Coast to Highlands Overland (Part 1)

NOTE: In order to save time, these writings are straight out of my journal. This is Part 1 of 2 about a long overland trip from the coast of Sarawak deep into the interior highlands via foot, longboat, and 4x4. No tourists were seen during the whole 3-week journey.


11/17/05 -- Miri to Long San to Long Baku

Yesterday Stuart (a Welshman) and I hired a man to bring us from Miri (on the Coast) to Long San (a full day's drive inland) in his Toyota Hilux 4x4 via logging roads. During our day long trip we saw countless trucks hauling huge loads of 1-5 foot diameter logs (and some of them nearly pummelled into us in the dust clouds). Our plan was to travel overland/water from Miri to Bario and possibly me to Sabah or Kalimantan. Stuart is recording the Penan culture in order to bring back lost skills. He has a fire piston (a small, wooden fire-making device that works just like a combustion engine) that was discovered by the Penan thousands of years ago by building blowpipes---they have lost the skill of making these. There are only two original fire pistons left in the world---one in the Smithsonian and another in London. He also wants to video handtapping tattoos and building parangs (Bornean machetes).

Our First day we traveled through rapids to Long Baku/Noway (a Selait Penan village) to see the blacksmith craft a parang. The village was extremely poor and the Penan were their usual shy selves. We bought three parangs and I got one that was "old." Old parangs are most sought after because their steel craftsmanship has been proven.

We hired a Penan guide to take us to Long Lellang but he left early (a miscommunication). Panic! Sorrow! Will we have to fly back to the coast? No! We finally found people to do the impossible after telling many our hopes and stories.

11/18/05 -- Long San to Long Sait

This morning we woke up early and hired a 4x4 to bring us up logging roads closer to Long Lellang. After I paid for the ride the driver let his family and friends pack into the truck. First stop was a Kenyah settlement (Long Selungo). It took two hours on rough, slick logging roads. Then, we hired a longboat to bring us upriver to Long Sait. The river wasn't so high, so we had to drag the boat through rapids multiple times. Then, we beached and walked further for about 20 minutes before reaching Long Sait. Once in Long Sait, we tried to arrange for guides up towards Long Lellang. They wanted to guide for RM320 per person (over 10x the going rate). We convinced them for RM50 per guide. They didn't want to leave until tomorrow, which Stuart and I were reluctant about (but which turned out to be a sound idea). Initially everyone was very shy and just went through the formalities of serving tea and small crackers. Soon, though, 17 old Norin and her friends introduced themselves. Stuart and I spent the day trying to learn as much Penan as possible from our new friends. And because we befriended Norin, the rest of the village was extremely interested in us. That night we were fed like kings. (Again, these people are likely the most impoverished in Malaysia. It is stressful to eat their food while they never ask for repayment. Before, we had stocked up on supplies for upriver tradeable goods such as: a large sack of dried mushrooms, sacks of coffee, non-battery flashlights, etc.)

11/19/05 -- Long Sait to Long Kepang

Started this morning by 8:30AM walking. We had quite a gathering to see us off and we were given rice, veggies, and rat meat for out walk. Our guides were both Penan, barefoot with shotguns. Both were persistant to carry our bags, although we both politely declined. It is difficult to know their customs and whether declining their generous offers is OK. Our guides said the walk would take 4-6 hours to get to Long Lellang. The Penan are amazingly strong, extremely muscular and very knowledgeable about their jungle. Our walk took about 8 hours and it was strenuous! We climbed 3 mountains, scrambled over fallen logs that crossed deep gaps, and wadded through many sets of rapids. The leeches were out in force. The scenery was very nice (8 foot wide trees, occasional vistas, pristine forests, a waterfall, and plenty of rivers). More important than the scenery was not breaking an ankle (health facilities are back in Miri only). I'm starting to wonder if walking to Bario and then Sabah is such a good idea. We are staying in a small Penan settlement about 1-2 hours from Long Lellang--called Long Kepang. We're at one of the guides' huts. People were interested in my Sarawak map--it seemed as though they had never seen a map. We ate rice, mashed Tapioca leaves, and Python for dinner--the python was chewy, but I was hungry. There was an old man with serious inflammations on the right side of his body, and Stuart made note of this in order to send in a doctor later.

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