Borneo Highlands Resort near Kuching offers more than one of the most unique and breathtaking golf courses in Asia but also access to a rainforest that stands at the crux of our eco system.

It took me a while to catch my breath as I stood at the lookout perch about a ten-minute drive from the main building of the Borneo Highlands Resort. There up on a little plateau at the end of a gravel road, the jungle terrain opened up to a small garden cordoned off by a cliff. The lush canopies of hundred-foot trees formed an emerald sea, stretching for as far as the eye can see.

This was the great Kalimantan forest, not only home to myriad wildlife, but also one of the world’s primary sources for wood pulp, the origins of which the paper you hold in your hand is borne. It is also one of the key elements that keep climate change in balance. To say that this green patch has a bearing on our lives is an understatement of sorts.

Getting close to one of the world’s greatest rainforests is one of the best things about coming to the Borneo Highlands Resort. Only an hour. from Kuching, the capital of Sarawak, it’s as far away from urbanisation as you can get while still holding on to some of life’s essential comforts.

The resort touts itself as a haven of nature, and they aren’t far from the truth. Nature walks, visiting eco gardens and organic farms, and bird watching are just some of the activities that you can engage in (and in turn, will engage you) on a visit. The Kalimantan View Point, with its vista of the great rainforest, is one stop you have to make if only to take in the significance of our rainforests.

One of the best things about Borneo Highlands Resort is the Hornbill Golf Course. For some time now, I’ve heard that this was one of Malaysia’s best courses, now I understand why.

Unlike the courses we are used to in Singapore, Hornbill, designed by Australian Neil Crafter of Crafter + Mogford Golf Strategies, is built around its natural terrain, not in spite of it. True to the characteristics of Borneo Highlands Resort, the holes of this 6,249m course tip toes around rocks, hillsides, ravines and trees – treating the God-given topography as an adversary at times, and as an ally at others.

There are as many flat holes here as there are highrise buildings in this part of Sarawak – which means to say, there are none to speak of. Tee boxes allow views that are postcard-perfect, while sending trepidation through your knees at times. It starts from the 363m, par 4 first hole where you are asked to draw your downhill tee shot around a rock face, then face a severe uphill approach to a hidden green. The hole would have been devastatingly demoralising if it weren’t so picturesque.

Logging, an activity that is as indigenous to the area as the birds by which the course is named, is one reason why the course found its way here. The holes are built on cleared and “degraded areas” as remnants of past forestry activities. Crafter did not take down more trees than necessary when designing the undulating layout, deciding to work with the grandeur of the mountains and forests instead of against them.

“Our use of creeks, lakes, and extensive plantings of endemic trees, palms and ferns as well as exotic foliage plants and flowering shrubs add vibrant colours and textures to the jungle setting and complementing the towering rainforest trees,” says Crafter on his company’s website. This is clearly the case on the 512m, par-five 13th where you need to clear water twice on the way to a small green tucked by the side of the mountain.

The course takes the resort’s conservation theme seriously as well. Sand eroded from the site during logging work and deposited in the rivers at the foot of the mountains was dredged up and transported to the site to be used in the construction of greens and tee boxes.

As any course superintendent can attest to, maintaining a mountainside course requires a keen understanding of the weather patterns and local geography. This part of the world gets a lot of rainfall, up to 5m each year. Given the challenges nature throws up, the course was in a very playable condition at the time of my visit. Its acceptance as an iGolf Laureate Course as awarded by the International Golf & Life Foundation, which acknowledges courses that promote environmental and social responsibility speaks loudly about its efforts.

I’ve always felt that conditioning is secondary to the overall experience a course provides. Too much emphasis is afforded green fairways and greens, while not enough to the clever routing of holes, and the use of plants in surrounding areas. Luckily, Hornbill has enough rainfall to ensure that the grass is always green, and its location guarantees that there is ample foliage no matter where you look.

Nature activities and golf aside, Borneo Highlands Resort can also be a place where you come to do nothing. Accommodations are a nice blend of rusticity with modern amenities, and the lack of electronic distractions (i.e. TV or radio) allows you to enjoy the more poignant aspects of a hilltop getaway.

Of course, we can’t all do without some of life’s pleasures. The Jungle Spa should easily take away some of the pain from being deported from your wired world, offering your body, mind and soul a “connectedness” of a different slant. The Peso Perong therapy that I tried uses traditional Bidayuh methods of massage with a home-brewed oil concocted from Sarawak pepper and ginger that left me in a dizzying relaxed state of mind.

Coming from Singapore, food is a main concern for me whenever I travel. I had heard that the restaurant here, Annah Rais Café, served only organic food with no meat offered (though egg-based dishes are), and was mildly apprehensive. But I was pleasantly surprised that the freshness of the ingredients, and skill at which the vegetarian dishes were prepared – not to mention the fine juxtaposition of the semial fresco surrounds against the forest backdrop – made for meals that were highly enjoyable.

Be warned that there this is an alcohol-free restaurant. But with one of Asia’s most beautiful courses on your doorstep, the call of the wild playing music with your meals, and the tapestry of green everywhere you look, intoxication of a different kind is a more than acceptable alternative.