Born-izzo Part 2: Tribal Life (with satellites)

Hello once again comrades,

Jonathan and I wanted to overload you with pictures and stories about our trip to Borneo, so we thought we would do a couple of different blog posts to maximize the media potential. The suspense is just tantalizing, isn't it? After our adventures

with the Orang Utans, we headed out of Kuching in a southerly direction to the Annah Rais Longhouse (a traditional longhouse where you have many families living all along a walkway, with each family having a room built off the walk way. And they almost all had satellite TV).

We were picked up by the very energetic Mr.Simon from our hostel in Kuching - The Three House B&B, for anyone who is interested; the owner, Bindi, was really great and the place was a decent value - at 8:00am, and arrived (after a few stops for jungle shoes and some cash) at the long house at approximately 10:00am. We were immediately loaded up with water, and sent out on our first hike. The guide (I am terrible - I can't remember his name for the life of me!) was amazing; along the way he told us incredible stories about the area. He told us that his uncle had shot the last leopard in the area some years before and showed us the spot it had happened (it had apparently attacked him), and about the week long trips into Kuching by boat his parents had made previous to the 1960's when missionaries built a road to the longhouse. He was so

knowledgeable about the areas history as well as the flora. He cut us down some wild ginger and young bamboo shoot to have the lady of the homestay make us for dinner, as well as a small snack of sugarcane when we were losing steam.

The hike itself was around 5km, but 3/4 of it was straight uphill, and the last 1/4 went right back down. It wasn't too difficult by any means (our guide had taken a 70 year old woman up a few weeks previous) but with the heat and humidity, it made it a little bit more tough that we had thought it was going to be. It was absolutely beautiful, walking through the dense jungle and over wooden bamboo bridges most of the way. It was sad to see some of the 'organic garden' areas (all slash and burn agriculture) but easy to see that there just are not a lot of other options for these villagers. Most of what is grown is consumed by the family that owns the plot, with the rest going into Kuching to be sold, and as such at the moment the chunks missing are not overwhelmingly large. It does make one think, though, about the importance of finding a more sustainable solution as a potential future thesis for those of us (me) who have an interest in environmental science. Less bitchin' more action! Am I right?

...Off my high horse and back to the story; 4 Litres of water later, we arrived at an amazing three tiered waterfall in the middle of the jungle. We immediately stripped down and hopped in as our guide (I still can't believe I can't remember his name) made us lunch.

The next morning, we woke once again to do a shorter walk (probably only around 2-3 km) to a natural hot spring in the area. We were led by Rambo, a quiet but very cool local guy, who, once again made us lunch as we went bathing in the springs.

He made us the local specialty, Bamboo Chicken. This chicken is thrown, along with a number of spices (wild ginger, pandan leaf, garlic etc.) and some water, into a piece of bamboo. A leaf is then stuffed into the end of the bamboo as a sort of lid, and it is thrown over an open fire for a while to cook. The chicken comes out succulent and delightfully spiced...served over bamboo rice (rice cooked in, you guessed it, bamboo!), it was an excellent meal. Probably the best we had in Sarawak.

After lunch, on our way back to the long house Rambo asked us if we wanted to cool off. Always up to an adventure (and sweating like pigs), we of course said yes, please! So off we went to a little swimming hole that was, miraculously, empty! We swung off of vines into the cool water, and Jon and Rambo both climbed up into the canopy (I was the fearless camera woman) for a little hang sesh.

While we were lazing about, Rambo told us about the band he is in; there are a couple of ethnic instruments that have been all but lost in the Bidayuh community, and there is a group of about seven musicians that are trying to bring them back into awareness. Rambo being one of these seven, as well as his uncle Arthur. He informed us that Arthur (the head of the band) was going to be giving us a private lesson on this instrument, the Pingasan'k (a type of bamboo zither). This lesson ended up being yet another highlight of our trip to the longhouse! He played a number of traditional songs for us, and then let us try our hand at the huge instrument. Never let it be said that we are musically inclined! It was a laugh sitting with him as he patiently explained to us again and again where exactly we were supposed to hit the instrument. We made some progress, and I think Arthur was proud in the end. We sat and spoke with him late into the evening as he told us about the near loss of the instrument, and how much effort he and the other players are putting into reviving it. He told us about their experience sharing techniques with musicians from around the world as they continue to try and improve this century old technology, while still staying true to the tradition in which it was born.