Maludam welcomes the BAT team to the town centre.
PUSA: After spending a restful night at Sebuyau, the Borneo Post Adventure Team (BAT) continued along the coast yesterday to uncover its mysteries and jewels.
The next stop was Maludam, which is a 30-minute ferry ride across Batang Lupar. While onboard the ferry we had the opportunity to enjoy the scenic riverbanks and activities along the shores.
Maludam is a small town and a sub-district of Betong Division, where the famous Maludam National Park is located.
We reached downtown Maludam around 10.50am and noticed that the majority of the local population are Malays, followed by Chinese.
Saat explains the working of the mail delivery service at his coffeeshop in Maludam.
One interesting thing about this town is that one of the coffeeshops is also operating as a one-stop centre for the delivery and distribution of mail since the post office has not set up shop there.
According to the coffeeshop owner, Saat Sidi, his son would drive all the way to Pusa about 150km away to collect mail for the local residents three times a week. The mail is placed at the coffeeshop for the residents to collect.
After thanking Saat for his hospitality in sharing his thought and insights of the town, we proceeded to our next destination, Beladin.
This roadside stall specialises in the sale of petrol.
Beladin is believed to be the largest Malay village in Sarawak, and is well-known for its residents’ expertise in ship-building, and deep-sea-fishing.
We were fortunate to be granted entry into one of the shipbuilding yards.
It is said that each fishing vessel has a price tag of RM800,000 to RM1 million, with timber for the vessel sourced from nearby areas.
When we left about an hour later we were truly impressed by the boatbuilders’ talents.
We ended the day at Puas, another town in the division after crossing the smaller Saribas River via a 20-minute ferry ride.
The ferry arrives at the jetty to take its passangers across Maludam.