Hiring a 4×4 from branded car rentals such as Hertz and Avis, which are quoting about RM400 a day for a newish Ford Ranger 2.2, is getting relatively easy.
Website “car4rent.my” also mentions an additional one-off charge of about RM500 for a Kuching-based rental Ford Ranger for destinations such as Kapit.
This means that for a team of four, the bare cost of a seven-day off-road camping holiday with a rented truck could be as low as RM100 a day per person, or RM700 per person for the seven-day event.
A practical overall budget would be about RM3,000 per person for food, fuel and a two-night hotel stay.
Returning from the Sarawak International 4×4 Jamboree, West Malaysians can cease worrying about the high cost of adventure off-roading in Sabah and Sarawak, the two havens of off-road adventure and camping.
A DIY camping holiday in Borneo is as simple as renting a 4×4 pick up with automatic transmission from the airport. An automatic transmission is essential as there’s no chance of burning the clutch.
On the other hand, if the driver doesn’t use the automatic transmission correctly while tackling long and steep slopes, it will seriously damage the engine and gearbox. The road ascending the Crocker range in Sabah – is a notorious killer of engines and gearboxes, and of brakes fading while descending.
The Sarawak Off-road Adventure Travel Association (Sakta) is a camping-focused club with its annual Sarawak 4×4 jamboree.
In the 8th edition that flagged off on Sept 16 in conjunction with Malaysia Day, Sakta members organised a four-day event featuring off-road driving and camping up-river of the Rajang.
Because of the large number of participants, 180 trucks and at least twice as many people, from Sabah, Brunei, Indonesia and Singapore, the event was organised in three groups.
For members of Adventure Team B, it involved a two-day camp on a grandly wide river. While there, members were invited to a welcoming party at Rumah Panjang Undi.
Eight long boats were marshalled to take everyone on a 30-minute ride up a tributary of the Rajang to reach this otherwise inaccessible long house.
Returning by boat was somewhat more terrifying than exciting. It was a moonless, cold night with strong river currents, coupled with fallen trees and rocky rapids that made the ride choppy. The pitch-black night was only broken by the faint beam of two torchlights.
There had been a lot of tuak drunk in the long house. What if the boatmen had also imbibed too much? But all fears were dispelled. The pole man in the front and the engineman in the rear expertly piloted the group back upriver to the campground.
The group has been to many longhouses, and this was amongst the most genuine, yet with solar electricity and clean water.
As an individual from Peninsula Malaysia, you’ll never be able to experience this level of off-roading and camping camaraderie. You’ll also meet many friendly campers, Sarawakians of course, as well as Indonesians and Bruneians, who you can plan off-road and camping holidays with for the rest of your mobile life.
However, there are only a limited number of slots available for the Sarawak Jamboree 2026 flagging off in Bintulu in September next year.
Next year’s event will explore the Sungai Asap watershed which houses the Bakun dam resettlement area. Participants will engage with a mix of Orang Ulu communities, mostly the Kayan, Kenyah and Kelabit.
For more information, visit Sakta’s website. Alternatively, email its media representative at [email protected] or send a WhatsApp message to club president, JS Jirram at +6019 888 5299.
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