We spent two wonderful nights at Nancy Harris Homestay / Guesthouse (not enough 😬). We love the food, activities, facilities, environment, and people here. This is a good base for your extraordinary (literally speaking) holiday in Bario, Sarawak.
Bario has a population of about 1,500, mostly of Kelabit people (a highland Dayak tribe). According to Kelabit lore, there was a great flood long ago. Some people left in rafts to live at the coast, while the Kelabit people stayed behind to live high in the mountains.
Kelabit men in the 1920s.
The Kelabit live by planting rice and hunting animals in the hills. The Kelabit are a hospitable people, hence Bario is nicknamed "Land of a Thousand Handshakes".
Prayer mountain with the wooden cross at the summit. Missionaries from the Borneo Evangelical Mission arrived in Bario in the 1930s. Today, almost all Kelabit people profess the Christian faith.
I hope the Kelabit people are able to preserve their beautiful culture and heritage.
Bario is located on the eastern foothills of the Bario Highlands of Sarawak. Bario means wind in Kelabit language. At around 1,000 metres altitude, the daytime temperature in Bario is around 15°C - 20°C and night time temperature in the high teens. Bario is connected to Marudi and Miri by road and air.
We came into Bario from Miri by MASwings Twin Otter plane. I haven't flown in a small plane for decades 🤭
It's a comfortable 50 minutes ride in a small plane with max 9 passenger capacity. They actually had to weigh every passenger to make sure the plane wasn't overloaded 😬 🤭
Nancy Harris Homestay picked us up from the airport with Four Wheel Drive pickup trucks.
Luggage and adventurous ones go in the back 😬
Nancy Harriss Homestay is just 2km from the airport or about 10 minutes drive by car / truck.
This is the homestay as we drove past the gate. On the left are the chalets and slightly further inside on the right is the main building.
The three chalets, each with four large rooms.
The main building with two large patios / BBQ area outside.
There are several (six?) such large rooms in the main building. The furnishings were basic but clean. We need to bring our own toiletries, bath towels and slippers. There's no air conditioning but night time temperature is cool and comfortable at around the teens. Blankets are provided.
The huge hall where all the guests gravitate to and mingle comfortably. The atmosphere here is very relaxed and conducive for cosy gatherings.
The large dining room was another favourite gathering area. There's a simple pantry with hot water to make tea, coffee or Milo.
Nancy cooked us delicious, home cooked style meals.
We had chicken, fish, bamboo shoot, various vegetables, etc which we ate with Bario's famous local grown mountain rice and pineapple.
Nancy is an excellent hostess, friendly and helpful. She speaks English, Bahasa Malayu and native tongues.
Nancy will cook dishes most people are familiar with and can accept easily. But on request, she can whip up Orang Kelabit dishes like this porridge with wasp larva, nymph and adult because I kept saying I want to try hyperlocal dishes 😰
Bario is famous for their mountain rice. It's nice to walk around and watch farmers at work in the rice fields around Nancy Harriss Homestay. The air is pristine - something I treasure.
About 100 metres from the main building was the wreckage of an airplane.
I am an airplane enthusiast since childhood, so this wrecked aeroplane naturally caught my attention and endeared Nancy Harriss Homestay to me.
What is this broken dragonfly? I am curious.
I combed through the wreckage inch by inch looking for clues on who this mysterious lady might be 🤔
It is a Royal Air Force Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer transport aircraft.
Nancy remembered the wreckage was "red and white" in colour. Now, it is bleached by sun and rain till it is all "silver", the colour of raw, naked aluminium.
This photo of XP294 in her prime courtesy of Jim Cain.
Nancy Harriss Homestay is at the old, abandoned Bario Airport (which opened in 1961 and closed in 1991).
According to Nancy, this dirt road leading to Nancy Harriss Homestay is actually the disused runway of the old Bario Airport.
On that fateful day on 11 Sep 1964, Twin Pioneer XP294 landed and skidded on the wet runway. When it reached the end of the runway, the pilot attempted a U-turn. In the process, it ran off the wet runway onto the runway shoulder which collapsed under the aircraft weight and one of its wheels got caught in the mud.
Efforts to pull the aircraft free with ropes were botched causing it to fall further into the ditch and damaged it beyond economic repair. It was thus abandoned in the ditch not far from the runway. This is the ditch today (Aug 2023).
Fortunately, non of the people in the aircraft were hurt. Most accounts said only the pilot and navigator were onboard and there were no passengers.
The wreckage was dislodged from the ditch and pulled further away from the runway where it rested until its resting place was required for a road project.
Nancy's father-in-law cut up the wreckage into three sections and brought it to its current location. The wreckage has been resting at the current Nancy Harriss Homestay site ever since.
Lady in party red 💃 (No kidding, this was shot on a Saturday evening.)
The RAF Twin Pioneer XP294 dressed in sunset colours. The sky was flaming orange 🧡
Somehow the broken aircraft is still beautiful and attracted the attention of many.
Nancy Harriss Homestay is one of the most unique locations to shoot the Milky Way.
This picture of the Milky Way at Nancy Harriss Homestay is by Guek Peng Siong. During the two nights we were at Nancy Harriss, there was slight drizzle and cloud cover, so conditions were not ideal for Milky Way shooting. Peng Siong hopes to return to Nancy Harriss during the dry season in Jun / Jul next year.
Nonetheless, notwithstanding the cloud, this picture was achieved with post processing. The aircraft wreckage provided a unique foreground for the Milky Way composition.
This Milky Way composition is by Wilson Chiam, shot on the same night from the same spot.
The mornings at Nancy Harriss Homestay were tranquil and in the distance, a blanket of mist shrouded the mountains. The temperature was a bit chilly but I could walk around comfortably with Berms and short sleeves.
A missionary once called Bario, the mythical Shangri-La and it is easy to understand why, once you are here. We will be back for:
Mountain spring salt factory,
Bario waterfalls,
Prayer mountain,
Long houses,
Megaliths (prehistoric religious monuments),
More.
Acknowledgement: My Bario trip was arranged by Wilson Chiam of Brighton Travel 📞 +6019 884 6186 📞 +6012 878 6669 and sponsored by Sarawak Tourism.
Map of Nancy Harriss Homestay
Kho Tze Ming said on Johor Kaki Facebook:
ReplyDelete"I did a 4D3N trek from Bario to Ba'kelalan some 10 years ago. Also stayed at Nancy's then , her cooking and hospitality alone is worth the trip already."
Stanley Tan said on Johor Kaki Facebook:
ReplyDelete"i visited the Bario highlands 2 years ago, although life is pretty though and cost of essential items are quite expensive but they (Kelabit) are one of the friendliest people in Sarawak
we didn’t take a flight to Bario instead we drove a 4x4 from Miri to Bario through the treacherous logging trail. definitely not for faint hearted people, the roads are pretty slippery, bumpy and filled with speeding logging trucks. it took us 18 hours to reach Bario, we have to spend a night at the foot of a waterfall before continuing"