Blogs from Sarawak, Malaysia, Asia - page 6

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The notion of staying with a tribe who were the dominant 'headhunters' in Borneo may strike some as odd. However, my short stay with the 'Iban' was a fascinating and stimulating tour that I'll remember clearly for a long time. The Iban are the main tribal group in Sarawak, Malaysia. They were once renowned for being the most feared warriors, hunters, and 'headhunters' on the island of Borneo. The term 'headhunting' refers to the practice of killing an enemy and taking the head back to a 'longhouse', a large single-storey continuous house. The head would be smoked, worshipped and treated with a high level of reverence. The practice was forced into a decline by the British 'White Rajah', James Brooke in 1841. His intention was to ensure less violence between the various tribal groupings and encourage ... read more

Landing 19 minutes early in the 'City of Cats', we walked off the plane and straight into a Marrybrown ckicken franchise. Eleanor's stomach was rumbling and we thought it could be fixed by a quick pitstop. In hindsight, we should have kept going because there was nothing 'fast' about this food outlet. Neither is Eleanor's eating technique - she wouldn't be winning any prizes on the eating contest circuit. Even Dean, renowned for his patience, decided to go and collect our bags. And this led to another humiliating immigration adventure at Dean's expense. Eleanor and I walked through Gate B, whilst unbeknown to us, Dean had entered through Gate A and had spent the better part of ten or fifteen minutes in immigration limbo. An officer greeted us, enquiring as to whether I was missing my ... read more

BORNEO KINABATANGAN RIVER TRIP As a child I was wild about jungles, and Tarzan and Sheena. I grew up and twenty years ago I had a chance to motor in a small Philippine banka or pump boat (powered by a washing machine pump) up the Busuanga River until you could almost touch both banks. It was truly amazing. The foliage met overhead and the jungle sounds were right out of a movie. To get to the Busuanga River you aimed the boat directly at the beach and gunned the engine. At the last minute a hard left turn swung the small craft right up the, until then, invisible river. The Kinabatangan River Trip in Borneo was much tamer, but still quite enjoyable. The Nature Lodge was just across the river from where the bus dropped us ... read more

Hej igen Så har vi fået den første smagsprøve på Borneo vilde natur. Vi tog en tur til Bako, nær Kuching, på en trekkingtur gennem junglen, og her fik vi at mærke hvordan temperaturen og luftfugtigheden tærer på én. Det er som at være i en dampovn! Vi var lige ved at miste modet, da vi ramlede ind i et lille vandfald med tilhørende basin, af med klunset og i. Helt fantastisk at ligge der og plaske rundt midt i junglen! Vi så en Probiscus abe komme svingende (dem hvor næsen ligner en .........) og forskellige kødædende planter. Det er fedt - men hårdt pga. varmen, det er svært at forestille sig det kan blive varmere, men en guide fortalte at i august sniger temp. op på 40c og luftfugtigheden rammer 99% - tag aldrig til ... read more