a certificate. We deserve it as the trail is so far and more challenging than climbing Mt. Kinabalu. We enjoy our packed lunch at the river side, and then continue with more photography (and swimming). After living under the dark and humid forest for days, I am really pleased with the view of flowing water under bright sun.

There are so many sweat bees, stingless bees and honey bees fly around and harvest the sweat on our skin. Probably they are lack of salt in the forest. To avoid agitating them, I just ignore them, but one of the big wild honey bees bites me. It’s so painful! I guess it is just too excited and want to bite off a piece of the salt (my skin!). Below are a few photos (taken in Agathis Camp) to show you how crazy these bees are when they smell salt on the shirt.

Return to Ginseng Camp

The sky turns cloudy and it might rain anytime, so we leave the waterfall at 1:20pm. I finish 1.2 Litre of my drinking water, so I refill my bottle with the tea-color water from the river. Yes, I know drinking uncooked water is not safe, but the risk of getting dehydration is a lot higher than diarrhoea now. From what I read from blog of others, many visitors don’t have enough water for the returning trip and they were badly dehydrated, so be warned. No, the tea-colored river water does not taste or smell funny. It tastes like normal fresh water. If you are very thirsty in the forest, water is the sweetest thing in the world. I advise you to bring some Iodine tablets to purify uncooked water before consumption. Mr. T is also short of water, but he refuses to take uncooked water. Then he suffers dehydration followed by fatigue and almost passed out twice. Luckily we all return safely to Ginseng Camp at 5:15pm.

Above: a natural wall that looks like man-made structure. This area was sea million years ago and the fossils of corals and seashell were found around this place.

A Sad Night

Sitting still for day to rest didn’t help, Ms. S doesn’t get any better. Her muscle is still in pain and she walks like an injured cat. Then a group of Canadian tourists enter the camp, one of them is doctor and one is an athlete who is familiar with sport injury. After listening to the problem of Ms. S, they seem to fully understand what she goes through, so they teach Ms. S the stretching exercise that could ease her muscle to recover faster. Ms. S really wants to get well soon, so she even wakes up at night to do the stretching every hour, and taking anti-inflammatory every 8 hours.

We have cabbage, mixed vegetables, egg plant, scrambled eggs and Miso soup as our dinner. Since we are so hungry, we really enjoy the dinner time and keep talking about the exciting things of the day. After the dinner, our guide, Mr. J has a discussion with us when Ms. S is not around. In view of her situation, we all think that she won’t make it next day, and we shouldn’t leave her behind and have fun on our own. We all agree to cancel the trip and turn back to Maliau Basin Studies Centre tomorrow morning. The porters will prepare a stretcher to carry Ms. S out.

When the trip is so fantastic until now and my spirit is so high (and I pay so much $$$), and I have to quit at this moment?!! This decision is such a big blow, my heart sinks to my knees, but I know that’s the best decision and we have no choice. I can’t describe my feeling; it’s a mix of disappointment, sadness, dismay, frustration, etc. But accident happens. I don’t blame her. I start to pack my stuffs for the trip back to starting point next day.

Tonight is not too cold but I can’t fall in sleep. Since there is no street light, it is pitch dark, 100% dark. Even though I open my eyes widely for a long time, I still can’t see a thing, as if I am blind! Then I hear something as big as a cat running around our beds. Without light, I wonder how those nocturnal animals see at night.

Later I have a dream that the God takes us home. Just kidding..

>> Next Article (Part 5)

Photos taken in Maliau Basin, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

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You may check out my Maliau Basin photo album for more pictures:

BONUS! More new photos of Maliau Basin…

Part 3 of 8. Day 2 in Maliau Basin, Sabah’s Lost World

Continued from Part 2…

The Real Start

Though this is my second day in Maliau, today is the “real” day as I will go to Maliau Basin on foot. We wake up early in the morning to prepare our breakfast and packed lunch. The porters arrived shortly after we had our breakfast. At first, we thought our porters will be a group of muscular tough guys like King Kong. We are surprised that our porters are youngsters who are “smaller” than us. Most of them are 18 or 20 something, and a few even married with kid.

Above: our strong porters. Look like boys huh?

To ease my burden, I get a personal porter that carries 12 KG of my stuffs, so I only need to carry 5KG of my camera and tripod. One of the porters even carries over 30 KG! Seeing the heavy bags pressing their back, I have a bad feeling, like I am treating them like camel, just for a fee of RM100 (USD$32) per day. They are nice people but speak very limited English.

Agathis Camp

Then everyone is transferred by 4-wheel to Agathis Camp, the starting point of our 9-KM jungle trekking to Ginseng Camp today. Agathis Camp is 8.82KM away from Maliau Basin Studies Center (our hostel) and located at the southern-most edge of Maliau Basin Conservation Area, about 20 KM to the north of the Security Gate and 500 Meters above sea level.

Above: the trail in red is our route for today

Above: the trail in 3D model

Agathis Camp is named after Agathis trees (Damar Minyak), the large conifers, growing up to 55 Meters, with 3 species being found in Maliau. It is easily recognised by the abundance of resin and distinctive jig-saw patterned bark and absence of buttress. Agathis tree is very limited and scarce in distribution and found in mixed dipterocarp, heath & lower montane forest.

The largest Agathis tree in Maliau has a circumference of more than 7 Meters. Agathis trees were also found in New Zealand. The wood is very popular among the Japanese as it is used for building attractive ceilings and walls. Agathis is considered as the “iconic” tree of Maliau Basin.

Above: fruits of Agathis tree

Explorer who spent 6 days in Agathis Camp recorded 109 birds and 30 mammals. The camp is near the edge of rainforest and Agathis River. The camp is furnished with very basic facilities such as canvas beds (for up to 30 visitors), kitchen, dining area, electricity supply, toilets and showers. A 1-KM self-guided nature trail at the camp provides visitors with a fascinating introduction to the forest and its wildlife. If you want to stay inside the forest but don’t want to explore deeper inside Maliau Basin, Agathis Camp is a good choice.

Going to Ginseng Camp

But we do not stay in Agathis Camp. After we looked around in Agathis Camp for a few minutes, we proceed (at 8am) to the next destination, Ginseng Camp, by jungle trekking over a rugged terrain of 9KM. The forest ranger (with VHF radio sets) and porters were also going with us. Forest Ranger is not a guide. He monitors the visitors to make sure they don’t violate the park guidelines (such as poaching and stealing Gaharu wood (Aquilaria malaccensis)).

Before this, everyone told me they were either too old or weak and said something like “I will be very slow, please wait for me lah”, but when the trekking started, I was always the last one. Anyway, it is the worst day of Maliau trip for most of us. We are inside the mixture of lowland and hill rainforest, and many trees are over 50 feet high.

Due to the dense canopy created by the tall trees, the space below is wet, shady and lack of undergrowth plant. Most of the time we walked on thick layers of foliage and saw many tiny insects such as ants, spiders and cockroach fleeing around (and leeches that come to us!), when our steps stir the leaves. I spotted many interesting mushroom and fungus along the trail.

Above: wild orchid

Above: camera trap

Above: message on camera trap. I guess they are really pissed off already, lol…

Basically most of the trails are uphill roads and part of them is suite steep and need the use of ropes and ladder for moving up. The trail about 3.5 to 4.5 KM before the Ginseng Camp is the most terrible part, due to the steep uphill trail. We saw the sky on higher point. But after the long long walk, we still see the sky, like the highest point is unreachable, very de-motivating. So I quit to look up, I lower my head and only focus on small distance of trail in front of me and move up slowly.

The nice thing is – when we move up to higher altitude, the air getting cooler and refreshing. We have our lunch in the jungle. But frankly I lose my appetite and only take a few bites of the dry rice in lunch box. Then we continue again. On the way, we were constantly asking the guide “how many kilometres left?” and hope to get motivated from smaller number each time. Mr. T is a plant expert so he is able to identify the rare plant for me to photograph. Without him, the trip would be less fun.

Above: yummy… the fungus look like sweet bun.

Above: cookie fungus? Look tasty…

Legion of Leeches

Due to the heavy rain the day before, there are hundreds of slimy leeches on the trail because these little blood suckers are active in wet environment. Though they are blind, they can detect heat and vibration and also extremely persistent, with so many of them around, a few of them will crawl onto your skin eventually.

Above: two leeches f**k each other on the shoe

Whenever we stop and rest, we will see dozens of leeches coming to our feet. As expected, very soon the leech claims its first victim, Ms. S, who got a leech bite on her stomach. She didn’t even notice it until a guide told her the bleeding under the shirt. I was once very afraid of leeches. But I become so used to them in Maliau trip and even help others to remove the leeches by hand.

Because I know the leech prevention method, I got only one leech bite in the whole trip. In fact, that only leech bite happened in the camp. Someone didn’t remove the leeches hidden inside their shoes when they entered the camp. So a brown leech crawled out of the shoe and came to me. I didn’t know I was eaten until Mr. T told me. Please always de-leech yourself before you enter the room ok. Usually leech bite only takes a tiny amount of blood and it does not bring any infection and disease. The only problem is the anti blood-clotting agent from the kiss of leech will cause non-stop bleeding for hour. The amount of bleeding from only a few leech bites is as shocking as a devastating injury.

Ginseng Camp

After 7 hours of trekking, we arrived Ginseng Camp at 15:20pm. Ginseng Camp is 645 Meters above sea level. This camp is named after Ginseng plant (Renellia borneensis, coffee family – Rubiaceae) around this place. This “Malaysian ginseng” has reddish-yellow to orange color roots, with medical properties that improve your energy and vitality.

Above: almost there

Above: Malaysian Ginseng

The 27-Meter Ginseng Waterfall is about 500 Meters away from Ginseng Camp, so I took a 20-minute walk to check it out. Below is a 1-minute video of Ginseng Fall:

Constructed in 2005, Ginseng Camp has toilets cum shower rooms, cooking area, dining area and staff quarter. The structure is on stilts and built with wood and aluminum / zinc roofing. Our accommodation is just a wooden hut that has canvas bunk beds (with mosquito net) that can accommodate up to 20 visitors. As everything is so primitive, Ginseng Camp looks like an army camp to me. We also cook with firewood. The camp has electricity supply, generated by generator from 6pm to 11pm.

Below is a 1.5-minute video of Ginseng Camp surrounding:

The river is the only source of water inside Maliau, so Ginseng Camp has gravity water pipe that collects water from the river. The river water of Maliau Basin is tea-coloured and acidic, due to the tannins leaching out of the peaty leaf litter. Some even call it “tea river”, as the water is naturally stained by tannins from vegetation. It looks like urine but absolutely safe to drink after boiling.

Cold Shower

I am a typical city guy. I take hot shower even in warm day. I have no choice in Maliau coz there is no heater. The water is from the river and it is so icy cold, making me skipping and moaning. Then I also hear a Canadian girl next door moans. I’m not alone then. You better take shower earlier when the water is not too cold.

The Night

After dinner, everyone is exhausted and there is nothing to do in the evening, so we go to bed earlier. Very soon I hear everyone snores. I lay on the bed and glad that the first day is not as bad as I expect. However, this is not the case to Ms S. She complains that the muscle on her right hip is painful and she wakes up in agony that night at 2am. We call her “Iron Lady” coz she walks very fast and always in front of us. We guess she will be fine in next day.

Our sleeping area only has a roof over us and three sides of wall. One side is an open area and has no wall and door. Such setting is same as putting our beds in an open area exposed to the cold. The night was so cold that I wake up at 3am to wear socks. As my torchlight cut through the dark, I can see tiny droplets of mist in the air. It is so cold and humid that the jean and clothing hanging next to me turn wet. I got a good sleep anyway.

>> Next Article (Part 4)

Photos taken in Maliau Basin, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

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Part 2 of 8. Trip to Maliau Basin, Sabah’s Lost World – Day 1

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Continued from Part 1…

After a month of waiting, finally, it was the day to go to Maliau Basin. Though I had been preparing and looking forward to this trip, I still felt nervous when the moment came. In the morning of day 1, our group gathered in Kota Kinabalu. There were 5 persons in the group, i.e., me, Ms. S, Ms. D and Mr. T, and our guide Mr. J, an experienced naturalist who had been to Maliau many times.

Departure

After we put our bags on our 4-wheel, we departed at 8:30am. Maliau Basin Conservation Area is located in south central Sabah, about 40 KM north of the Kalimantan border. FYI, there are two ways to go to Maliau Basin by land:

From Kota Kinabalu: go to the Keningau town and proceed to the east for 160 KM. You will pass by Sook, Nabawan and Sapulut (Sepulot). It took about 5 to 6 hours.
From Tawau: Maliau Basin is about 190KM at the west of Tawau. The ride takes 4 to 5 hours. (this was the only option when the new south-north “Keningau-Tawau” road was not available before 2008)
If you are rich, charter a helicopter to take you there in no time (do invite me!).

Stop over in Keningau Town

We arrived Keningau town around 11am, and we saw many logging trucks on the way. Some of us purchased Kampung Addidas (Village Addidas) shoes. Kampung Addidas is rubber shoe that has studs at the bottom and it is waterproof, making it the most suitable trekking shoe in the rainy and muddy conditions in tropical rainforest. It is only RM6 to RM8 a pair, very cheap but work better than your hundred-dollar hiking shoes.

After we had our lunch in Juta Hotel, we went to Millimewa Supermarket to buy food supply. Since there is no restaurant deep inside the forest of Maliau, we have to carry and prepare our own food. We bought one week quantity of food supply consisted of rice, noodle, bread, can food, fruits, vegetables, fish, chicken, eggs, coffee & tea, salt & sugar, cooking oil, spices, drinking water, etc. Then we continued our road trip to Maliau Basin.

There is no petrol station between Keningau and Maliau Basin, so make sure your oil tank is full enough (don’t forget you also need gas for return trip). If your car breaks down, there is no phone line, and you will be in trouble. There is no toilet too.

Road to Maliau Basin

(Updated: May 2016) A few years ago, a road trip to Maliau Basin required 4-Wheel Drive because of the gravel road in bad condition. Now most of the road from Keningau Town to the gate of Maliau Basin is paved and highly accessible by sedan and small cars.

99% of the road from Keningau town to Maliau Basin (gate) is paved, like the photo above.

Personally I give this road a score of 70%. Overall, this asphalt road is quite ok, but you have to stay vigilant and be careful of potholes, uneven surface and slow logging trucks that show up from time to time.

Lush forest along the road

The 30-Km stretch of road between Nabawan and Sapulut (Sepulot) Town is poorly constructed, so it isn’t a very smooth ride on this section.

Ugly oil palm near the road

You can take a look of the video below to get an idea of the road condition:

Damaged road

Though there are some damages, 95% of the road is in ok or good condition.

Gravel road

Please note the 27-Km road between the gate of Maliau Basin and its Studies Center is not fully sealed, so you might still need a 4-Wheel Drive, just to be safe.

Road with uneven surface

Maliau Basin Studies Center (MBSC)

We reached the security gate of Maliau Basin Conservation Area at 3:30pm. The gate is 300 Meters above the sea level and Maliau Basin is still 27 KM away. We registered at the gate for permission to enter.

You should visit the Information Building nearby as it is a gallery with some good info and photos about Maliau Basin. You would see some Belian (ironwood) trees near the building. You could have your tea break at Maliau Cafe inside the building and use the toilet there.

Maliau Basin Studies Centre (MBSC) is about an hour drive from the Maliau security gate, and that’s the place where we stayed for the first night. The road to MBSC is unpaved and can be very slippery and muddy after rain. Your car has a very high chance of stranded in the mud if it is not a 4-wheel drive. And the driver has to keep vigilant on the road condition at all time. Our car slipped once and almost fell down the slope. It was so close man…

The forest view along the road is pleasing. We saw many fresh dung that belong to wildlife such as wild ox, elephant and deer. We saw a few Sambar Deer, the largest deer species in Sabah. They looked at our car briefly, with curiosity, before fleeing into the jungle.

Above: butterflies eating dung

Maliau Basin Studies Centre (MBSC) is a big area consists of hostel, rest houses, administration & registration office, souvenir shop, conference room, laboratory and gallery. The buildings are wooden structure and look modern.

Above: Administration office of Maliau Basin Studies Centre (MBSC)

Above: you can get many things in the shop of MBSC, include leech socks. Be informed that they only open during normal working days and hours.

Below is a 2.5-minute video of Maliau Basin trip:

Above: Our hostel in Maliau Basin Studies Centre (MBSC)

Our hostel is quite spacious and comfortable, and it is split into male and female sides at each side. Each side has its toilet and bathroom. There are about 6 sections at each side; each section has two double-deck bunk beds (for 4 persons) and one ceiling fan, a luxury dormitory setting.

Above: our beds in hostel

The hostel is very simple and has no TV and air-conditioning, but in the next few days, we find that this hostel is the best accommodation in Maliau! There is no other guest, except a wild boar wandering outside. FYI, 013 (Maixs) and 019 (Celcom) have mobile phone signal in MBSC. I am using the Digi (016), and I don’t know where is the fucking yellow fat man (mascot of Digi).

To learn more about the facilities of Maliau Basin Studies Center, you may download their leaflets below:

Above (Click to view Full Size): layout map of Maliau Basin Studies Center

Above (Click to view Full Size): accommodation & facilities of Maliau Basin Studies Center

1st Evening in Maliau

After we checked in and unpacked our stuffs, it was about dinner time. We “tried” to cook “something” and called it a dinner. My lesson is – it is highly recommended that your group has at least one member who can cook, unless you bring your mom with you.

Above: the dining hall with kitchen. The kitchen inside is very well-equipped and has most things you need, e.g. cooking utensil, wok, rice cooker, gas stove, spoons & forks, plates & bowls, desks & chairs (for about 20 people), big & small knife, cutting board, cups, refrigerator, dish washing detergent.

Above: cooking in dining hall

After the dinner, we attended a 1-hour video presentation of introduction to Maliau Basin and facilities at 8pm. The video gave us an overview on the geography, terrain, flora and fauna of Maliau Basin and the Do & Don’t. Then we had a discussion with the ranger to decide the number of porters we need. The porters will carry our food as well as our bags (up to 12 KG per porter).

Above: Briefing by staff of MBSC

Before we went to bed, we divided the food into a few rations that to be carried by the porters to different camps (2 days in Ginseng Camp and 1 day in Nepenthes Camp). Again, a person who can cook will help a lot, coz he can plan the food menu and know the exact quantity of food for each ration. FYI, every camp has water supply, so you don’t need to carry one week of water supply with you.

Above: ration our food

>> Next Article (Part 3)

Photos taken in Maliau Basin, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

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BONUS! More new photos of Maliau Basin…

Part 1 of 8. Trip to Maliau Basin, Sabah’s Lost World

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Also known as “Sabah’s Lost World“, Maliau Basin looks like a huge volcanic caldera from the aeroplane, which spans 25 Kilometers in diameter. This saucer-shaped geological structure, which is formed about 5 million years ago, is not the remnant of a dead volcano. In fact, it is a plateau gradually uplifted by volcanic & tectonic movements, and the middle was eroded to a basin due to weathering. The basin is a sedimentary formation comprised mainly of gently inclined beds of sandstone and mudstone, deposited between 15 million and 9 million years ago when Maliau was a coastal delta.

Maliau means “Land of the Giant Staircase” in Murut language. The reason Maliau Basin is called Sabah’s Lost World is because of its almost circular outer rim, with steep slopes and cliffs range from 300 to 1,600 Meters in height, creating a natural barrier that isolates the basin from the world (and “gene exchange”). Some flora and fauna, which are “trapped” in the basin for millions of years, may have evolved into new species. The only “opening” of Maliau is via Maliau Gorge, a narrow gap to South East, where Maliau River flows and joins Kuamut River outside basin, then to Kinabatangan River, the longest river of Sabah.

The Maliau Basin Conservation Area covers an area of sprawling 588.4 square Kilometers (nearly the size of Singapore!) in Tawau district, at the South Central Part of Sabah. The Basin itself is about 390 sq. KM in size, the additional 200 sq. KM is the buffer zones surrounding the basin for extra protection. The highest point of Maliau is Gunung Lotung (Mt. Lotung) on the north rim, which is over 1,676 m in elevation.

Sorry if you are bored with the geography stuffs above. However, those are the basic knowledge for you to really understand why Maliau Basin is such a special place.

Below is a 5-minute video of jungle trekking in Maliau Basin:

Forest Types & Vegetation

Because of its unique geology, topography, soils & range of altitudes from 215 Meters to over 1,650 Meters above sea level, Maliau Basin houses at least 12 forest types. They can be divided into 4 main groups:

Mixed dipterocarp forest
Occupy 12% of Maliau Basin. Tall rainforest trees with 25M-45M in height, greatest plant & animal diversity, dipterocarp means “two-winged fruit” in Greek, lianas & rattan crawling plant prevail.
Lowland dipterocarp forest
Occupy 11% of Maliau Basin. Tropical rainforest with abundant commercial timbers such as menggaris, seraya and ironwood.
Lower montane forest
750M – 850M asl, trees are only 15-30M high, fewer big tree but more epiphytes, conspicuous mossiness.
Tropical Heath forest (kerangas)
Occupy 21% of Maliau Basin between 900M and 1,600M asl. In Iban language, kerangas means underlying soils are unsuitable for growing rice, dense stands of smaller sized, small-crowned & shorter trees, up to 20M high.

Above: dipterocarp rainforest

Their distribution is complex, with many overlapping and transitional zones, which are called “ecotone” by the scientists. Researchers are pretty excited by ecotone, because the hybrid conditions produce unique plant form, some can be new to science. For travellers like me, walking from one zone to another is like entering a different world each time.

Above: heath forest (kerangas)

Over 1,900 species types of plant have been identified in Maliau Basin, including 9 species of pitcher plants, 440 tree species and 80 species of orchid. 54 plant species are endangered. For fauna, over 69 mammal species, 290 bird species and over 35 species of amphibians are recorded so far. A rare Rafflesia tengku-adlinii flower has been spotted in Maliau Basin.

Why Maliau Basin?

A 6-day-5-night “Full Loop” tour package to Maliau Basin costs me about RM2,000 (about USD$630) even after deep discount and exemption of some fees. Wow, with RM2,000, I can go to China, Bali, Thailand, Vietnam and other foreigner countries already. Going to Maliau Basin is like paying $ to buy suffering, as the trip demands a lot of physical strength. Exploring Maliau is more like an achievement, an adventure, than a trip.

Why didn’t I use that $$$ to go to more popular tourist destinations? The first reason is, to me, popular means “many had seen it”, I dislike places that are too commercialized or frequented by millions of tourists. For example, just do a Internet search on Great Wall of China or Phuket of Thailand, you will find tons of info and photos. I want to see something pristine and less popular.

Above: Maliau Waterfall

For second reason, I love Sabah, so I would like to promote Maliau Basin to more nature lovers. To promote an attraction, we need a lot of beautiful photos and interesting info. Since not many photographers are keen to go deep inside the forest with heavy camera equipments, probably I can help to present Maliau Basin to the world with my blog.

However, it’ll be too lengthy to cover the 6-day trip in one single blog, so I break the stories into 8 parts like below:
Part 1. Introduction to Maliau Basin (this blog)
Part 2. Day 1 in Maliau Basin
Part 3. Day 2 in Maliau. Trekking to the 1st camp
Part 4. Day 3 in Maliau. Maliau Waterfall
Part 5. Day 4 in Maliau. Entering the garden of pitcher plant
Part 6. Day 5 in Maliau. Skybridge & Night Safari
Part 7. Day 6 in Maliau. Leaving Maliau
Part 8. Conclusion & Notes. Useful if you plan to visit Maliau
BONUS! More photos of Maliau Basin…

Below are some important items that you should pack for the Maliau Basin trip.

Things to Bring

Backpack (avoid the bulky one. Best if come with raincover)
Torchlight
Clothing (T-shirts, jeans, socks, underwear, etc.)
Light sleeping bag
Mini towel
Anti-Leech Socks
Insect repellent (Mosiguard with anti-leech formula)
Raincoat
Water container / bottle (1 Litre or more)
Lunch box & spoon (for packed lunch enroute). Can seal to avoid leaking
Snacks and High energy bars
Cash
Personal toiletries (e.g. tooth brush & paste, soap, cloth pegs)
Adidas Kampung (rubber hiking shoes) or other good hiking shoes
Sandals / slippers
Plastic bags (to store dirty clothing or waste)
Hand glove (I’m ok without it. Recommended for lady with “soft” palm)

Camera & Accessories

Canon EOS 50D DSLR camera (LCD screen protector is a MUST!)
Lens: Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 VC, Canon EFS 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS.
Memories cards (a total of 18GB)
External Flash 580 EX II
Battery Grip (Phottix brand) and 50+ AA batteries
Tripod (ball head): Manfratto
Filters: UV, GND, ND8, CPL
Camera bag (with raincover)

After I packed everything, the total weight is about 17 Kg (about 10Kg are camera stuffs!). I hired a porter to carry 12Kg, so I only carried about 5Kg of weight, coz shooting photos around with 17Kg on my back was not very convenient. 3 day of porter service costs me RM300 (less than USD$100).

For long hours of jungle trekking, every pound counts. Keep your burden as light as possible or hire a porter. If you plan to carry everything yourself, I strongly recommend you to keep the weight between 6 to 8Kg only. 10Kg and above is for those who are really tough and experienced. You can wash your clothing so you can bring less clothing. I wore the same jean for 5 days. You think this is terrible? One of us wore the same cloth & jean for 5 days, I had to stay 10 feet away from this person while trekking, due to the strong smell like sour rotten food.

Above: the trail in red color was the trail I covered in 4 days.

Physical Exercise

Everyone says the Maliau Basin trip is tough and physically demanding. I was very lazy and never did any exercise for years, and I knew Maliau Basin trip was no joking matter. I felt really apprehensive when the Maliau Basin trip was only a month ahead and I was running out of time. Without hesitation, I started my intensive training. If weather permitted, I would jog about 4 KM every day. I also did some push-up and sit-up to strengthen my muscles, so I could carry heavy stuffs. Though the training was only one month, it did help me a lot. The Maliau Basin was not as terrible as it sounded. The trip was tiring but I was not totally exhausted, and that extra energy kept my photography going. Taking photos really can drain your energy. What I can tell is Maliau Basin is a nightmare to those who are lack of exercise.

More Photos

You may check out my Maliau Basin photo album for more pictures: