Travel And Photography | The Making Of Bario Salt | Sarawak

© 2014 Wazari Wazir | Lubang Garam Pa Umor is one of the best-known Bario salt springs.

© 2014 Wazari Wazir | Lubang Garam Pa Umor is one of the best-known Bario salt springs. The main salt spring at the hut where they source the water for the salt.

© 2014 Wazari Wazir | The spring water, containing brine from lubang Garam Pa Umor, is boiled for 24 hours before the salt is extracted. The Bario salt spring looks just like an ordinary spring. The only difference is the water from the spring is salty.

© 2014 Wazari Wazir | The salty water is boiled until all the water is evaporated, leaving the salt at the bottom of the “kawang” (big cooking utensil).

© 2014 Wazari Wazir | The remaining water is completely dripped from the salt before it was put in bamboo pipes to be burnt in the fire. This is to harden the salt.

© 2014 Wazari Wazir | Once hardened, the salt is taken out by splitting the bamboo tubes which is later wrapped in big leaves to be kept in dry and safe places. The salt is used in cooking and also to preserve meat.

© 2014 Wazari Wazir | Bario Salt is wrapped in leaves and sold in this cylindrical form in the markets. You can buy it for MYR15 at the hut or around MYR 20 to MYR 40 outside Bario.

Just a quick update about my trip to Bario Sarawak on June 2014. Among the highlight of my trip which is organised by Department of Information Malaysia is to visit Lubang Garam Pa’ Umor to see for ourselves on how they make the famous Bario Salt. I’ve tried it and what I can say is that it is less salty that normal salt and I think it is good for our health furthermore, there is no extra ingredients other than the salt water itself, it is purely organic.

Bario is a small village located in the middle of the Kelabit Highlands in the north east side of Sarawak. It acts as the main settlement in the highlands. There are only around 800 souls living in Bario and they are mostly the Kelabit. The people there live in longhouses and speak their own native language. Many have learnt to speak Malay and English too. Kelabit Highlands and Bario is the best place to get away from the hustle city lifestyle. Most tourists visit the place to have a peace in mind and also because they fancy jungle trekking. Do note that there are no roads in that area and so, wearing the most comfortable sports shoes, preferably with rubber material is advised as there are slippery paths.