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Published: June 27th 2005
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Giant Millipede
Temburong National Park, Brunei Alright, well... it's been a week since I've arrived in Brunei. Today's the 22nd of June, and there's much to tell. Unfortunately, my 1 GB memory card that held 200+ photos gave out on me and I've had quite a few dreams since then of giving Visions a piece of my mind. I visited my cousins for a couple days before heading out on a Temburong tour, the most eastern district (or state?) of Brunei ($140 BD/person for permanent residents and citizens - otherwise, $240 BD/person for foreigners). Well, there's only four districts: Belait, Tutong, Brunei Muara, and Temburong. Because a large water inlet separates Temburong from the rest of the country, it's only reachable by a 45 minute water taxi ride. It's a good thing the taxi drivers are quite knowledgeable with the water routes because every river system, of which there are many, seems alike, and it's easy to get lost in the swampy jungles.
Our tour guide met us at the taxi station. I was surprised to see a 4 ft 10 local woman guide us; naturally, I wondered about her fitness level. We later found out that she's part of the Iban (
Ee-ban) tribe - a
Overlook
Temburong National Park, Brunei tribe known for its headhunting (yes, human headhunting) antics just 50 years ago. If an Iban man wanted to marry a woman, he would hunt his enemies and cut off a head as a gift for his bride-to-be. Unfortunately for WW II Japanese troops who landed in the jungles of Borneo, many of their severed heads served as dowries for Iban women.
Our first day was spent on hiking uphill in a national park. I no longer doubted our guide's fitness level, since I didn't even hear her gasp for one breath, unlike me. Along the way, we encountered a millipede that was 1 foot long and 3 cm in diameter (see Pic01). We wanted to take it back but its suctioning grip was so strong that we couldn't pull it off at all. I mean, really... five fingers versus 1000 legs??? (And yes, it was gross but exhilirating). We finally reached the top (Pic02) and what a great and encompassing view it was.
In the afternoon, we hiked up another hill (here, the locals deem the hills as mountains) and completed a canopy walk on the hilltop. This canopy is 150 feet tall, with five suspension bridges
Iban Longhouse
Iban children playing in a longhouse. A longhouse is exactly what its name implies, except that multiple families live in houses conjoined together to make one long house. spanning a total of 300 m. The railings are three feet tall, so if anyone falls over, it's fair to say that they're pretty much gonna be dead. So you can imagine that any person with acrophobia would have a heart attack here just by looking down (no pics are available because of memory card error).
We took the longboat to the Rainforest Lodge, where we stayed the night. Now, for anyone who loves fresh food, especially when barbequed, this would be heaven. We ate quite well there - giant BBQ'ed tiger prawns, lamb chops, fish balls. Yum. We met some locals there, all of whom were men and teenage boys. Women, I believe, are not as free as the men. In any case, they were all shy when they saw us "foreigners" and they wouldn't dare look at me as if I were Medusa herself. Rawr.
We woke up at 5:30 AM and got ready for the longboat ride and hike to a famous waterfall, which is not so famous because there are hardly any visitors to this place. It's unfortunate in a way because many citizens and PR's who live here do not realize how beautiful
Fishnet Making
An elderly Iban man is making a fishnet from bamboo. A completed fishnet is seen on the right. Brunei is; on the other hand, it's good that nobody really knows about this place because large numbers of tourists would ruin this delicate and serene place. The Temburong district is famous for its stones. These heavy, rounded stones can only be found in the crystal-clear Temburong river. Anyway, our boat arrived at a stony shore and from there we hiked on a beautiful stream to the waterfall. This hike is definitely the highlight of the tour. If you were to skip a flat stone upstream, the first skip would last more than five metres and there would be at least five skips. I don't know exactly what this says about the water quality, but I'm sure it's a very good thing. Natural round stones of red chalk can be found all over in the river and you can actually write your name on the other stones in the water. On either side of the stream, tall vegetation and shrubs cover the shorelines, and no man-made rainforest can compete with the natural beauty and serenity of this place. I honestly can't describe how amazingly beautiful this stream is. You've got to experience it for yourself. All I know is that when I get married, I'm going to have my honeymoon trip here. We arrived half an hour later at the waterfall. It's small by our Canadian standards (after having seen Niagara falls) but it's uniquely beautiful. On the way back, we floated downstream on the Temburong River to the lodge. That's an amazing experience in itself - you float on your back and just hear the birds and frogs chirp and croak and just watch the tall trees pass by.
After an overnight stay, we headed back to Bandar by way of water taxi again.
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