Temples of Penang, Malaysia

Indian, Chinese, Thai, and Burmese

The Iban of Sarawak: Day 2

After waking up quite early due to the sound of about a million roosters crowing, it was time to climb down from the longhouse. Easier said than done. The only way to exit the longhouse is by climbing down a really steep and narrow ladder-stairs. It takes a bit of time to climb up or down, and it is designed this way to prevent enemies from rushing into the longhouse.

The first activity of the day was to learn how to use a blowpipe. The Iban hunt (animals and enemies) by blowing a poison dart through a long tube. Fortunately, I wasn't aiming at any animals or people. Instead, I tried to aim at a mango nailed to a tree. Aiming was harder than I expected since my arms were not quite strong enough to hold the heavy pipe steady. After shooting three darts, none of which hit the mango, I decided I'd leave the killing-by-poison-dart to more capable hands.

Next a guide took us on a walk through the jungle. Mosquitos swarmed around me the whole time. Even though I had applied bug spray 4 times prior to entering the jungle, I was still amazed that not a single mosquito bit me! On the jungle walk, we learned about how the Iban make booby traps and use various plants in the area. We also saw some traditional Iban graves.

And finally, before the one hour boat ride and 4 hour van ride back to town, we watched a cock fight. Cock fighting is illegal in Malaysia. But the Iban have a special permit for cock fighting. They used to settle territory disputes with cock fights. The owner of the winning rooster got to keep the land in question. Now, they mostly do cock fighting to teach visitors about their way of life. Watch a video of the fight! Hear why I woke up so frustratingly early! I swear there are a million of them!

The Iban of Sarawak: Day 1

In a college anthropology class, I studied about the Iban people from Sarawak. My professor did field work with the Iban and write a book called The Iban of Sarawak: Chronicle of a Vanishing World. I didn't read his book even though it was required reading for his class, but I was still very interested in learning about the Iban.

I was really excited to travel to Sarawak, especially because I was able to stay overnight at an Iban longhouse. The Iban live in the middle of the jungle. To get to the longhouse, I had to travel 4 hours by car and then 1 hour by boat. It's only possible to get to the longhouse by boat. No roads go there! Unfortunately, during my 1 hour ride on the uncovered boat, it started to rain. The sort of downpour you would expect in the rain forest. Many things got wet. My clothes, my passport, the copy of my e-ticket, some money... I used a poncho I had purchased 2 hours earlier to cover as much of my bag as possible, but it wasn't good enough. Meanwhile, the boat driver/steerer/captain guy quickly tried to bail out the boat so we wouldn't sink.

After changing my clothes, I went to meet the Iban. I had a brief tour of the longhouse, which didn't look at all like I had imagined during my anthropology class. I even saw 2 human skulls on display. The Iban used to be headhunters and would use human skulls as trophies to prove bravery. (as recently as WWII)

After a delicious meal, the other visitors and I gave small gifts to the chief. The gifts were shared equally among the families who live in the longhouse. The chief and a few other people entertained us by dancing. And then they expected us to dance with them. Fortunately, Iban-style dancing is slow and not too difficult.

And when the few hours of electricity was turned off, it was time for bed.

Man of the Forest

After spending a few days in Singapore, I headed to Malaysia. The city of Kuching in the state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo. (For anyone considering a trip to Malaysia, I highly recommend traveling to Borneo.) A short drive from Kuching, there is an orangutan rehabilitation center. At this center, employees are trying to teach captive-bred orangutans how to survive in the wild. These days, orangutans are endangered and are only found in parts of Malaysia and Indonesia. And perhaps your local zoo.

Here you can see a momma and baby. And on the right is a photo of the alpha male, who decided to sit in the middle of the path and prevent visitors from leaving the site. For about 20 minutes.

Singapore

Still catching up with my blog. Singapore is multi-cultural and easy to navigate and expensive.