Natural Fish Spa Treatment in Temburong

Our last place of interest to visit was a waterfall, which unfortunately I cannot recall the name exactly. I am not sure if it is called Sungai Lubok or Labuk or anything that is familiar sounding. While the name may not have made an impression on me, the waterfall itself definitely did. There are fishes in the streams and ponds and a rich vegetation thrived wherever nature supports it. The water is extraordinarily clear and so chilly. We walked along the river until we came upon the waterfall which was gushing out in good volumes. BT and I enjoyed a wonderful natural fish spa, all free of charge and without a strict time limit. The sun that filtered through the thick vegetation embraced us gently. The roar of the waterfall in front of us amazed us. The chill of the water and the bites of the little fishes sent us jolting with a mixture of laughers, chills and thrills.

It was an experience which, in about a decade's time, money will not be able to buy. I am completely amazed by how intimate I was with nature and cannot imagine how much closer I can get with nature. I was completely in my element and almost forgot BT was with me!

BT and I went for a swim in the waterfall pool. We inched our way into the pool to allow our body to acclimatise to its chilly waters. It felt awesome and at the same time, so awfully cold when we went under the falls. Just what a wonderful little jewel of Brunei this place is! This place is unbelievably too sensational!

I saw some common split gills on one of the fallen tree trunk along the river. These were way bigger than the ones found on a rotting log at home.


Sun rays in the water


Wild ginger, which the natives gather and use in their cooking


River path we took to get to the waterfall


Wild inedible fruits that look like Kembayau (Canarium odontophyllum). Our guide said this isn't the Kembayau. Check out this blog to see how similar these wild fruits looked.

Another wild inedible fruit


The waterfall and pond


Water flowing down in enough volumes that could give us a natural massage


This is me enjoying my natural foot spa. I truly felt that I was interacting with nature. It may sound absurd that I was thinking about how great my communication with Mother Earth was going while I was feeding the fishes with my dead cells. I am fascinated beyond words by how pure of nature this experience is. I marveled at how I get to be with the fishes, the falls, the rocks and the jungle. Nothing here is man-made, which made it feels untainted and so brilliant. It was an experience to die for. The water was really cold (I said this a million times) and it was very ticklish with the many fishes attacking my toes and legs. They bit on my hands and arms too. They literally bite on any skin that comes into water. I placed my hands over my legs to make sure the fishes did not swim up to my thighs if they ended up swimming in my pants!


This picture vaguely showed a fish swimming over my left foot. I have to stay very still for the fishes to come. Any movements would sent the little fishes scurrying to other potential feeding sites. When we were in deeper parts of the pond, the fishes would peck on us at our arms or shoulders. BT let out a cry each time this happen and I would be laughing like a crazy cow at how a grown man of six feet over has cowered over the prowess of these little fishes. Unable to withstand the fishes going at him each time he stood still, BT came hurrying out of the pond several times only to find the chilly and fun waters irresistible. So, he would go back in the water again and again.


Alas, it was time to leave the waterfall and I came across a small shoal of tiny fishes in another stream. According to our guide, the fishes in the streams are not attracted to human dead cells like the ones in the waterfall ponds.


BT trying to fight the chills and fear of the fishes


Enjoying the heavy splashes of the waterfall

Canopy Walk in the Ulu Temburong National Park

We took a boat to the Ulu Temburong National Park (ecologyasia.com has a nice webpage on the park) where we registered our names before the hike to the canopy walk towers. This record allows the park to know the visitors who are in the park as visitors who have left the park are required to confirm a log-out.

The chilly morning air was fresh and rejuvenating to the body. The jungle seemed to be teeming with animal activities from the many different sounds coming from it.

This is probably my third time going on the canopy walk and the view of the forest like bunches of brocolli plucked neatly into earth still blows me away. Nature is amazing. I was constantly reminded of the fractals in nature when I recognise different things that are similar but in different scales.

River and jungle with rapids blurred


A view of another bit of jungle and river


Ulu Temburong National Park in the distant


I was reading this signboard at the park and was looking for the taro plant the board is talking about.


When I found the plant, I thought, "Is this not yam?" It turns out that taro is NOT yam. Check out "When is a yam not a yam?" and Wikipedia's yam and taro pages.


Wooden stairs leading to the canopy walk steel towers


Wild orchids, which Ibans extract from the trees to beautify their homes.


BT on a steel tower


A steel tower that outgrew the tallest tree in the rainforest


Hairy, tiny green fruits


Ferns growing on a tree bark

Visit to the Iban Longhouse in Temburong

We visited Igat Anak Tarang's Iban longhouse. The head of the longhouse is usually the eldest male member of the family although some families may appoint the head based on a merit system. As Igat's family grow in size, for instance, when his son marry a wife and start his own family, his son would build his house by extending the current house. Eventually, the house would get longer with each of Igat's descendants starting up their own families. Thus, the longhouse is actually a train of joined stilt houses. In each house or section lives a family of 3 to 6 or more members, furnished with living rooms, bedrooms, a kitchen, maybe several washrooms and a storeroom. When a family moves away, the longhouse shortens by taking a bungalow down at one end. What's nice about the longhouse is they have a very long common area shared by all the families which stretch from one end of the house to the other. So, the children play in this common area, protected from weather and adults rest their bodies or mingle with other family members.

Our guide used to live in one of the longest longhouse in Temburong until his extended family members decided to move out and have their own place one by one. Today, the longhouse he lives in has about five families.

While the longhouse we visited is interesting, I begin to realise the contrast from the less modern longhouse in the more rural areas of East Malaysia after skimming through an extensive piece titled "The Iban Longhouse – by Stephen Anggat" which has been published on GNMawar's blog of Iban heritage.

The longhouse's name on a sign post

Freme Travel's van right in front of the longhouse

Longhouse's verandah

The very long common area. Notice the doors on the walls on the left, each door is the main door to each family's section. There are a few elders who are lying by the wall in the common area. Our guide told us that they were drunk from "tuak" (Iban rice wine).

Along the walls, handicrafts made of rattan and recycled phone cards were hung.

A painting of a waterfall and steel towers that lead to the canopy walk hung at the wall.

I like this section of the painting. :)

Outside the longhouse, I noticed this huge cactus plant which was sprouting many flower buds.

That night, our guide invited us to his house for the "Gawai" (festival of harvest) celebration. According to him, Gawai is celebrated like "Hari Raya" (the Muslim New Year) in his family. They visit houses of relatives where they serve light snacks or meals. We were served snacks and "tuak". We were showed the traditional clothes of the Iban ladies and was told that these are rarely worn nowadays. Our guide's mum explained that it is becoming difficult to find tailors of Iban costumes as many Ibans have lost the culture of making the dresses themselves. She added that the dresses are expensive to make. Please click here for some pictures of Iban costumes.

We were then ushered to our guide's aunt's section of the longhouse for dinner. There was pulut (beef stuffing in glutinous rice wrapped in leaves) and chicken curry, which both tasted very delicious. BT seemed to be enjoying his cultural education very much.

The summit of Bukit Patoi, Temburong

I was so out of stamina easily that I had to take many breaks during the hike, each taking about 10 to 15 minutes. But, it was during those time we got to have a chat with our guide about their Iban culture. I was surprised to find our guide a freethinker as I often thought Ibans, if not Muslims or Christians, would follow their native religion. He shared that he had no superstition of any sort and neither do his family members. He had learnt the art of hunting from his father since a young age, and could hunt wild boars with arrows and spears. On a good day, his family can catch up to 10 wild boars in a day in the Temburong jungles, he said.

As a guide bringing visitors around Temburong, sometimes he makes two trips to bring visitors on the Bukit Patoi jungle trail a day! It is little wonder that he was able to talk while going up the slopes of the hill. He warned that Bukit Patoi should not be visited during late afternoon. One should leave the jungle before it gets dark as dangerous wild animals begin to roam around in the jungle.

The view at the peak of Bukit Patoi was breath-taking. It reminded me of the canopy walk I did not too long ago. This time round, we could see Lawas and Labuan (East Malaysia) from here. I love how the hilly green jungle fades into shades of greyish blue in the distance as it meets the sky. Nature amazes me all the time and serves a constant reminder of how I am also part of it.

B and our guide at the summit


Beautiful jungle


The flat stone at the summit, just a perfect platform for taking pictures


Smoke coming from palm factories in Lawas


I love how this very tall tree is standing by itself


Grass growing at areas with no tree cover


An inedible fruit tree found at the edge of the summit


Another plant found near the lookout point (One I remember whose flower petals could be used for removing scars but don't know the name)


Graffiti at the ceiling of a resting shelter


More graffiti at a particular stone pillar hidden among the trees

Jungle Trail at Bukit Patoi in Temburong

While I have been to Temburong several times already, it is my first time to ever visit Bukit Patoi. I was surprised that I didn't feel tired despite having a late night from chatting with BT. On a hot June morning, the recreational park was deserted. We did not see any visitors but workers who were constructing a new building.

We walked on the trail for more than an hour, taking breaks occasionally, before we reached the summit of the hill. Bukit Patoi is interesting because moss-covered rocks littered everywhere along the trail. According to our guide, wildlife is active in the early morning and at night where one may find bears, clouded leopards and snakes. Wild boars are commonly found here and the native Iban people hunt for them with traps, spears and arrows, which they make themselves.

Some of the interesting natural formation of rocks and/or trees found at Bukit Patoi are the standing rock wall and the holding rock. The standing rock wall (Batu Berdinding in Malay), according to a legend told by our guide, was originally an Iban longhouse. How or why it became a stone, I cannot now recall. What's interesting is we can see water seeping out of this wall of rock though we do not know from where. The holding rock (Batu Tergangam in Malay) is a rock which was held by the roots of a tree. It looked as though the tree had grown on the rock and its roots eventually found their way around the rock before they dug themselves into the ground.

We saw different insects and plants this time. There was the honey stick used as incense by natives, rattan to be made into tools, the ants' nest in the shape of a ball and others. I was simply fascinated by those tiny, feather-like moss found on the rocks and kept taking pictures of them.

The huge Bukit Patoi signboard which said, "Welcome to the Bukit Patoi Recreational Park".


The park provides ample parking spaces and barbeque patio areas, ideal for a Sunday family outing.


The initial stairway leading to the jungle trail


A water vine. This website provides some interesting information on ways to extract water from plants. It is important to check that that the vine is still alive as rotten or dead vines may have ants or other insects living in them.


Rattan can only be used after the outer thorny layer has been removed. Please read here to find out how rattan is being harvested and processed. Our guide warned us not to touch the plant because the thorns cause skin itch.


Foliage and rocks covering our trail


The rocks are moist and slippery


This rock looks like a dog's paw

Standing rock wall (Batu Berdinding)


Standing rock wall (Batu Berdinding) from bottom to top view


Standing rock wall (Batu Berdinding) along the wooden stairs


Yellow and greenish moss found on the standing rock wall


Ants' nest in the shape of a ball.


A giant centipede. We asked our guide several times if this was a centipede or millipede and on all occasions, he said it was a centipede though it looked like the later to me. He told us that the red ones are poisonous and the black ones are not. I thought centipedes have antennas which are quite visible, which this one has none.


Honey sticks are used as incense by Ibans against powerful evil spirits. We saw a bee flying into the tube-like hive.


A spider trying to hide in between the roots of a tree


Holding rock (Batu Tergangam)


All sorts of moss and creepers on a rock


Whitish green moss are so pretty close-up and there are tiny flowers in places