The Ketapang Council deputy speaker, Budi Matheus, said the administration should think of a way to develop the location as a conservation area. “The area is very exotic and should be developed into a resort area. Obviously, the hills should receive official status, too,” Budi said.
Kuri and Keruat hills are located next to each other in an area of natural forest and small hills. Ketapang is located around 245 kilometers from the provincial capital Pontianak and can be reached by traveling on the Trans-Kalimantan highway, which connects with Central Kalimantan.
The head of the Ketapang Tourism and Culture Office, Yudho Sudarto, said there was very little accurate information about the two hills. “Both the hills provide habitat for an endemic bat species, which lives in caves within them,” said Yudho.
During the fruit season, the area is known for its local durian. Yudho said the hills were potential ecotourism destinations. “The cliffs on Kuri Hill could be turned into a rock-climbing arena. We have yet to obtain information on what would be needed. So far, we only have personal accounts from locals,” said Yudho.
Breathtaking views of Kuri and Keruat hills can be enjoyed from several places along the road, such as Kalam hamlet, located around 5 km from the Sungai Laur district capital, Aur Kuning.
The peak of Kuri Hill appears like a pyramid, while Keruat Hill resembles a giant dome with vegetation covering its surface. The village of Aur Kuning offers a relatively clear view of both hills.
Marsia Milan, 22, a local midwife, has climbed to the peak of Kuri Hill on several occasions. “From close up, Kuri Hill looks like a giant boulder planted on the ground,” Marsia said in Sungai Daka village, which is located less than 3 km from Aur Kuning.
In November last year, Marsia and several of her friends hiked up Kuri Hill, only taking an hour to reach the top. “When we were near the peak, we had to hold on to tree roots to maintain our foothold,” Marsia said.
With regards to the legend surrounding the hills, an elder from Sungai Daka village, Elisius Kendek, 81, said both hills were fragments that had broken away from another larger hill called Batu Daya Hill.
Batu Daya Hill is located in Simpang Dua district, some 25 km from Aur Kuning. In the local dialect, residents call it Botuh Daya. Some call it Unta Hill, because it resembles the hump of a camel. “[Legend has it that] a giant bird became enraged when an animal disturbed its eggs. In its anger, it tore at the peak of Batu Daya Hill with its talons and some of the fragments landed near Aur Kuning and became the Kuri and Keruat Hills,” said Kendek, grandfather to 13 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
“According to folklore, an old man from the village, named Kek Terenggau, who was a giant, picked up the broken rocks and arranged them into a sabar bubu (fish trap) and a grindstone for his machete,” added Kendek.
The sabar bubu was made by damming up the Laur River. It can still be seen when rapids form near Sepotong village, which is located 10 km from Aur Kuning.
Magdalena Ande, 54, a local grandmother, said before being attacked by the giant bird, Batu Daya Hill was reputed to have been very tall — almost reaching the sky. “In the story passed down to us through the generations, the gigantic bird was called the burung Garuda,” added Ande.
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