Sarawak is a country full of natives. When I say "natives", I mean the native people that were originally living in Sarawak since eons ago, like the Aboriginals of Australia, or Maoris of New Zealand. Sarawak itself has many tribes, like Penan, Bidayuh, Iban, to name a few. Their culture ranged from nomadic to headhunting, and they lived in longhouses deep in the jungle.
Hence, a longhouse visit is a must on my itinerary in Sarawak. Afterall, one does not go all the way and not appreciate the country's colourful culture and history, is it not? There are quite a few tribes available for visitors, but I chose one of the more popular ones - Annah Rais Bidayuh Longhouse, simply because it is more accessible than the others and can be completed in a day trip or even half a day without staying over.
In fact, half a day is enough to take in the on-goings of the longhouses and see the natives going about their business. Of course, if you are the kind who wants to experience wholescale, then perhaps a night or two is a good idea, as you get to live in the longhouse, see how they make their rice wine, a cockfight, and even go on some headhunting trail of the past.
I embarked on the longhouse tour after my trip to the orang utans. It was just a half hour's drive from the orang utan sanctuary, so I reached the longhouse in good time. When the driver guide parked at the parking lot outside the property, I had to register and pay an entrance fee of RM10.00, where one of the natives then gave me a small glass of rice wine as a welcome drink.
Rice wine as welcome drink
After registering, I proceeded to go into the property, with my driver guide, who showed me the entrance, which is via a long flight of stairs into the houses. The longhouses are on stilts, hence we need to climb a bit to reach the houses.
Entrance to the longhouse via this flight of stairs
The experience really took my breath away! Despite modernisation, the houses are pretty well-preserved! They are built of zinc and wood, with bamboo floors and zinc roofs. Much of their culture is still intact, as I can see firewood on the floor, open stoves and outhouses as bathrooms, and the houses are even small and dark like before!
I managed to speak to one of the natives who is in charge of the homestay program. He speaks pretty good English, but do not expect him to be half-naked like before. They all wear modern clothes now, and have mostly converted to Christianity. In the houses for the homestay program, there are even modern amenities like refrigerator, stove, cooking utensils and television sets. And yes, they do have satellite plates on the roofs of the houses too.
Spare firewood to be kept for later
Bamboo floors of the houses
The front of one of the houses
The surroundings of the houses
I like this, because it shows modern influence despite the traditional culture
The people actually walk on this board to get to the other side
This is for slicing wood
Boiling water outside
This is the outhouse
After walking around, the driver guide brought me to the house that used to belong to the chief headhunter. The Bidayuhs were a headhunting tribe, where they hunted people and took their heads for sport. The heads would then be displayed as the fruits of their efforts. Whoever who took the most heads would be the chief.
Of course now they no longer hunt heads, but this house is still intact for people to see their past culture and tradition. No one lives in it now, it is just a show house.
This used to be the house of the chief headhunter
Interior of the heaadhunter house
Can you see the skulls in a cage? Rewards of the headhunter
Ceiling of the headhunter house
After coming out of the headhunter's house, I went to a house that sells souvenirs made by the tribes, like a blowgun and rice wine.
Homemade rice wine
A blowgun
Wood being stacked around
The Bidayuhs still engage in cock fights for sport. I see quite a number of beautiful cocks around, some in cages, some roaming around.
What a beautiful cock!
We crossed this to get to the other side
Roosters and hens behind a gauze
Back windows of a house
Besides the longhouses, the property also comes with a big garden where the Bidayuhs grow fruit, like this ginger plant below.
This is a house that is at the lower part of the hill.
More beautiful cocks
A banana tree
This river runs through part of the property. The area where this longhouse is situated is called Padawan, near the border of East Malaysia and Kalimantan of Indonesia. So this river actually flows in from Indonesia. And apparently, the river mouth at Indonesia is still left alone, hence the water is pretty clear, otherwise will be murky.
This bridge leads to the end of the property.
This house intrigues me. Notice the modern tiles and windows in a traditional structure?
See the evidence of Christian influence? Almost all the doors have crosses on them.
This is one of the houses for the homestay program.
The kitchen area of the homestay house
The common area of the homestay guests, where they can drink, watch television, play games and just socialise
This is what an entire house looks like
Another modern influence - a barbecue pit
The driver guide then brought me to a model house, where he said the house represents what the traditional longhouse actually looks like. When I stepped inside, my first impression is that it is small! For people who know me, they know how petite I actually am, so if I say something is small, it is small indeed! Even I have to bend my head a little to enter the house.
Second impression is that the interior is dark, save for a small light coming in from the only window in the house. I wonder how people read in those days? Imagine once the sun sets, the whole place would be dark. Or maybe they used a kerosene lamp as I saw one hanging next to the sink.
The structure of the interior is that the moment you enter, it is the sink. Next to it is a small table used for cooking. The living room is by the window, in between the sink kitchen and the living room, is a little corner used for dining. At the end of the living room, there are stilts going up to the sleeping quarters. So the whole family would sleep together in the same space. I am not talking about the two-child family in most places, but the family as in grandparents, parents, and the many children they have. So one can just imagine how squeezy it is especially since the space is so small!
The entrance leading to the living room. Can you see how dark the place is?
The sink. This is super small, but the whole family shares it.
The kitchen and dining area
Firewood stashed in one corner
Benches for eating and sitting
This is the space upstairs for sleeping
The steps leading to the space upstairs
The lone window upstairs
The door of the house
The model house. Can you see just how small it is?
This is the Bidayuh wooden musical instrument, but the strings are not fully done yet.
The rice for making rice wine, which a lady carried on her back
The bag of rice is poured into this mat and then grinded using hands
I am really intrigued by this Astro satellite dish on top of one of the houses!
These are pepper grains drying in the sun. They would turn black once they are fully dried.
Another "modern" traditional house
After exploring the whole place and learning so much in the process, I went off feeling fulfilled and awed. Despite all the modernisation, these natives still try to keep their culture intact as much as possible, and they are also able to discern the good and bad traditions. I wish more people can be like that!
We passed by lots of farms on our way back to Kuching
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