Illustrative image, not a photograph
← Back to Malaysia

Upper Baram (Ulu Baram)

Primary rainforest reached through the Penan villages that decide who walks it

Difficulty
Hard
Duration
4 days and 3 nights minimum, a week to see the villages properly

The Upper Baram is the far interior of Sarawak, a week or so of walking between Penan settlements through forest that logging has not reached. The draws are the trek itself, the Tekiwit waterfall an hour from the villages, and the Bateu Layuk peak and Bateu Siman cave. What makes it unusual is the arrangement: five villages run tourism together through a cooperative, so a visit is hosted rather than ticketed, and the money stays where the forest is.

Highlights

  • Primary rainforest that logging has not reached
  • The Tekiwit waterfall, about an hour on foot from the villages
  • Bateu Layuk peak and the Bateu Siman cave
  • Homestays run by the communities themselves, not by an outside operator

Getting there

From Miri it is about six hours: two on tarmac to Lapok, then four on logging road, in a four wheel drive. Some villages need a boat and a walk beyond that. The cooperative arranges the vehicle as part of the booking, which is the only sensible way to do it.

Safety tips

The risk here is remoteness rather than terrain. There is no mobile coverage for most of it, no road out once the logging track closes, and the nearest hospital is back in Miri. Travel with the community guides, who know both the forest and the road, and build spare days into the plan rather than a flight you have to make.

What to bring

  • Cash, since there is nowhere to draw any past Lapok
  • A gift or supplies for the host village, which is the custom
  • Full leech and mosquito protection
  • Any medication you need for the whole trip, plus a few days spare