Tag Archives: Keningau

Crocker Range Park

Crocker Range Park (part 2 of 4)

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Continued from Part 1…

Crocker Range Park is one of the most important national parks of Sabah, due to its rich biodiversity and ecology values. About 500 plant species (1/3 of Borneo’s species), 107 mammal, 67 amphibian, 52 reptile and 26 species of freshwater fishes are found in this Park. There are two nature trails in the Park.

Please refer to the layout map below for the location of both trails:

Crocker Trail (2.036 KM)

Nature lovers should talk a walk in the 2.036-Kilometer Crocker Range. The starting point is just next to the Administration Office. It’s quite a leisure jungle trekking for less than 3 hours and ends at a point which is 500 Meters from accommodation area (hostels/chalets). You also can start the trekking from opposite direction (i.e. from ending to starting point).


The trail is a nature route but in fairly good condition, so you won’t lose your way. The terrain is not challenging though there are a few mildly steep path.


In the begining of the trail is a waterfall and small stream.


There is a signage in every 100 Meters. You should bring raincoat, insect repellent and a bottle of water with you. There might be forest leeches around in wet season, so you may put on your leech socks. It was very dry during my visit, so I didn’t see any leech.


The first half of the trail is inside old secondary forest, which was used to be a plantation, so you will see rubber, bamboo and banana trees.

Then you will come to the zone between secondary and primary rainforests. At night, if you are lucky, you would see wildlife such as sambar deer, sun bear, barking deer, mouse deers, wild boar or civets around this area. In daytime, I’m afraid you won’t see any big animal. I only saw a few birds, squirrels and treeshrews. You can pay attention to the shrubs along the trail, you might spot some interesting insects and plant.


Above: the moult skin of cicada. Cicada spends 12 to 13 years underground. If your child is as old as this cicada, he is in high school already.


Above: At 1,150th Meter, about halfway of the trail, there is a shelter for you to rest.


Above: the ending point of the Crocker trail. Just follow the gravel road and you will see your accommodation in 10 minutes. To be honest, this trail is less impressive than other forest trails I try in other national parks. But in night time, this trail offers so much to see. Read the next article to find out.

Pine Trail

The second trail, which I don’t recommend, is the Pine Trail near the ticket counter (refer to map for location). It is very poorly maintained and look more like an abandoned trail.


The dense pine woods look so beautiful from a distance. That’s why I decide to check out the Pine Trail. The pine trees were planted by the previous land owner. The Sabah Parks staff did advise me that the pine trail is in less than ideal condition and he doesn’t encourage me to explore.

The 1st 150 Meters walk to the Rusa Shelter (Pondok Rusa) is quite ok. I had a good opening view of Crocker Range and Keningau valley from the shelter.


Driven by curiosity, I proceed deeper to the pine trail, where the trail condition gets quite uninviting. The trail was almost unrecognizable and covered by long grass and dense shrubs, and some parts are so narrow. I feel very uncomfortable walking on grass stack with shrubs so near to me, coz that’s where the snakes like to lurk. Though I was hesitating, I was still moving in and I had no idea where is the end.


You also need to be very careful not to trip and fall on the sharp incisions of Acasia shrubs. Such “trap” is everywhere on the trail.


Above: the needle-like pine leaves
It took me more than 30 minutes to reach the pine tree area.


The trail disappears, so I assume I have reached the ending point.

You may watch the 1-min video of pine trail below:

Click Here to see bigger video


Above: anyone can read what is written on the signage?


Here I am, under the pine trees and surrounded by dense undergrowth. But what’s the point? What am I doing here?


Well, there are a lot of pine fruits on the ground. Someone like to collect this, but not me. Now you know what is the pine trail about.

On the way back to my cabin, I passed by a soccer field, which is worth a mention here.

Soccer Field

The football/soccer field is quite near the camping ground. The Sabah Parks guides tell me that I can see deers playing soccer here at night. Just kidding.


Yes, you can see Sambar Deers (Payau) and Barking Deers (Kijang) wandering in this field at night. Sabah Parks is trying to plant fruit and food crop to attract more deers. In future, they will open a new “Deer Trail” as a new attraction for deer sighting.



If you walk around, you would see deer dropping on the field, an evidence of their visit.

Observatory Tower

Another point of interest you should check out is the 20-Meter observatory tower next to the restaurant in Crocker Range Park. It is just a stone throw from the Crocker Nature Center.


Above: the restaurant (Cinnamon Cafe) next to the tower, opens from 8am to 9pm daily.


Above: having dinner in Cinnamon Cafe


Above: Cinnamon Cafe doesn’t have many choices of food but it tastes ok.


The notice says the tower only allows a maximum of 8 visitors at a time and use it at your own risk.


The structure of the tower is mainly steel and very solid.

You may watch the 2-min video of observatory tower below:

Click Here to see bigger video

The feature of this tower is – you can get a very nice view of Keningau town from the top. I took the following photos on the tower. You can see the Juta Hotel clearly, the highest building of Keningau.


Above: Keningau in daytime


Above: sunrise of Keningau


Above: Keningau after sunset

Click Here for Next Article (part 3)

More Photos

You may check out the photo album of Crocker Range Park for more nice pictures:

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Part 1: Crocker Nature Center, Insectarium, Fern Garden & Rafflesia Plot
Part 2: Crocker Trail, Pine Trail & Observatory Tower (this article)
Part 3: Night Walk
Part 4: Accommodation in the Park

Photos taken in Keningau, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Crocker Range Park (part 1 of 4)

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Crocker Range Park (Taman Banjaran Crocker) is the largest terrestrial park of Sabah. The Park spreads over 139,919 hectares of densely forested terrain, mainly lowland, hill and montane forests, and covering an area of 1,399 sq. Kilometers, which is twice the size of Singapore! As Crocker Range Park has many species of flora and fauna endemic to Borneo, I had a 4-day-3-night tour there last month.


Crocker Range Park is approximately 75 KM in length and 15 KM wide, run along northeast-southwest axis in west coast of Sabah. The altitude of the Park is 100 to 2,076 Meters at the peak of Minduksirung, with temperature ranges from 18°C to 26°C (64°F to 79°F).


As shown in the map above, Crocker Range Park spans across 8 districts. The Park is so big that it has 10 substations, such as the Rafflesia Information Center and Mahua Waterfall in Tambunan. Sabah Parks manages this Park since 1984 to protect its ecosystem of forest and watersheds of rivers.


Being a significant biodiversity site, the Park is also an important water catchment area as the sources of 12 major rivers. These rivers supply clean drinking water to the people in west coast and interior of Sabah. If I pee in these rivers, half of Sabah people will have a taste of my urine. Just kidding..


The headquarter (HQ) of Crocker Range Park in Keningau district is 105 KM from Kota Kinabalu city and very accessible. Just drive on the new Kimanis-Keningau road to Keningau town, in less than 2 hours (about 14 KM before Keningau), you will see the Park office is just next to the road side. I reached there at 9:30am by a bus and it only costs me RM15 (about USD$4.50) one way.

You may watch the 30-sec video of Crocker Range Park entrance below:


Compared to other substations, Crocker Range Park HQ (main station) has better facilities and is more “tourist-ready”. In contrast to our noisy and overcrowded Kinabalu Park, this Park is very quiet, when my visit was on Sunday of Muslim fasting month, and I was the only tourist (I like it though). Just remember the Administration office building in photo above, because EVERYTHING (i.e. booking, registration, check-in/out, operation, activities) is done there.


The Sabah Parks staff, Ms Ridianna, was expecting my arrival coz I had booked the room by phone earlier. I registered in the reception office and got my room key from a boy (just joking, he is the son of Ridianna). For 16-bunk-bed dormitory room in Kayu Manis Cabin (Asrama Kayu Manis), it costs only RM20 (about USD$6) per night, quite affordable if compared to the minimum RM100 (USD$30) per bed per night room rate of Kinabalu Park, under the blood-sucking management company named Sutera Sanctuary Lodges.

I also got a layout map of Crocker Range Park. You may click the map below to download it.

Actually I modify the original map and translate the Malaysia language terms to English and add more details to it. Other park maps you find on the Internet are outdated. You may need to refer to this map when you read the rest of my articles.


After checking in, I face my first problem. My accommodation is 3 KM away from the administration office and I didn’t bring my car. For you who plan to stay in the Park, please take note that you need to drive to your hostels/chalets at Gate No. 2 (refer to map).


Above: Kayu Manis Cabin
Luckily Sabah Parks has office vehicles move and work around the Park, and they are very keen to give me a lift to my cabin. FYI, there is a Celcom telecomunication tower nearby so my mobile phone got nearly full bar of signal anytime.


Instead of one room key, they hand me all the keys which allow me to access all the rooms in this cabin, include the better rooms.


Anyway, being an honest traveller (cough…), I stay in what I pay for, the cheaper dormitory room with 16 bunk beds. Guess what? I own the whole room/cabin as there was no other tenant during fasting month.


Then came the second problem, I was informed that the water pump was malfunction so there was no water. Fortunately, I managed to collect two buckets of water remained in the pipes. The plumber fixed the pump on next day.


Third problem, there was no restaurant in the Park and the only canteen in front of the Park was closed for fasting month.


Above: I only brought a small amount of food such as biscuits, oatmeal, instant noodle cups, creamy soup, can, 3-in-1 Nescafe and some chocolate bars, which are not enough for 3 days. Again, luckily Ridianna lives in Keningau and she helped me to buy some food supplies such as rice. The Sabah Parks staffs there are “naturally” friendly and helpful. Thanks for their help, all my problems were no longer the problems.

Crocker Nature Center (CNC)


Now everything is settled, I start to tour inside the Park. Crocker Nature Center (CNC), which is 500 Meters away from accommodation zone, is the second most important building you should remember, as it’s the Exhibition Center and the starting point of most activities. You may Click Here to see its opening hours.

Crocker Nature Center exhibits some information, specimens and photographs about the flora & fauna of the Park. Some traditional farming and fishing tools are also on display.

You may watch the 2-minute video of Crocker Nature Center below:


Above: the direction signage near CNC. It is in Malaysia language. You may Click Here to see them in English.

Insectarium (Kebun Serangga)

Crocker Range Park is famous for its rich variety of insects, so I checked out the Insectarium, just behind CNC.


The ranger told me that an Asian Paradise Flycatcher (a beautiful bird with long tail looks like paradise bird) nested here before and attracted a lot of bird watchers. I saw magpie robin, buff-rumped woodpecker, bulbul, sunbirds, and flowerpeckers around this area. Besides, I also spotted hornbill, white-breasted waterhen (Ruak in Malay), Cuckoo doves, Emerald doves, green pigeon, white-breasted woodswallow, yellow-vented bulbul, orange-bellied flowerpecker, Pacific swallow, Barn swallow, pied fantail and chestnut munia near my cabin.

The walk in Insectarium takes less than 30 minutes on cement or paved walkway inside a wood, which used to be a farm land. There are shelters, pond and some flowers, but too bad I didn’t see any interesting insect. Instead, the most common insect here is mosquito, and a lot of them. Do take insect repellent with you if you come here. However, this place will turn into a party ground of various bugs and insects at night. More on this later.


FYI, if you see a field like photo above, you can turn left to follow the trail to the Administration Office, which is about a 10 minutes walk (500 Meters).


Above: junction to Insectarium and Fern Garden


Reed Snake (Calamaria grabowskyi) spotted at the junction. It’s neither venomous nor aggressive.

Fern Garden (Kebun Paku Pakis)


55 species of ferns can been found in Crocker Range Park. These includes the endemic and newly described species of Adiantum lamrianum, found near the Mahua waterfall.


You can find hundreds of fern plant, in different sizes and shapes, in the Fern Garden of Crocker Range Park. Many would look familiar to you as they are commonly used as ornament plant in local gardens. The huge elephant fern is also in their collection.

Rafflesia Plot

About 100 Meter behind the Administration Office is a Rafflesia Plot area for the biggest rafflesia species of Sabah, rafflesia keithii. There were about 4 rafflesia buds during my visit. The biggest bud is still 3 months away from blooming. You can Click Here to see the blooming rafflesia.

Rafflesia flower doesn’t have predictable blooming period and the flower lasts less than a week, so you need luck to see the blooming flower.

Click Here for Next Article (part 2)

More Photos

You may check out the photo album of Crocker Range Park for more nice pictures:

All Articles

Part 1: Crocker Nature Center, Insectarium, Fern Garden & Rafflesia Plot (this article)
Part 2: Crocker Trail, Pine Trail & Observatory Tower
Part 3: Night Walk
Part 4: Accommodation in the Park

Photos taken in Keningau, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Trip to Batu Punggul – Part 3 of 3

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Continued from part 2…

Finally we were ready to climb Batu Punggul. At the beginning point of the climb, we could take a short trail nearby and “preview” Batu Punggul. Everyone was warned not to proceed when they felt they were not feeling confident to make it. Most chose to stay back.


Click Here to see more photos of Batu Punggul >>

Unfortunately, my greed was stopping me to think twice about the challenge, as I had climbed Mt. Kinabalu a few times without problem. I didn’t foresee I would be defeated by a mountain that was so much lower. Look at the start of the trail (photo at left below), so scary man…


Click Here to see more photos of Batu Punggul >>

The guide said it was only a 30 minutes route. However, that is their time, not ours. It was a climbing route almost vertically upward. We were really climbing with hands and ropes, soemtimes tree roots. Tell you, there is NO trail that is flat for walking. Probably the guides were trying to motivate us. They always said the top was only a few minutes ahead, so I climbed… I climbed… and I climbed, but I still didn’t see the top. The rock was hard and sharp. We just tried to get firm grip of it and pulled ourselves up inch-by-inch to the top slowly.


Click Here to see more photos of Batu Punggul >>

This was one of the most punishing moment in my life. I started to be dehydrated after 30 minutes coz I was running out of water. However, I didn’t want to give up at this point so I just disregarded the warning from my body. This place is the worst nightmare for height phobia. A single mistake you would fall all the way down the hundreds foot drop under your feet. The guide kept on reminding us not to look under our feet, to ensure that we wouldn’t lose strength due to fear.


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Without the guide, I doubt if I can make that far. There were many “traps” along the climb. Some small tree branches fell between the rocks, then covered by leaves on top over time, forming a very weak structured often mistaken as firm ground. I once stepped on it and missed the step, causing my both legs hanging in the air. There were lot of vegetation that cut my jean and almost poked my eyes while climbing.


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After nearly an hour of climbing, the afternoon sun was shooting hot beam to us. At last I reached the top of Batu Punggul, but the highest point was still 30 minutes away. I was sitting at the edge of the cliff. The tree canopy and river looked so small under my feet, and I could see Tataluan Village far way. Due to dehydration, I felt that I was overheated and would pass out if I forced myself to continue.

Therefore, I had to admit that I was defeated by Batu Punggul at 12:45pm, though the highest point was not too far away. Actually anyone who regularly exercises can make it. It is only that I am too weak and seldom work out. I was making a few wrong decisions too, e.g. didn’t bring enough water, wearing heavy hiking shoes. It is also advisable to climb as early as possible in the morning so you won’t be exposed under harsh sunlight.

To get up there is challenging, but moving down is another nightmare. To prevent dehydration worsen, I had to stopped very often and rest under the shade, waiting for body to cool off to proceed. Facing down to see the height was so demotivating, I relied on the energy of desire for survival and back in one piece. Later the elder villager told me that the spirit didn’t permit me to climb. Somehow I had started climbing before he managed to bring me this message. They also said it would rain for 2 days if someone conquered the mountain, and it did rain heavilt later. Don’t know if these are true. Anyway, this shows that the locals strongly believe there are spirits living in Batu Punggul.


Click Here to see more photos of Batu Punggul >>

Don’t worry. I am ok. Though I didn’t conquer Batu Punggul, at least I won’t regret for not trying. The next morning when I waked up for work, I found that the force of gravity has tripped. Driving a small car was like driving a 16-ton truck. I have uploaded all the photos of this trip. Hope you will like the photos that I “risked” my life to take.

Photos taken in Sepulot, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Trip to Batu Punggul – Part 2 of 3

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Continued from part 1…

We reached the foothill of Batu Punggul after 10 minutes of boat ride. We walked and climbed slowly uphill. Probably due to the rainy season, the forest floor was wet and the surrounding air was humid. At the beginning of the trail, I saw a few ground leeches fully extended their slimy and elastic bodies to the air, wiggling in excitement. But they were no longer a concern when we moved further away from the river side. I wished I could spend more time in this dense jungle coz you would find rafflesia here (biggest flower in the world).


Click Here to see more photos of Batu Punggul >>

After 15 minutes of walking, we saw the entrance of a cave. This cave may have existed for thousands of years and created by limestone erosion. It is quite a big and deep cave. You can walk straight to the end without climbing up and down.


Click Here to see more photos of Batu Punggul >>

There is a broken coffin of an ancestor near the entrance. Too bad it was not preserved properly and I wonder how it looked. But this tells us there were people lived here before. FYI, there is another Batu Tinahas about 20 minutes walk away from Batu Punggul. It has more complex (and dangerous!) cave system, which may interest hardcore climbers.

About 10 Meters inside is a low opening. I had to lower my body to go continue. It was very dark so I just followed the light of people in front of me. I heard a few bats flapping their wings flying near me. The air was getting stuffy, with smell of amonia came from the bat guan.

Then I entered a space as big as a hall. I could see light coming from the holes on top. According to the legend, Batu Punggul is a fossilized longhouse, so this cave is probably its rooms. A old monument-like object (photo at right below) was built to mark the territory of the past residents. In the dark, I was sure that I saw a white and blur figure walked into this pile of rocks, but nobdoy would believe what I’ve seen.


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We only wandering in the cave for 10 minutes then we moved on. You see. It was such a rush. I really had no time to explore this place in detail, not to mention setting up a tripod to shoot better photos. Anyway, I still took a lot of photos and I will show you the photo gallery tomorrow.


Click Here to see more photos of Batu Punggul >>

Bird nest is no longer available in this cave. Very likely the nests were over-harvested, before the broods had a chance to grow and reproduce. However, the interesting rock formation inside is already worth a visit.


Click Here to see more photos of Batu Punggul >>

Haha… a heart-shaped hole on top. But this place is not romantic at all. The locals told us that in the very old day, some people dragged the women to this cave, rapped and killed them. I might have just seen one of the spirits lingering in this cave. At this point, the journey was fun until I climbed Batu Punggul.

Continue to Part 3…

Photos taken in Sepulot, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Trip to Batu Punggul – Part 1 of 3

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Batu Punggul means “Rock Tree Trunk” coz of the look of this 1,000+ feet (330 Meters) limestone pinnacle in the rainforest. It is located in the rainforest of Sepulot (Sapulut), a very remote area more than 100 KM away from Keningau town (200+ KM from Kota Kinabalu). Batu Punggul was the place I always wanted to go, but now I don’t dare to come back again.


Click Here to see more photos of Batu Punggul >>

Sepulot was once the land of Murut headhunters, and the old legend makes Batu Punggul a very mysterious mountain. The locals believe there are spirits live in it. In the past, the adventurers needed to take 4 to 5 hours of boat ride to reach there. This area has become more accessible when the main road that connects Keningau, Nabawan and Tawau opened. In fact, my father came here many years ago, and he was complaining about the long hours of boat ride (that time the road was not ready) and staying in a haunted accommodation. He is physically fit and he also says the climb is so dangerous that he doesn’t want to try again. If he says tough, it is very though then.


Click Here to see more photos of Batu Punggul >>

However, large part of the road to Sepulot is covered with gravel, so do expect a long time of bumpy ride, a 4-wheel is more advisable for the visit, though smaller car is still possible. 40 KM after Nabawan town and passing by a bridge, you will see Tataluan Village (Kampung Tataluan) at the left, the starting point of the trip.

People in Tataluan Village is living a very primitive life, as there is no gas and power. Two shaky public toilets are probably the only facility they have here for travellers. I guess they don’t understand why tourists are so interested in this cursed mountain. They told me that people will be hurt by black magic, if they climb Batu Punggul without permission.


Click Here to see more photos of Batu Punggul >>

FYI, the official name of this place is Sepulot (on road sign), but the media calls it Sepulut and locals call it Sapulut.


Click Here to see more photos of Batu Punggul >>

Well, there comes the legend of Batu Punggul (I cut short the long story). A long long time ago, there were two longhouses, namely, Punggul and Tinagas communities, living at each side of Sapulut River. One day the Bunggul community celebrated a wedding. Their fire was put off, and they needed fire to cook. Therefore, the Bunggul people asked Tinagas to tied the fire on the dog (poor dog!) and let it swam across the river. The dog was drowned and they laughed like mad. Then they tried the same thing on a cock and asked it to fly over the other side. The cock managed to cross but the fire was put off by water. Again, these crazy people laughed. Their sneering laughter angered the gods in the jungle, so the people, their longhouses and the cock were turned into stones. The longhouse of Bunggul community became Batu Bunggul.


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Batu Punggul is next to the Sapulut River, so we needed only 10 minutes of boat ride to reach its foothill. The boats we used were the wooden sampan boats equipped with engine. Hmmm… the boats look like some wooden slats loosely binded together and I could see holes between them. That reminded me of my terrifying first-time experience with sampan many years ago. The boat was only one inch over the surface and it was so unstable, a bit of force and movement would make it capsized.


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Luckily the river cruise was a smooth one. There were a few rapids but the boats were under good control. The splashes still made me felt uneasy anyway. I think I saw the “cock stone” (mentioned in legend) in the river. Do you see the big tree in the photo below? It grows on top of a very thin layer of rock and doesn’t collapse. Within minutes, we saw Batu Punggul in front of us. This limestone pinnacle, discovered by two Japanese visitors in 1968, Eizo Yogawa and Tamio Yamamoto, is a lot taller and bigger than something that I think I can conquer. But it is so beautiful..



Click Here to see more photos of Batu Punggul >>

Yayasan Sabah building would look small standing next to it. If going up to the top of Yayasan Sabah by staircase is terrible, what if climbing to the top of this mountain by hand? I was speechless. On the way, I kept on struggling whether I should give up.

Continue to Part 2…

Photos taken in Sepulot, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Worst Vehicle in Sabah

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You think Mini-Buses are the worst transport in Sabah? Perhaps you haven’t gone to Keningau town.

These overloaded lumber trucks are the common view in Keningau. They carry logs that can be twice as long (and heavy?) as the length of their truck. Tons of log are only secured by 2 steel ropes.

The logs are so long that whenever this truck makes a turn, the tail of its log can sweep the car on other lane or behind it. Just visualize a person carries a very long stick horizontally. Even if he turns slightly, his stick can whip someone by surprise.

Such truck is clearly compromising the safety of other vehicles. They will be fined dearly if doing this in city. I have no idea why they can act like an outlaw in Keningau. Probably the Keningau police station is run by timber company. A little citizen can get saman (fined) for bad parking… So what is this?

Bye bye stupid truck. In fact, the lumber trucks are responsible for many damaged roads as our highway is not designed for such heavy duty use.

Not only overloaded trucks, you also can see dirty truck that have plate number totally covered in dust, like the oil palm truck below.

Well, this can really get you impatient, when you are behind a dozer in a double-lined lane.

Photos taken in Keningau, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Sook

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Sook is a small town near to Keningau, a interior district. I know Sook was once a lumbering town, and you can see along the way that there is not many dense forest left.

After all the forest was clear and all the timber companies left with billions of dollars, there is nothing much left for the people of Sook. The area remains remote and backward, looks like a 1950s countryside. 70% of houses are built from wood and the road is covered with gravel. We saw many students went to school with car 11 (on feet) and felt sorry about the cloud of dust stirred wild by our cars. The KK students are so lucky.

Without much resources, tourism would be the only mean to help this town to grow and develop. I saw some forest replantation programme scattered along the road. However, I also found that oil palm was replacing hill paddy. No doubt very soon the roadside in Sook will look like the feature-less roadside, which is full of oil palm other than replanted forest, like Tawau and Lahad Datu.

The old legend of a village can be an attraction. There is a rock named Loyang in Sinar Baru Village of Sook. Loyang means Male in Murut language.

The locals believe that the rock was formed from a wild boar in the old day. Well, it doesn’t look like boar anymore due to the water erosion. But it seems to be a foreigner object in the river.

They said in the past, there were two hunters got a wild boar. One of them cleaned it and removed its organs next to this river. It was a rainy day, so this guy went away to get his friend to help. When they both came, the wild boar was gone and there was a new big rock there, so they thought the boar was turned into this rock.

They also say its underside is hollow. You can find a hole when you swim under it. The people think whoever plays with this rock can get cursed. So next time you see a big rock in the river, don’t pee on it then. An elder villager was interviewed about this story.

Along the road of Sook, I saw many small wooden huts near the road side. I was told that these were the graves of Murut. Some of them are hundred years old. They don’t seem to have a centralized graveyard, so you could see a small group of graves for every few KMs. Some mixed with the Christian graves, probably belong to those converted Muruts.

Most of them are decorated with interesting color motive, with name and date of deceased written on it. If you see the photo below, you would see the soil piled up like a pyramid in the hut. I wonder what it means. I saw some huts got flowers hanging in it. The interior is just like another world to me.

Imagine there is no street light and you walk along this road at night… creepy.

Photos taken in Keningau, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo