In the heart of Borneo lies a mountain range that is home to one of the last standing highland rainforests in the world, known as the Kelabit Highlands. Situated close to the international border between Sarawak and East Kalimantan of Indonesia, the Highlands is the ancestral homeland of the Kelabit people, an ethnic group native to Borneo.
Recent estimates put their total population between 6,500 to 6,800 worldwide. Many of the Kelabits have migrated to other parts of Malaysia, both East and West, as well as overseas in search of opportunities and a better livelihood. Some have remained, however, and continue to make the deep jungles their home, in the same way as their forefathers did.
The Land of a Thousand Handshakes
Nestled deep in these forests and hills is a place called Bario, a modestly-sized village where most of the Kelabit community in the Highlands have settled down. Resting approximately 1,000 meters above sea level, Bario is Borneo’s highest human settlements, granted with fertile land and a rich environment suitable for agriculture.
Renowned for their simple, everyday hospitality to neighbors and strangers alike, it is no surprise that the Highlands became known as “The Land of a Thousand Handshakes.”
The Kelabit Highlands is fairly unknown outside most travel circles, though Bario is increasingly becoming a household name in Malaysia. A large part of the town’s appeal is the Pesta Nukenen, an annual food festival that draws visitors near and far to celebrate the incredibly diverse agricultural produce homegrown by the Kelabits here — from rice to pineapples, to salt, and even wild spices and herbs that are freshly picked from the forest.
But the allure of the Kelabit Highlands goes beyond its bountiful produce: it also comes from the people who cultivate this beautiful land.
Despite their historical and geographical isolation from the outside world, much is known about the kindness of the Kelabits. Renowned for their simple, everyday hospitality to neighbors and strangers alike, it is no surprise that the Highlands became known as “The Land of a Thousand Handshakes.” And it is a fitting name, given how there are only around 1,200 people who live in Bario and the surrounding villages today.
As with many cultures, there is no greater gesture of generosity for the Kelabit people than the good old-fashioned act of sharing food with guests. Sharing food is an expression of friendship, the highest and truest form of Kelabit hospitality. And the Bario community consistently put on a great show for their annual food festival.
Now running for its 12th year, the Pesta Nukenen is a celebration of the unique food, forestry, and farming as practiced by the Kelabits in their homeland.
Book an experience in Bario and the Kelabit Highlands on LokaLocal.
A Different Kind of People, A Special Kind of Grain
By and large, the Kelabits are farmers, but they are also hunters, and fishermen, and foragers. In a community as small as theirs, there is no strict demarcation of roles: everyone does anything and everything they can do — from cultivating rice to hunting wild game, to fishing and picking wild fruits, herbs and spices straight from the jungle and bringing them to the village.
Sharing food is an expression of friendship, the highest and truest form of Kelabit hospitality.
In this way, the villagers in Bario and elsewhere in the Highlands have sown and reaped from their homeland, generation after generation. The food eaten here is always fresh, wholesome, organic, and sustainable — because all of them are grown locally.
Of particular note is the way villagers in Bario grow their rice. Some of the villagers still do it all by hand. The elevated topography of Bario is a suitable environment for the Bario rice to flourish, and the green paddy fields that surround the town is a testament to the rich, fertile soil.
Aside from that, the cool temperature and mountain water keep the rice rich with all sorts of minerals and vitamins. It is said to be sweeter than other rice varieties grown in Borneo.
Book an experience in Bario and the Kelabit Highlands on LokaLocal.
Pleasant Pineapples, and a Land Worth its Salt
Because of its rich biodiversity and agricultural produce, some travelers have called the Kelabit Highlands “the edible jungle” or “the jungle supermarket.” From edible flowers and ferns to wild berries, villagers here do not have to worry about where to get their food supplies, despite living in one of the most remote places in the world.
Though blessed with this richness, the Kelabits live and eat by a frugal principle: take only what you need. What you want will still be there, if you ever need more.
The favorable growing conditions that benefit the Bario rice is also a great boon for the Bario pineapple, another signature crop from the town. Pineapples here are naturally sweet because they are grown organically, without the use of special fertilizers. Aside from the pleasant taste, the Kelabits of Bario also swear by the health benefits found in their native fruit, which includes curing gastric problems and maintaining youthfulness.
Aside from grain and fruit, Bario salt is another unique product from the town. Unlike most salt consumed today, Bario salt comes not from the sea but from the ground. The town is dotted with a few natural wells, from which underground water springs forth and wherefrom the salt is extracted.
Book an experience in Bario and the Kelabit Highlands on LokaLocal.
Where Hearts Find Rest
Here in the Highlands, the air is clean and cool. Fruits and flowers are aplenty, ready to be picked whenever ripe. The jungle greets you with a beautiful cacophony, filling the air with the cries and squeals of all kinds of creatures that live alongside the people. Few roads connect the villages that are scattered in the uplands. Even where one can find two paths diverging in these ancient woods, locals here still prefer to take the old, muddy trails first trodden by their ancestors. In this way, the connection between people and land, past and present, man and nature is maintained.
Even where one finds two paths diverging in these ancient woods, locals still prefer to take the older, muddier trails first trodden by their ancestors.
Today, most travelers who make their way to the Highlands come with the desire to hike from longhouse to longhouse and, with the help of local guides, trek through the wilderness out here. Or at least what is left of the wild, as jungles in Borneo are constantly threatened by logging. Still, there are others who hear of Bario’s bountiful produce and come to the town to experience the local culture for themselves.
It is here in the Land of a Thousand Handshakes, in the heartland of Borneo, far and away from the modern conveniences of city life, that you can still find people who proudly hold onto their customs and traditions, whose hospitality will make you feel right at home.
All who come will be welcomed, and will inevitably find their hearts moved by the warmth, love, as well as the generosity that the Kelabits are renowned for.
Pesta Nukenan is celebrated for three days in the month of July each year.
