After an evening of ralaxing by the pool, we headed out early in the morning to the Lemanak River. After about a four hour drive, we arrived at the river and boarded a long boat; literally, a long, narrow boat made out of wood that we had to sit in single-file. The boat driver used a small engine to propel us down the river as he continuously bucketed water out of the bottom of the boat. After about a 30 minute boat ride, we arrived at a long house; literally a long house that is divided up into living quarters for several families of one tribe. In this case it was the Iban Tribe - one of 13 tribes in Sarawak. The Iban tribe (commonly known to Westerners as "head hunters") were very welcoming and allowed us to walk through their home and even gave us a quick blow pipe demonstration, a short cock fight, and a great cultural dance. Our guide, Wilson, came from this tribe and was very knowledgeable on their history. Before we left the long house, the families that lived there treated us to a wonderful toast with their very own brew of Rice Wine. Mmmmm.
After we purchased a few crafts from the Iban women, we made our way out of the long house and back down to the river where we got back on the long boat, which took us back to our car, which brought us to another jetty, where we boarded a ferry that took us across a reservoir to the Batang Ai resort - whew! We spent one night at this beautiful resort that was built to resemble an authentic Iban longhouse tucked right in the jungle. This was great evening!
The next morning we headed to the Semenggoh Orangutan Centre. We spent a couple of hours walking through the jungle and watching the orangutans eat, interact with each other, and swing from tree to tree. It was really amazing to watch them in their natural habitat.
The next morning we woke up early again so we could spend the day at the Bako National Park. After a couple hours in the car, we took a short boat ride to the park. It was amazing. There were macaque monkeys everywhere as well as wild boars! Our guide was great and took us on a wonderful two-hour hike where we saw snakes, bugs, even wild proboscis monkeys! The jungle hike was one of the coolest things we've ever done - we all truly felt like we were in the middle of the wild jungle. It was like we were in an Indiana Jones movie - unbelievable!
The next morning we had just enough time to visit the Sarawak Cultural Village before our flight. I am so glad we took he time to see this as it taught us a lot about the tribes that live in Sarawak. They had several houses built that showed how the different tribes lived and there was an amazing dance show at the end. Great place!
What a wonderful trip - amazing sites and great friends, loved it!
