Not your average ROUTE to work...

I had always wanted to blog about my work place, a small town named Belaga, in the heart of Sarawak since many of friends are so curious about the place. Yes, even as Sarawakians, most, well, almost all of them have never heard of the place before.

This is Sarawak, located on the Borneo island. Can you locate Kuching? Yes, that's where my home is. Where's Belaga?


You've found it. Good! I'm going to explain to you how to get from Kuching to where I work.

Mind you, although the map indicated an 'Airport' sign in Belaga, there ain't any. One airport that I know is the school that I'm teaching in, SK Airport. The airport nearby the school was being shut down due to no local demand. The locals preferred to use the express boat to Sibu or the 4by4 ride to Bintulu. Hence, in remembrance of the nearly-forgotten airport, the school was named SK Airport (not the true story, though. leave a comment if you really want to know).

From my home in Kuching, I need to take a flight to Bintulu, one of the nearest bigger town from Belaga.

And then, it's on the 4by4 Hilux or Landcruiser or DMX ride which is only available everyday at 2 pm. The ride is 4 hours. On these kinds of roads:

WeeeeeeEEEeee...It's a roller coaster ride which goes on...


And on...
And on... Definitely not for those who have a week heart and poor digestion. I depend on my travel sickness pills all these while. Not easy.


So after a maximum of 4 hours ride, hopefully there's no landslides that may block your way, you'll reach a peaceful really small town of Belaga. No pictures of the town yet. I find similarities of the Belaga town with Batu Kawa in Kuching. Both situated next to the river and have few rows of shophouses mostly owned by the Chinese.


To go to my school, the journey does not stop here.
We have to take either the express boat at 7 am or call for the villagers who are staying at the kampung nearby the school to give us a lift on the longboat.

My Levi's recycle bag really seemed out of place here. So, of course, the boat isn't only transporting a passenger or two on each ride, it will also carry daily necessities from Belaga, such as in this picture, a gas tank.

Nevertheless, the first time on the longboat maybe pretty scary. You're entitled to hold on the wooden boat tightly.

But the more frequent you go on the boat ride, the more you'll enjoy it. You'll start appreciating the scenery and the breeze on the great Rejang river with the roar of the boat's engine as the background. Who knows you'll see a hornbill on top of one of the trees as you passes...just like I did.