My first time visit the Kapit town, and also the last town for me to complete to visit all the division in Sarawak. Kapit situated at the center of Sarawak, Borneo. And currently its accessible by boat, and by car, but the road condition are still not in a good shape as the time I write this post in Oct 2018.
Therefore speed boats are still being use to go to the Kapit town. The earliest one starts at 5.45am from Sibu.
The Rejang river its the life line for the Kapit town, all day to day usage are transport via ship by the Rejang river every single day.
There are many boats in all size dock at the Kapit wharf.
Also several floating gas station can be seen at the Rejang river.
Unloading supply, the lorry needs to go very close to the edge of the river bank.
Not an easy job, but life still needs to go on.
Me in front of the Kapit district office
Most shop will close after 6pm, so its a bit difficult to find food after 6pm. There is one KFC, not sure what time they close.
Visiting Fort Sylvia. During my stay there, unfortunately it was a public holiday, so its not open. If not I would have visit inside the fort.
Opening Hours:
Tuesday to Sunday 10 - 12 noon & 2 - 5 pm
Closed on Monday and Public Holidays
To prevent further Iban migration upriver in the Rajang River basin, which was creating conflicts with the Orang Ulu, Rajah Charles Brooke built Baleh Fort at Nanga Balleh, the confluence of the Rejang and Baleh rivers between Kanowit and Song in late 1874.
Rajah Charles Brooke nearly drowned here in 1877 when his boat capsized in the dangerous currents. He abandoned the fort in 1878, and replaced it with a new fort located lower down the river in 1880. The new Kapit Fort was built entirely of ‘belian’ (ironwood) timber with thick walls to withstand attacks.
On 16 November 1924, a peacekeeping ceremony between the Iban, Kayan, Kenyah and Kajang was held here in the presence of Rajah Charles Brooke. In 1925, Kapit Fort was renamed Fort Sylvia after Rani Sylvia Brooke.
During the 1960s, the fort housed the District Office and the District Court House, and later the Resident’s Office when Kapit Division was formed in 1973.
It even have a high water mark on the wall of the fort, from this can tell that flood issue in the 90s are rather serious.
I visited several places in Sarawak with house in a man made pond, and the owner will name as name of house follow by the word Danau. I guess the word Danau means house surrounded with water.
Kapit is a small town, but its the biggest division in Sarawak, the district comprises 15,595.6 square kilometres.
In future I will be coming here frequent as there are many unexplored mountain, one problem its that it is time consuming to reach, because of the poor road condition.
