Tourism has its potential here in Kampung Begu

They were very proactive and one is actually a free lance tour guide himself, having brought tourist from Japan and Switzerland to the caves. They clearly see the tourism potential of the village but just didn’t know how and where to start. We brainstormed until its almost midnight and after finalizing our plans to all the different places, we headed off to Apeng house for the night. Apeng’s house is quite impressive. A farmer, himself, he collects farm produce from the villagers and sell them at the Satok market. At the moment he’s busy collecting bananas and there are tonnes of bananas in the house.

And off we go on their motorbikes to explore Kampung Begu on a quiet, misty morning.

Our first stop, the Rafflesia’s Site.

We’re amazed at the build quality of the facilities there. This site has fiber glass walkways, toilet, shades.

Sadly, there’re no Rafflesia. The buds were stolen, otherwise it’ll be almost the full bloom season already, which is normally in May & June. Just wonder why on earth would people steal it. Perhaps the nice walkways which were right beside the main road made it so easily accessible for people to just come in and do anything they want. There’re plans to build gated fences soon. Hopefully that will better protect these rare blooms.

Next stop we are on our way to Taang Cave

Taang in Bidayuh means cave. The cave is quite pretty but we didn’t manage to take many good quality pictures as it’s our first cave visit and we only realize our pictures are pretty bizarre after when we reviewed them.

For those who are coming for tours, you can actually explore the whole stretch of the cave and trek back to the village from the other end of the cave.

Our next stop, another cave, Bedoh Cave

Bedoh means dry in Bidayuh. The villagers named it that way because a river which has dried up once flowed from the cave.

The climb to the cave is very rocky and steep but it’s not very far up.

And in about half an hour we reached the cave. The entrance is certainly impressive  but it’s too bad that we didn’t manage to take a proper picture of it. We will try harder next time.

Bedoh use to be frequented by locals for its bird nest. Though the opening is small, the cave system is huge in the inside and very long. It’s believed that the exit of the cave will end up in the neighbouring village, Kampung Braag.

We lacked of equipment to navigate further as go further require a 90 degree descent. The locals usually just use bamboo as their ladder to go in. Unfortunately, we didn’t have many good pictures as we are unprepared for the absolute dark conditions.

Another Stop, Mini Waterfall

Next, we went to the waterfall. It’s a relatively small one, but nevertheless a great place to relax and have lunch.

The spring actually looks pretty scary and intoxicated. But there’re fishing rods stuck to the sides, meaning there’re clean and not poisonous. The waters flows underground and nourished the rivers that runs through the village and they never dry up, even during severe drought.

After a long day, we’re on our way back. On the way we passed by one of our hosts, Apeng’s farmhouse.

After guiding the youths through our crash course training, we have managed to design a tour package for visitors with the youths. Do support their efforts by clicking here. Our friends from Kampung Begu will be thrilled to welcome you to visit their backyard.