Sarawak, Malaysia

As Malaysians say, “Malaysia is truly Asia”. I have been to Malaysia for a couple of times and usually we would go from Dubai to Kuala Lumpur, however, one time we decided to change the destination to Sarawak, which is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Sarawak is located in the north-west of the island and is the largest state followed by Sabah. We decided to go to two cities there, Kuching, the capital, and Miri. First thing we did after we arrived at the airport is head to Batang Ai Longhouse Resort, which is managed by Hilton. It took us 4 hours drive to get to a river and then we crossed the river in a boat, which took us 20 minutes approximately. As we were arriving there, it seemed as if we were heading to a tropical jungle, however, when the boat stopped we saw a huge resort in the middle of all the trees and plant. After we arrived at the resort, we immediately were planning for our exciting adventure in Kuching’s jungles. After a day of planning and resting we decided to go to Matang Wildlife Centre. In there they had rock pools, flora and fauna of endangered species, nature trails and waterfalls. It was an exciting day as we saw Orang-Utans, bears, fresh water crocodiles, hornbills and many other endangered species. 

After that we went to the Fairy and Wind caves, which was really extraordinary as they had quite large entrances to it with wonderful limestone formations decorating the caves and the caves have also cool streams that flow out of it and a small river, which some of the tourists with us went and swam in it.

We then rested for few days and during these few days I went on some trails beside the resort exploring the jungle that surrounded us, which was a “one of a kind” experience as I don't go on trails in the jungle that often. After resting for few days, we decided to go to Lemanak Long House. Longhouses conjure up images of a simple wooden structure built on stilts in the jungle. For protection in days gone by, the houses of individual families were joined together to make one long house for the entire community. The majority of traditional Borneo longhouses are located in Sarawak. The long, narrow, single-verandah building is raised on stilts off the ground and divided into one long open communal area with a row of private living quarters at the back of the structure. The size of a community is determined by how many doors the longhouse has as this is an indication of how many families live there. Being raised, cool air circulates underneath the floor of the dwelling and livestock take shelter underneath. 

This provides protection while keeping the building cool. Longhouses are traditionally built from timber since most of the inhabitants are rural indigenous people who live in or near the forest. This was an up close and personal experience with the Iban people who were former headhunters of Borneo. Ibans are the largest ethnic group in Sabah. For centuries these people who live near the rivers of Borneo, were feared because of their reputation as fierce warriors who practiced headhunting. Today, the practice is banned and they now live peacefully as agriculturalists alongside their neighbours. As we met the Iban tribe, they showed us their traditional dance, music, textile-weaving, blow-pipe prowess and fishing. My brother asked them about their headhunting past and how could they define who is the bravest or strongest in the tribe, which the person we were talking to accompanied us to meet an old man that was sitting outside the longhouse. He told us that this man was the strongest in his tribe and he showed us his body and arms, which was full of tattoos and he said that this was a symbol of how strong the person is. So, we greeted the old man and talked with him for a bit and then he showed us the skeletons of his enemy’s heads long time ago.

The day after that we went on a tour to the tropical jungle with a guide that knew everything about these jungles. We walked for 3 hours in the jungle, looking at amazing sceneries along the way and walking beside rivers and lakes. On the way back to the resort during our walk in the jungle, we rested beside the river and waited for a delicious and authentic meal cooked inside a bamboo. It was a really thrilling and exciting adventure in Kuching.

After staying in Kuching for 2 weeks almost, we went to Miri for almost a week or so and we went to Mulu caves and Niah caves, which were also extraordinary. The Mulu cave had a river in it that the guide told as that it is said that the river gives the youth back to a person as its water touches your skin, same as “the fountain of youth”, it was exciting just hearing that and everyone in the tour decided to splash the water on their faces or arms, hopefully it worked for someone ;)