Location : Bakun Dam, Belaga, Kapit Division, Sarawak, Malaysia.

Long Bulan may be history and buried under 200m of water at Bakun but its resettled inhabitants still return to their old settlement or its vicinity for hunting, fishing or rattan gathering. One such villager is Mr Lawing a Kenyah from Uma Bakah at Sungai Asap who has a house built there so he could come back for his occasional hunting/fishing trips.

Bakun Hydroelectric Power Dam, empangan, Sungai Balui, traditional, fishing trip, homestay, Kapit, Orang Ulu, Tourism, tourist attraction, travel guide, destination, Sungai Asap
Old photos of Long Bulan. Pemanca Tony of Uma Bakah told us the history of how they slowly migrated from Indonesia to Long Bulan
Embankment Dam, destination, traditional, fishing trip, memancing ikan, Malaysia, Long Bulan, native, Tourism, tourist attraction, travel guide, Trans Border, Borneo, 探索婆罗洲游踪, 砂拉越峇贡水坝, 马来西亚旅游景点
Our homestay, no phone or internet line
empangan, backpackers, Ikan semah, traditional, fishing trip, memancing, chalet, Belaga, Kapit, native, Tourism, tourist attraction, travel guide, 砂拉越巴贡水电站, 马来西亚钓鱼之旅,
Dining hall overlooking the reservoir

To a city dweller like me, the idea of hunting and fishing is quite shockingly different from that of a jungle dweller. Lawing and I set out after 5pm on another smaller boat and headed for wherever he was bringing me for a hunt.

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Off to hunting

He had his shotgun no doubt. What was surprising was that in about 5min boat ride we arrived at his friend’s house with his pack of about 10 dogs barking and waving their tails in a very happy fashion. 6 of them boarded our boat without any invitation. Lawing picked up one of them and threw him back into the water, explaining he was not a good hunter. A greenhorn I guessed.

Hydroelectric Power Dam, empangan, orang ulu, destination, Ikan semah, traditional, fishing, Malaysia, native, Tourism, tourist attraction, travel guide, Borneo, 砂拉越峇贡水坝, 马来西亚狩猎之旅,
Hunting dogs are waiting

Observing how these Dayak hunting dogs behave for a first timer like me was really fun and felt amazed at how disciplined and instincts gifted these dogs were. As Lawing slowed and glided along the water near land, I could see how these dogs stood on their front paws on the narrow edge of the boat, pricked ears, protruded neck, nose in the air sniffing for whatever scent like they could jump anytime into the water to chase after their preys. Fortunately or unfortunately, we went home empty handed on our first try. The dogs were returned to their owner without any rewards. Hunting dogs can be rented here!

empangan, exotic fish, Ikan semah, fishing trip, memburu, homestay, Belaga, Kapit, Malaysia, Long Bulan, native, Tourism, travel guide, 砂拉越狩猎之旅, 马来西亚巴贡水电站,
Hunting with dogs in Bakun called ‘ngasu’

Bakun Dam, empangan, destination, traditional, memburu, dog hunting, Belaga, Kapit, Sarawak, native, Orang Ulu, Tourism, tourist attraction, travel guide, Borneo,

Embankment Dam, empangan, memburu, Ikan semah, fishing trip, Long Bulan, native, Tourism, tourist attraction, travel guide, Borneo, Sungai Balui, destination, 婆罗洲狩猎之旅, 砂拉越布拉甲
Upon disembarking, marking their terrritory. Normally, hunting dogs are not so territorial minded
hydroelectric Power Dam, empangan, Ikan semah, traditional, fishing trip, dog hunting, memancing, Belaga, Kapit, Tourism, tourist attraction, travel guide, Borneo, 砂拉越巫拉甲加帛, 马来西亚狩猎之旅,
It’s been a long day
Bakun Hydroelectric Power Dam, empangan, Balui river, traditional, fishing trip, memancing, Malaysia, Long Bulan, native, orang ulu, Tourism, tourist attraction, Borneo, memburu
Good hunting dogs are handpicked by the shape of their nipples as told to me by a renowned hunter from Kapit who was trained by a Bukat Dayak

Early next morning, Lawing woke us up to a boatful of fish. He had the night before , set out with his assistant to lay nets across some rivers that flowed into the dam. This passive kind of fishing is called ‘pukat’ a very effective method but minus the thrill of casting which was my presumption before the trip.

empangan, exotic fish, Ikan semah, traditional, hunting, memancing, homestay, Belaga, Kapit, Orang Ulu, travel guide, Trans Border, Borneo, 婆罗洲钓鱼之旅, 砂拉越峇贡水坝, 马来西亚旅游景点
First morning catch not bad

Bakun Dam, empangan, Sungai Balui, exotic fish, Ikan semah, traditional, fishing trip, memancing, Belaga, Kapit, Malaysia, Sarawak, Tourism, travel guide, Borneo, 探索婆罗洲游踪,The rest of day produced more catch and even Lawing had some fortune in nailing a mousedeer when he went to hunt by himself. destination, Ikan semah, traditional, fishing trip, memancing, hunting, Belaga, Kapit, native, tourist attraction, travel guide, Trans Borneo, 婆罗洲钓鱼之旅, 砂拉越巴贡水电站, 巫拉甲马来西亚,empangan, destination, Ikan semah, traditional, fishing trip, memancing ikan, homestay, Kapit, Malaysia, native, Tourism, tourist attraction, 探索婆罗洲游踪, 砂拉越峇贡水坝, 马来西亚钓鱼之旅,

Bakun Dam, mamancing ikan, destination, traditional, fishing trip, hunting, Borneo, Belaga, Malaysia, native, Tourism, tourist attraction, Borneo,婆罗洲游踪, 砂拉越钓鱼之旅, 马来西亚峇贡水坝
Individually packed for easy defrosting
destination, memburu, traditional, memancing ikan, homestay, Belaga, Kapit, Malaysia, Long Bulan, native, Tourism, tourist attraction, Borneo, 婆罗洲狩猎之旅, 砂拉越马来西亚,
Blow torch is the way to go to remove hair.

Embankment Dam, destination, memburu, traditional, fishing trip, memancing ikan, homestay, Belaga, Kapit, native, Orang Ulu, Tourism, travel guide, Borneo, 砂拉越布拉甲加帛, 马来西亚狩猎之旅,

Bakun Dam, empangan, Ikan semah, traditional, fishing, memburu, memancing ikan, Belaga, native, Orang Ulu, Tourism, Borneo, 砂拉越狩猎之旅, 巫拉甲马来西亚
Foetus from the pregnant mousedeer

Despite all the luck, my friend Sia felt dissapointed as the fish he came all the way from Langkawi for, eluded him. Not one empurau fish among all the semah and other good fish. With the price of empurau at retail value of about a thousand ringgit per kilo, it is no surprise that this pricey fish gets over harvested.

Picnic trip

empangan, backpackers, destination, exotic fish, Ikan semah, traditional, fishing trip, memancing, homestay, Malaysia, Tourism, tourist attraction, Cross Border, 婆罗洲砂拉越, 巫拉甲钓鱼之旅,
Picnic at Ulu Bakun
empangan, destination, Ikan semah, traditional, fishing trip, memancing, Belaga, Kapit, Malaysia, Tourism, tourist attraction, travel guide, Borneo, 砂拉越峇贡水坝, 布拉甲加帛
A struggling time to picnic spot
Bakun Hydroelectric Power Dam, empangan, destination, Sungai Balui, Ikan semah, fishing trip, Kapit, Malaysia, Sarawak, Tourism, tourist attraction, travel guide, Trans Border, Borneo, 穿越婆罗洲游踪,
Sia made it through the debris
empangan, backpackers, destination, Ikan semah, traditional, fishing trip, memancing ikan, Kapit, Tourism, tourist attraction, travel guide, Trans Borneo, 婆罗洲旅游景点, 砂拉越峇贡水坝, 马来西亚钓鱼之旅,
When the river gets too shallow

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Bakun Dam, backpackers, exotic fish, Ikan semah, traditional, fishing trip, memancing, Sarawak, Kapit, Malaysia, Long Bulan, Tourism, tourist attraction, travel guide, Trans Borneo, 巫拉甲加帛
No empurau, Sia had to find consolation in the semah, second best

empangan, destination, exotic fish, Ikan semah, hunting, memancing, homestay, Kapit, Orang Ulu, Tourism, tourist attraction, Trans Border, Borneo, 探索婆罗洲游踪, 砂拉越巴贡水电站, 马来西亚钓鱼之旅

Embankment Dam, empangan, Ikan semah, traditional, memancing ikan, Belaga, Malaysia, Long Bulan, native, orang ulu, Tourism, tourist attraction, Borneo, 砂拉越巫拉甲加帛, 马来西亚钓鱼之旅,
Net casting or jala for a bucketful of fingerlings
empangan, Ikan semah, traditional, dog hunting, memancing, homestay, Malaysia, Long Bulan, native, Tourism, memburu, travel guide, Borneo, 砂拉越巫拉甲加帛, 马来西亚钓鱼之旅,
BBQ time
Bakun Dam, backpackers, destination, traditional, fishing trip, memancing ikan, Belaga, orang Ulu, native, tourist attraction, travel guide, Trans Borneo, 婆罗洲钓鱼之旅, 砂拉越布拉甲, 加帛马来西亚,
Straight from the net
backpackers, destination, Sungai Balui, exotic fish, Ikan semah, traditional, fishing trip, memancing, Kapit, native, tourist attraction, travel guide, Trans Borneo, 婆罗洲钓鱼之旅, 砂拉越巴贡水电站, 布拉甲马来西亚,
Picnic lunch at a river bank that looks like a beach
backpackers, traditional, dog hunting, Belaga, Kapit, Long Bulan, native, Orang Ulu, Tourism, tourist attraction, Borneo, 婆罗洲砂拉越, 马来西亚狩猎之旅,
Hunting dogs enjoy good food too
empangan, destination, exotic fish, Ikan semah, traditional, memancing, Belaga, Kapit, Malaysia, memburu, travel guide, Cross Border, 婆罗洲钓鱼之旅, 砂拉越峇贡水坝, 马来西亚旅游景点
He needed a dip too
hydroelectric Power Dam, empangan, destination, Ikan semah, traditional, fishing trip, memancing ikan, Malaysia, Orang Ulu, Tourism, travel guide, Cross Border, 婆罗洲钓鱼之旅, 砂拉越巫拉甲, 加帛旅游景点,
Bonus of the trip

Personally, I would mark this trip an 8. It could have been an easy 10 if we had flown in to Bintulu and not drove from Kuching. A very good tourism potential but more acrivities need to be created for the more adventurous.

Please check out our last trip to Bakun Dam here : https://bombasticborneo.com/2017/10/%e6%b2%99%e6%8d%9e%e8%b6%8a%e5%b7%b4%e8%b4%a1%e6%b0%b4%e5%9d%9d-bakun-dam-sarawak-native-market/ And our YouTube video on Bakun Dam Market here : https://youtu.be/dpPAyxBXIbw

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