The Usun Apau and Linau Balui proved that these two distinct volleys of volcanism were presented long ago. Other than an old volcanic site, the Usun Apau tableland also contains many mega waterfalls that spill over its rim on the edge of the tableland, and it is also believed to be the headwaters of the Barams and Pelagus-Rejang rivers.
On my hiking journey, I meet many people with the same interests as me. There is a senior of mine which equipped with rich knowledge of the flora fauna and geography of Sarawak. Told me about the highest waterfall of Sarawak, the Julan waterfall at the Usun Apau plateau, it is located in central Borneo. This immediately caught my attention, and I told myself that I must go and see it myself because is in Sarawak, my beautiful homeland.
I
started to research about this place and stumbled upon two books one “Sarawak on
the island of Borneo/Malaysia” Published at the year 1986 by Robert Hoebel, and
written by Yeoh Siew Hoon on page 195, it briefly mentions the Usun Apau, Julan
Waterfall. It says the landscape is spectacular, sheer cliffs plunge their way downwards, meeting the plush green carpet on the jungle floor. And then it
attached one photo of Eastern Julan Waterfall, so beautiful.
And another one is "National Park of Sarawak" Publish in the year 2006 by Hans P.Hazebroek, and Abang Kashim bin Abang Morshidi, on page 255, it documents clearly the Geology, Climate, Soils, Flora and Fauna in that area.
In the
Year 2017, I manage to pull up a team of Adventurers and venture into the lush
jungle of the Usun Apau. I am 35 that year and have been hiking since primary
school. Seen countless waterfalls over the years, but I have never seen
anything like this.
In front of me was the Eastern Julan Waterfall, with a 100-meter single drop. The force of the water is so strong that when the water reached the base. It immediately becomes mist, thus when the sun’s rays shine on it, I can constantly see a few rainbows. I was stunned when I was at the base of the waterfall, the strong breeze current created from the water drop from high up constantly blowing at me, and I am all wet even without going into the water.
At that time, I feel alive, I feel amazing, and I feel small standing beside this giant.
After finishing the trip, I already plan for a 2nd exploration back to Usun Apau again. This time is to the western side of the plateau to visit the Western Julan Waterfall.
According to the map topology, this waterfall is about 350 meters high. It is 3 times the size of Eastern Julan Waterfall. I was thinking, the eastern Julan waterfall is already amazing, what will it look like if one day I can be at the base of the western Julan waterfall?
5 years later in the year 2022, I finally get the chance to revisit Usun Apau, and this time is to the western Julan waterfall. I lead a team of 2 local researchers and also 1 local guide and 3 porters to set off on a four days exploration to try to reach the western Julan waterfall.
We reached Miri one day earlier, and the next morning we meet up with my guide. The drive from Miri to the start of the trailhead took us around 125km and 6 hours of 4WD car ride via the muddy logging road.
Without wasting any time, I change to my hiking wear and double-check my backpack to make sure that I have everything in it.
On this trip I packed several things:
·
A 35 litter hiking backpack, rain cover
·
Hammock and Flysheet
·
2 sets of clothes for hiking, 1 set of clothes
for sleeping
·
3 litters of drinking water, a filter, and a box
of chlorine tablet pills
·
A small cooking pot, and spoon.
·
A camera, a smartphone, a drone, and 3 power
bank
·
Three 10 litter dry bags to waterproof all the
items above
I am expecting the trail condition to be similar to the eastern trail. I am wearing a pair of rubber shoes to get ready for mud, and river crossing, and it also has a good grip on the wet surface. The only drawdown is that if I hike for a long period (more than 10 hours) with that shoes, it will injure my toe and destroy my toenails.
The
trail starts with the abandoned logging trail, with long ferns and mimosa
pudica.
Day
1 is to hike to our camp no.1 and the distance is around 8.7km with a total
time of 4h 30m.
We
start with 432 meters above sea level till 644 meters above sea level.
The thorn from the mimosa is extremely annoying. I have to stop every once in a while to check on my socks and pull out the thorn.
Normally I will hike by wearing short pants (same during my eastern Julan waterfall hike back then) but this time I am so glad that I made the decision to use long pants last mins. If not my legs will be badly scratched by the thorn from the plants on both sides of the trail. The fern is as tall as a person, and mimosas are all over the fern, I have scratched on my arms, neck, shoulder, and a bit on my face. A terrible experience.
It was a hot day, hiking under the big hot sun with thorn plants on both sides. It is not a good way to start. I checked on my team the two researchers, they didn't talk much but just followed my lead. I am glad that they can still take it.
To make things worse, no water source is easy to get. It is either too deep down the ridge, or dry (currently is dry season). I still have water, but my two researcher's water is almost finished. I told my guide that we need to quickly find water for them before they get dehydration.
Not long after that, my guide manages to find a water source. While we stop for rest, he hikes a few meters descend and took a left turn into the jungle valley. After that, he called for me to refill our water there. Interestingly, the water came out from a rotten log, crystal clear water, and also cold. The porter team fill up the bottle with water for cooking later, and the 3 of us also refill ours.
The most exciting part of being able to have a glim of the Western Julan Waterfall from far away, I already can hear the roaring sound of the water pouring down from the waterfall. It is really amazing!!!
The time is around 6 pm, and we finally reached camp no.1 this is where we will stay for that night before continuing the hike.
Immediately I told my team to set up their hammock and flysheet, Based on my experience when you reach your campsite, this is the first thing you will need to do, in case it rain, you will still have a shelter.
My porter team, are hunters, they cut down small trees to build their shelter in a local style with a raised sleeping platform made from logs, for the roof they used tarpaulin canvas. And also cut the tree log into firewood for cooking.
For our food, during hiking, my guide collect the young grown fern (the soft one at the tip) and put it in the plastic bag, he told me that this is our meal for dinner later.
Not long after we finished setting up our hammock and flysheet, it starts to rain. My team of researchers does not have much experience in setting up a hammock, and I helped out and did some minor adjustments to it to make sure that the flysheet will not end up hoarding rainwater and collapse.
There
is no water nearby so on day 1 there is no bath for all of us. No more daylight
after 6 pm, plus the heavy downpour, we can only squad under the flysheet chit-chatting about our trip so far while waiting for our dinner.
Not long after that, my guide called and dinner is ready. For dinner, we had tin food, salai (fern cooked with chilli, onion, and salt), dry chilli anchovies, and dry tapioca leaf with white rice. Super delicious, especially the fern.
We had a splendid meal inside the jungle, I like the young fern very much, super yummy. And I applaud my guide for preparing that meal for all of us, and he looks happy. After dinner, it was still raining. We all head back to our hammocks and rest. For me I didn't manage to have a good night’s sleep, because it was too cold for me, I check the temperature is around 22'C
I can stand humid hot weather, but I surrender when it comes to cold weather. I had a terrible experience in the highland jungle of Borneo due to cold weather 😓
So the whole night I sleep for a while, and awakes, and sleep back and wakes up again. And constantly checked on my flysheet to make sure that it does not leak, when the rain gets heavier, it also worries me more.
This is how day one of the exploration ends...
