Bario
Known as the Land of a Hundred Handshakes. A collection of kampungs in the Kelabit Highlands, a thousand metres up, with vast paddy fields and the mountains behind them.
Bario is not one village but a collection of kampungs spread across a plateau in the mountains of northern Sarawak, a thousand metres above sea level. It is the ancestral home of the Kelabit, one of the smallest of Sarawak’s indigenous groups. Rainforest surrounds it on every side, the air holds at around 20°C all year, and the paddy fields running up to the mountains make one of the most striking landscapes in the country.
The food is the reason a lot of people come. Almost everything is grown on nearby farms or taken from the rivers and forests. Bario rice is grown up here at altitude and carries its own Geographical Indication, the salt comes from springs in the hills, and the pineapples have a reputation of their own. Since 2005 the village has held Pesta Nukenen, a Kelabit food and cultural festival, over three days each July.
There are no big hotels or resorts. Homestays are the way people stay, in longhouses, kampung homes and chalets, and they are the reason a visit here feels like a visit rather than a booking. Our time in Bario will live in our hearts forever.
Bario means wind in the Kelabit language. It is a fitting name for a plateau a thousand metres up, where the air stays cool all year and the cloud moves across the paddy fields in the afternoon.
Give it a week. Getting here takes effort, and the trekking, the longhouses and the food are worth more than a long weekend.
- Early morningThe paddy fields, while the mist is still sitting on them. Korea Hill, to see the mist over the town.
- MorningVisit the town centre and market (Pasar) Walk between the kampungs. The plateau is flat and the distances are walkable.
- AfternoonA salt spring, or a longhouse visit.
- EveningDinner at the homestay. Karaoke or stargazing.
Flights are on small turboprops and the baggage allowance is lower than on a normal flight, so check it before you pack. They are also weather dependent and get cancelled, so leave slack at both ends of the trip rather than booking a connection out of Miri on the same day. Book the homestay before you fly, because there are no hotels to fall back on. Bring cash. It is cool enough at a thousand metres that a jumper is worth packing, which catches out people arriving from the coast.
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Bario, Sarawak
Open in Google MapsGetting there
AirBorneo flies from Miri to Bario in about 50 minutes, with roughly 21 flights a week. These are small aircraft, they are weather dependent, and they fill up, so book well ahead and check the baggage allowance, which is lower than on a normal flight. The alternative is the logging road from Miri, 10 to 14 hours in a four-wheel drive, which almost nobody takes by choice.
Documented on the ground. We were here with a camera. Prices and hours change — tell us if something is out of date.