Catherine Wong (right) and the writer enjoy a longboat ride along Belaga River, a tributary of the Rajang.
IT was not surprising for me to hear rejection upon rejection after asking the local river express operators about any trip that would pass the infamous Pelagus Rapids.
The majority of them could not fathom out (pardon the pun) why a woman in her 70s would want to voluntarily take a risky journey along this 5km section of the Rajang River that was full of jutting rocks, raging currents and whirlpools.
I must admit that it was a bit frustrating to hear replies like: “You must be crazy. So many people died in the Pelagus Rapids,” or “Why would you want to go? It’s dangerous,” or “Why a well-educated lady like you would want all that trouble just to go to Belaga?” – and perhaps the most annoying: “You are too old to do that!”
This idea was both mine and that of my childhood friend, Catherine Wong.
It had been over 10 years since I last saw Catherine, who is now living in the US.
Upon getting a chance to come back to Sarawak for a mini reunion, she asked me to make arrangements for this mini expedition.
“Let’s shoot the Pelagus Rapids, you and I. Let’s go!” she told me, totally determined even after the same invitation was turned down by three former varsity mates.
We talked about this earlier this year when the country had just entered the phase of recovery from the pandemic and by May, following the reopening of many international borders, the plan was set.
Catherine, 72, and her husband would first fly to Singapore and then spend time with the family and friends there, before joining me in Sibu in June.
Childhood friends
Catherine and I were primary schoolmates in Sibu, and her grandmother and my grandfather were also friends growing up in Sungei Merah.
Moreover her father, the owner of the first Sungei Merah bus company (also known as the ‘Yellow Bus Company’), and mine were childhood friends as well.
Wong’s mother was the famous broadcaster, Linda Chang, of Radio Sarawak in the 1960s.
In 1960, Wong moved to Kuching while I remained in Sibu, but we met again at Universiti Malaya.
We have remained friends since – even after having moved to the US, she would occasionally come back to visit me.
In this regard, we felt that it was important to do this ‘adventure of a lifetime’ as we had not seen each other in the past 10 years.
We were actually warned by all our friends and relatives after they knew about the plan, but we just threw caution to the wind and went for it.
Her husband, quite understandably, was a bit apprehensive. Coming from an urban Peninsular Malaysian background, he was not used to travelling to and experiencing life in the ‘ulu’ (remote area).
He asked me to look after his precious wife of almost 50 years.
His words made me realise that I had Catherine’s life in my hands.
That was quite a responsibility!
A candid shot shows Catherine peeking in from her spot on the roof of the express boat.
Starting point: Sibu
It was raining on the day of our rendezvous in Sibu.
Anticipating a challenging journey ahead, we boarded a pickup truck and headed to Kapit.
It was a pleasant drive, nonetheless, as we got to enjoy the sights of ‘dabai’ (local olive) and durian trees as well as the rustic shophouses as we passed Kanowit and Song districts.
We made several stops in between where we had local food and also interacted with many hawkers selling fruits and vegetables.
It was an experience that Catherine never had before.
We reached Kapit after hours on the road and upon checking into the hotel, I was so relieved to have secured the room way ahead because I was told that all hotels in town were fully booked at the time. In fact, the local folks told us that the hotel occupancy rate in Kapit had been really high since inter-district travelling was allowed last year.
After settling in, I quickly went to book our seats for the river express to Belaga.
I felt that everyone spoke Iban in Kapit, which should not be a problem for me as I could speak it quite decently. However, Catherine and I were very delighted to see that the majority of those whom we met spoke good English.
Having spent a night in Kapit, we headed out to the wharf early and waited for the express boat bound for Belaga.
We were so excited, like two kindergarteners going for their first field trip.
It was a wonderful bustling scene at the Kapit Wharf – passengers waiting, hawkers operating their stalls, and strapping labourers carrying various heavy items – gunnies of sugar, stacks of eggs, cooking gas tanks, and even motorcycles – over their shoulders to be loaded onto the berthing vessels.
The speedy passenger longboats were making dramatic turns as they approached the wharf.
With the sun rising higher, the ripples over the water of the iconic Rajang River shimmered.
Express boats at Kapit Wharf, ready to bring passengers to the Upper Rajang.
Photo shows the interior of the river express, with the arrangement of seats resembling those inside an airplane.
Dream coming true
Catherine said the ride on the river express was her ‘dream adventure’. She quickly made friends with the boatmen and the other passengers.
We took the seats nearest to the helmsman, which Catherine described as ‘perfect’ because of the cool breeze.
“I prefer this beautiful breeze to air-conditioning. Plus, sitting near the door allows me to move about more easily, and watch people coming in every time the vessel makes a stop,” said Catherine, who would always strike a conversation with those about to disembark at any of the stops.
The composition of the passengers was truly diverse – men and women, children, youngsters, senior citizens from different ethnic groups such as Iban, Chinese, Kayan, Punan, Kajaman and Sibob.
Catherine said she had never met so many different groups of people in a small space.
“You know – they all tell me that the Pelagus Rapids are rather ‘tame’, and not as raging as many believe they are,” she said.
The boat ride was actually not bad, and I could see that the helmsman was very good in navigating through the rocks jutting out of the river.
In mid-journey, one of the boatmen invited Catherine to sit on top of the roof so that she could enjoy the scenery better.
An adventurous soul, she immediately climbed up and stayed on the roof for most of the five-hour ride.
“I’m not afraid of getting sunburn,” she quipped.
A photo taken by Catherine shows big rocks jutting out of the water in the Pelagus Rapids.
Notorious rapids
The Pelagus Rapids span 5km from ‘Kaki Wong’ to ‘Pala Wong’ (‘Wong’, in Iban, means ‘rapids’ or ‘waterfall’), with 20 or more huge rocks in the water amplifying the speed of the currents.
Several years ago, the Sarawak government had engaged a company to conduct rock-blasting, but many locals said it did not do much in lessening the danger involved in navigating through this treacherous section of the Rajang River.
In the risk of sounding grim, many tragedies have occurred in this particular stretch since 1973 – in fact, not long before our arrival in Kapit, a group of fishermen had gone missing during an outing there.
I was told that this part of the Rajang was famous for ‘labang’ (closely related to the ‘patin’, or local silver catfish), ‘baung’ (redtail catfish) and prawns.
I also learned that every year, the longhouse folks in the Upper Pelagus would make offerings and conduct ‘miring’ (a certain ritual) to ask the spirits for safety and protection whenever they had to pass rapids.
Until the road network linking Kapit and Belaga is fully realised, river transportation remains the most accessible means for the local communities to travel between these two areas.
Prior to coming to Kapit, Catherine had heard about the now-defunct Regency Pelagus Resort – a 40-room five-star establishment that was said to be doing very well before its closure in 2010.
“I would have loved to stay in that resort. I heard that it was built to closely resemble a longhouse, nestling amidst a cool rainforest environment.
“It would have been dreamlike stay.”
A Punan Ba man and his family board the express boat bound for Belaga.
Throughout the journey, Catherine was happily taking hundreds of photos from her vantage point on the roof of the boat, while I was happily enjoying the scenery from the entry door.
I struck a conversation with a Belaga resident, Henry Emang, who reminded me to look out for the two ‘kliriengs’ (funerary poles) at the Punan Ba village.
“When you see these two ‘klirieng’, you’d know that you are near Belaga,” he said.
It was an information that I found to be relieving – the sight of these poles signalled the near end of the five-hour river express journey.
It was almost 5pm when we reached the destination, where at the compound beyond the jetty, I could see many cars of those waiting for the passengers to disembark from the vessel.
Not many of the shops there were open.
“It’s not the habit of the villagers to delay the journey back to their home villages. They want to see their families as soon as possible,” said Henry.
There are about 15 Punan Ba villages in Sarawak, the majority of which are in Belaga which also houses the oldest of them all.
Catherine and I wished that we could visit that village.
The ‘kliriengs’ at Punan Ba village, which indicate that it would not be long for the express boat to reach Belaga jetty.
Memorable
Our host, former Kapit District councillor Daniel Levoh, was already waiting at the jetty to welcome us.
We were told that it was low tide when our boat arrived.
In that moment, I recalled a news report about Belaga town being hit by massive floods a few years ago, which cut the area off from other parts of Sarawak and almost caused the Belaga Bridge to collapse.
We spent a night at the town and early next day, we left for Bakun and Sungai Asap together with Daniel, and later proceeded to Tubau and Bintulu on board a pickup truck.
It was pleasant to have Daniel, also a former headmaster, as our host, in that virtually everyone from Kanowit to Belaga knew him.
We had an amazing food experience throughout our journey to Bintulu – a ‘semah’ (Tor labeobarbus, a highly-prized local freshwater fish) dish in Belaga, ‘labang’ at Sungai Asap, as well as some game meats.
However, it was also notable to mention that despite having seen the trees during the drive from Sibu to Kapit a few days ago, Catherine did not get to eat any ‘dabai’ – something that she really longed for but could not be fulfilled because it was not ‘dabai’ season.
Nonetheless, we arrived safely in Bintulu, from where Catherine later left for Kuching, and I already arranged for an express bus ride back to Miri.
The whole experience was truly an adventure for both of us, women in their 70s.
We were really proud to have accomplished this journey, which made our mini reunion after 10 years even sweeter and more memorable.
If there was anything from this mini expedition that we could leave with the readers, it would be this – we dare you to experience this river express in the Rajang, as the operation might no longer be available one day.