Past Sibu, the Rejang River narrows, the current picks up, and the towns along its banks start to feel less like river ports and more like frontier outposts. Kapit is the biggest of these, reachable only by express boat — there's still no road connecting it to the rest of Sarawak's network — and it functions as the main trading and supply point for dozens of longhouse communities scattered along the upper Rejang and its tributaries.
Fort Sylvia, a timber Brooke-era fort built in 1880 to control river traffic and keep peace between rival groups upriver, still stands in the town centre and now houses a small museum on Kapit's history. The town's bazaar and riverside market are worth a wander for a sense of upriver life — traders, longhouse families in for supplies, and boats constantly loading and unloading cargo at the wharf.
Beyond Kapit, the river gets rougher still at the Pelagus Rapids, and further upriver again lies Bakun, one of the region's major hydroelectric dams. Kapit itself isn't set up as a polished tourist stop — which is exactly its appeal for travellers wanting a genuine look at how Sarawak's interior still runs on its rivers.