Crystal Blues - Tales from Borneo
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| 'Crystal Blues in the Talai River with friends' . |
Seven weeks have passed since our arrival on the Tulai River. The first few weeks were frantic, including a wedding here at longhouse Rumah Lidam plus the Gawai Dayak celebrations. In early June we were also invited to our first Gawai Antu (Festival Of The Dead), held at nearby longhouse Rumah Labang.
Life settled down just a little after that. With help from local friends Hillary & Jampie we were able to acquire a good quantity of hand made 'laja' (blowpipe darts), and the people of Rumah Lidam turned their hands and lungs to a very unusual competition. This was a first for almost all of them - a blowpipe hadn't been used by these people for more than a generation. After the first day's entertainment several old blowpipes appeared out of the local biliks (homes), though all were warped or damaged, and unuseable. Using Neil's new (& straight) blowpipe, the competition final was held on June 30.
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Aussie Princesses - .. . |
Our friends here keep us well supplied with local foods and are eager for us to sample everything from local river snails to Pangolin and tapioca leaf. The wild mushrooms shown here look red and dangerous to the newcomer, but taste delicious when cooked (lightly spiced).
Last week Jampie cut a large bunch of fruit from the Napa Palm along the river bank. The nuts were separated from the bunch and then cut open on the dock. Inside is a delicious clear milk, just like coconut milk. Surrounding the milk is a clear gelatinous layer that can be scraped out with your finger nail. To our surpise it tastes like Lychee fruit, only milder.
Two days in a row we slurped and scraped our morning tea of fresh nappa fruit, sitting on the dock, with Jampie wielding his long knife to keep everyone fed.
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Knife sharpener - .. . |
Our presence on this river sometimes generates an unusual amount of interest - in the past month we've been visited twice by local Chinese language newspapers, who each devoted a full page in colour to our presence here.
The courtesy and generosity of the local people is difficult to describe - I've lost count of the food and drink we've been offered by locals, both Chinese and Iban. Even in local restaurants we sometimes find our meal is paid for before we even finish it .... Sarawak is unique.
The Boatyard in Borneo:
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Plank walk connecting long house to the river - Crystal Blues in the background - .. . |
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Clearing a path for the long-boats - .. . |
Next day the job continued, and only then did we discover what was really happening. It seems that many of the local long-boats have not been out of the water for some time (some for more than twelve months), so they need to be dried out and re-painted.
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A sharp long knife helps - .. . |
These Iban river craft are a curious mix of modern and traditional design. Long and narrow, with natural 'grown' knees re-inforcing the chines, they are easy to paddle and fast under power.
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Jampie in his boat - .. . |
After a couple of weeks he was able to head back down river with an almost completed boat .... traditional skills survive. Thats Jampie in his boat at left, showing off the dinner he'd caught for us - that is one monster prawn. Thank goodness for those traditional skills.
by Neil and Ley
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