Lonely Planet Borneo

Borneo brings together an astonishing array of cultures, religions and languages, and age-old traditions of hospitality mean visitors are welcomed. Most cities have significant Chinese communities, while the picturesque coastal kampung (villages) of Sabah and Sarawak are populated mainly by Malays, but head inland and the dominant culture is indigenous. Borneo's Dayak groups stopped headhunting long ago, but many other ancient customs and ceremonies live on in longhouse communities. There's no better way to experience the indigenous way of life than to drop by for a visit easy to arrange with a local guide.

Culinary Melting Pot

The varied ethnic and cultural backgrounds of Borneo's people means the island's cuisines are as wide-ranging as they are delicious. Seafood from the South China Sea is served fresh at Chinese restaurants, smoky chicken satay stalls beckon at Malay night markets and Indonesian eateries offer spicy sambal. Even tiny Brunei has its own culinary traditions, not to mention Borneo's numerous indigenous groups. From the sublime cooking of the Kelabit people including Bario rice and pineapple curry to dishes such as bamboo chicken and midin jungle fern, Dayak cuisine is unlike anything you've ever tasted.

Summit of Mt Kinabalu YVES ANDRE/GETTY IMAGES

By Isabel Albiston, Writer

I've often found that it's in places of true wildness and potential peril that human warmth and kindness is most immediate, and nowhere is that more true than in Borneo. There is a sense of magic in this land where the forest itself is believed to be inhabited by spirits who may or may not wish you well, and trekking from longhouse to longhouse means shimmying across rickety bamboo bridges, collecting wild mushrooms and fiddlehead ferns for dinner and keeping an eye out for wildlife possibly even shaggy orangutans moving through the canopy above.