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a'kelalan is a group of nine villages in the Bario Highlands of Sarawak, Malaysia Borneo. Located 3,000 feet above sea level and four kilometers from the border with Kalimantan, Indonesia, the villagers belong to the Lun Bawang tribe. Seven of the villages in Ba'kelalan are Buduk Nur, Long Langai, Long Lemutut, Long Ritan, Long Rusu, Pa Tawing, and Buduk Bui, where there are saltwater wells that keep the commercialization of organic salt-producing thriving, as the stuff is sold all over Sarawak.

The name Ba'Kelalan, derived from the Kelalan River and Ba', means wetlands in the Lun Bawang language. Its population is around 1,500. In the cool mountain climate, temperate fruits such as apples, mandarins and vanilla are grown. Plans also abound to grow other crops such as strawberries and passion fruit.

Taking a jungle trek on certain routes in Ba'kelalan is recommended. You'll come across quaint villages located near rolling hills and gentle rivers. Visitors can put up at the Apple Lodge located next to the airstrip where only twin otter planes are allowed to land on a tarred runway. If you take a short trek through the paddy fi elds behind the lodge and head to and climb the nearby hills, you'll be greeted with views of the Kalimantan border and breathtaking sunset views.

Ba'kelalan Airport has fl ights to the Bario and Lawas regions using 19-seater DHT aircraft. Road access to Ba'kelalan is possible via a 125 km former logging trail from Lawas using four-wheel-drive vehicles, but the road conditions can be particularly bad in the rainy season and the journey takes at least six hours.

Apple farming has been developed in Ba'Kelalan since 1990 and the town is now the fi rst in Malaysia to grow the fruit successfully on a commercial scale.

Started on a humble scale in 1975 when the fi rst apple cuttings were brought from the highlands of East Java by a local boy, Andrew Balang Paran, the early planting of the cuttings faced problems. The turning point came in 1988, when help from two apple growers from Batu Malang in Indonesia brought the 300 dying apple trees back to health using pruning, fertilizers and chemicals. During the next two years, 1,000 more apple trees were planted, and in 1991, the fi rst harvest was produced after an artifi cial "wintering" process in December 1990, when the leaves of the trees were removed.

Now, seven varieties of apple are grown, of which the fi rst three have produced fruit: - the "Ba Kelalan Apple" or Manalagi
- a Washington hybrid fi rst produced in Indonesia; light green but turning yellow when ripe
- Rome Beauty, crunchy, sweet, sour tasting apple normally used for cooking
- Tropical Beauty, a brilliant red oval apple, sweet but not as crunchy as Rome Beauty
- Lady Williams
- Epal Anna
- Kwanglin
- Jonathan

The current three-hectare orchard located near the Apple Lodge has 2,000 apple trees and is run by 75-year-old former pastor Tagal Paran, the elder brother of Andrew Balang Paran. The trees bear fruit twice a year, normally in the middle and end of the year. The fi rst Apple Fiesta in Malaysia was held in Ba'Kelalan from March 29 to 31, 2007.