Blogs from Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia, Asia

The Batang Rejang is a huge river that sweeps into the interior of Malaysian Borneo. Living from, and along, this artery are the Iban people whose cultures and lifestyles are so different to ours. Their distinctive haircuts, over-stretched ear lopes, and tradition of living in longhouses, where a whole village sleeps under one roof, make them very interesting. We travelled to Kapit along the chocolate coloured river, swollen with debris and surplus rains, in hope of being able to spend some time with this unique tribe of peoples by staying at a homestay. The express boat ride was enjoyable and along the muddy banks amongst the mangroves we saw both modern and traditional stilted longhouses. There are both types obviously, a few remaining beautifully carved wooden structures and others newer, more practical, concrete designs. Trying to ... read more

I love camping, but I can't deny that when I have to get out the tent in the middle of the night for a pee break, I feel scared. In the forest, with just my flashlight, I figure all sorts of creatures are watching me, some wanting to eat me. I don't like being in the forest at night... UNTIL NOW! After sunset we set out with our guide into the Similajau National Park Rainforest. With torch lights on our foreheads, we started creeping into the jungle, treading quietly. Now I wasn't the hunted, I was the hunter! When hiking through the rainforest during the day, it can be near impossible to find creatures, the forest is so dense, it is like sensory overload, you can't focus on anything. As such, the well camouflaged creatures of ... read more

Niah National Park looked an interesting spot on our westward trail, so we stopped for a couple of days at the nearby Niah Cave Inn (pun possibly unintended), one of many hotels we've seen in Malaysia where durians are banned. The National Park is home to several items, including an Iban longhouse (the Iban being an indigenous tribe whose traditional accommodation is in enormously long houses on stilts, with one door per family), and a number of caves that are notable for their size, their occupants (bats and swiftlets), the behaviour of their occupants (enormous exoduses en masse at dusk), and the produce of their occupants (the swiftlets generating the highly-prized main ingredient of bird's nest soup). Less visibly, but perhaps more momentously, excavations in the park have revealed evidence of human occupation from about 40,000 ... read more