Sunday, November 27, 2011

Belaga, a splendor lost

The interior town of Belaga about 165km by road from Bintulu
and 155km from Kapit by express boat if any still runs
seems to have lost it's past splendor no thanks to the Bakun Dam project
which cause the relocation of some 15,000 people
from 15 longhouse upstream of this town
to Sg Asap village but due to better road
and availability of jobs in nearby booming oil town of Bintulu
probably more than half have shifted there.
  Building a road to Bakun Dam bypassing the town
was probably one of the biggest blunder done by the planners
and worse still leaving it without any excess road to the new road
except by the logging track.
Now with the impounding of the dam going on
express boats from Kapit have stopped running for almost a year
thus cutting off the cheapest means of transport to the outside world.
With Murum Dam on the way,life will not get better for folks here
unless a tarred road to outside world is build soon.



The locals complained of smelly river water which is probably caused by rotting vegetation in the dam.



The meeting point of Balui and Belaga river.



The gate into the timber road,the only access road to Belaga.


and the conditions of road usage.


The elevation profile of the road from Belaga to Bintulu.



Land clearing and open burning for the new paddy season
is the main cause for the haze
during my visit in August.


John Belarik checking his 4WD  during  one of our pitstop (in the bushes)
and it cost RM 50 for this dusty 4 hours ride from Bintulu
(~100km tarred road and 65km offroad),
not bad considering the hash conditions the vehicle have to endure.
His normal schedule:-
Belaga to Bintulu (7.30am)
Bintulu to Belaga (2.00pm)
waiting point is beside Li Hua Plaza.
contact no:
0198172738
0198167957



Floating fuel stations of Belaga.




The waters of the Batang Balui have receded to historical lows
since the impounding(filling) of Bakun dam started.




A welcome sign to the town.


The waiting area for the express boats at the jetty,
it have been almost a year wait for one to arrive
and i don't think they will in future
with boats not being able to get through
the Pelagus rapids,soon with Murum Dam up
we could probably walk across the river.



A helipad nearby the jetty.


The only bank in town and surprisingly they have free WIFI in the town area.


You can have a hotel for yourself only here
in Belaga.


This row of shop facing the river was once crowded with people
 before they started building those dams.


Local favourite,'ayam sabong'(fighting cock) trying to protect his hut.


A rusty diesel engine block by the river banks.



Exhaust pipes at the local SESCO diesel power station,'kenyalang'(hornbill) styled.


A weather station in town,i hope they include flood water siren
now with 2 dams upstream life can be quite dangerous.


The landmark of the town, a hornbill on a totem pole
not a very good fungshui in this part of the world
considering the hornbill is normally used to decorate graves
while the totem pole or kelirieng is used as burial pole.



An evil looking cloud over the hills opposite the jetty,
someone told me of a burial ground on the hill.


A rare find in the interior,a malay village of Brunei decent,
whose descendants came to this trading post as spice traders
probably late in the 18th century.


The wooden bridge to the Kampung Melayu Belaga.


The local district office.



Belaga District Office



View Belaga in a larger map

Friday, November 18, 2011

Night view from Kota Bridge

Some night shots from the old  Kota Bridge in Klang
which was first opened to traffic in 1957,the first double decker bridge in Malaysia.
View of Klang town with the added elegance of the new Bandar DiRaja Mosque.







Crescent beside the MPK building.



A KTM Commuter train passing by below.


Sunday, November 13, 2011

A ride on the new Sg Koyan Ringlet Highway

It was an interesting ride up to Cameron Highlands from Kuala Lumpur
via the new RM608 million, 79.1km Felda Sungai Koyan to Ringlet highway.
Interesting because the road up is so straight and no pitstop for vomiting, finally,
on a road which i considered to be the final lost link to a town
where the only excess road from Pahang are through Perak and Kelantan.
Cheqno will be very happy with this post
but sorry for the few photos taken as i was travelling in a convoy
and i only managed to make 3 short stops
on a beautiful road without a rest area,
not even a layby so every stop made is harardous to others.







A map of the new road and an elevation profile taken from fellow blogger Tabib of
Raub Mountain Bike Blog


The steep climb to Ringlet for Tabib on his bicycle.


A new Semai aboriginal settlement by the roadside.



An old aboriginal village

Road barriers removed for what?



My Deer crossing the road,
please slow down.



The Ulu Jelai Hydroelectric Project is also situated not far from this new highway,
a project which have been in the drawing book probably since the eighties
have finally been started together with the Hulu Terengganu Hydroelectric Project
due mainly to the global fuel problems and local gas curtailment.



.


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