Bario – a Highlands experience

A Singaporean tourist stepped on the scale to have his body weight verified by the counter officer as he checked in for a Twin Otter flight, operated by Sarawak’s Rural Air Service, to the Bario Highlands.

His fellow Singaporeans and Kuala Lumpur friends travelling with him, were amused they had to weigh in for their first-ever flight aboard the 19-seater light aircraft to the highlands for the Bario Food and Cultural Festival 2017 (Pesta Nukenen) from July 27-29.

Apparently, they did not expect this, at least not at Miri Airport which is classified as an international airport. But it was all taken in good spirits and their trip to the Bario Highlands turned out to be an enjoyable and memorable one.

On an ordinary day, Bario could have over 50 visitors flying in on the three daily flights. But for the Pesta Nukenen, it is quite usual to have a few more chartered flights besides the normal three.

The group from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, who booked their fight last September, were only told the opening ceremony of the Bario Food and Cultural Festival would always be on the last Thursday of July – in this instance, the same day of their arrival in Bario. So, they could hope there would be sufficient culinary delights to sample on the second and third days.

Accompanying the group was a much-travelled Canadian from Toronto. She told thesundaypost she had been googling for more information on the festival since knowing about it last year. She was excited about visiting the highlands and experiencing life in the Land of a Thousand Handshakes.

The Twin Otter made a smooth landing and one of the travellers was even eager to get her bags by herself from the belly of the small plane but the luggage man at the spot saved her the trouble.

Bario is a STOLport— an airport designed with STOL (short take-off and landing) operations in mind, usually for aircraft of a specific weight and size class.

According to a local, if Bario airport were to have a longer runway, it would have to move somewhere else because there is a river at the end of the runway.

“We may have to wait many years before bigger planes can land here,” he lamented.

Continue reading (Incl. Pics) at: Bario – a Highlands experience

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More cultural activities drawn up for Bario Nukenen Festival

MIRI: ‘Pesta Nukenen Bario’ (Bario Nukenen Festival) to be held on July 28 to 30 will have extra traditional and cultural activities to ensure guests and tourists have an enjoyable experience and come for a repeat event.

There will also be more traditional food of the Kelabit community to cater to the large number of guests and tourists expected.

“In Kelabit culture, food is associated with hospitality and an expression of friendship, demonstrated by the serving of food at any arrival of neighbours or visitors.

“This culinary heritage is at the very heart of the Kelabits, the Highland community, its socio-economic fabric, culture and tradition,” Rurum Kelabit Sarawak president Dato Isaac Lugun told a press conference at Pullman Hotel here yesterday.

The festival, the 11th of its kind, is organised by Rurum Kelabit Sarawak and will be held in Bario, a village located in the centre of the Kelabit Highlands in the northeast of Sarawak.

According to Isaac, the three-day celebration would showcase the cultural and culinary heritage of the Kelabit Highlands in northern Sarawak.

Pesta Nukenen Bario or ‘Festival of Food’ was initiated to preserve the traditional processing methods of indigenous edible plants, and safeguard local plant and animal species.

“It also serves as a platform to draw the close-knit community closer because over the past decade, the festival has evolved into an annual event to celebrate the legacy of the traditions of the Kelabit community, and a unique and distinctive way of life,” Isaac explained.

Such a unique community-hosted event was a pioneering endeavour with no parallel or precedent in the country.

Continue reading (Incl. Pic) at: More cultural activities drawn up for Bario Nukenen Festival

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