Going to a longhouse was one of those things that you have to do in Borneo if you really want to experience some culture...and get drunk. The longhouses are traditional houses that the "native" people live in that are basically as they sound...long wooden houses that house tons of families. when you enter it's a long hall that have an area for each family, and then each family also have rooms connected to hall. During they day they are often out in the fields, and then at night, they play and have fun, and entertain us tourists. some of the longhouses are pretty "modernized" now (running water, electricity, cable tv, etc), but the fact that they all live together in this long house is still pretty cool, and they still have some cool customs. they used to be head hunters, but luckily for us do not follow that custo
m anymore. we got to visit with a tour guide (just the two of us and paul, our guide)...on the way there we stopped at an orangutan sanctuary...which i would love to have a whole different blog about, but the orangutans didn't show up...which really is a good thing cause that means that they are feeding on their own and don't need humans to help them.. but not all good things make for fun events (mmm...staring at a platform for an hour...not the most exciting thing in the world :)
when we arrived, two of the Iban people (one of the tribes) were waiting for us and we got to take an amazing longboat ride (also literally as it sounds) up the river, to the longhouse. we got there and took a quick tour with paul (who is also of one of the tribes), who explained some of the neater parts of the culture...we went into the chief's room and he was giving us a tour...and then we realized that chief was right in the room, sleeping, but that didn't seem to bother anyone, and the tour continued..!! the amazing part was that night, where we got to go to the longhouse a
nd watch them perform some dances, and then we were invited to join in (which of course you can't refuse...), which is pretty awesome. there were some other older tourists with us there too, and they were somewhat stodgy and were clearly feeling awkward, but I had an awesome time. then, we played a game involving foot coordination and jumping and sticks and banging (my kind of game...suh-weet)...and then...the drinking began. "OOOOOOOOO...HUA...OOOOOOO...HUA.....OOOOOOO...HUA" (the way of saying "cheers", something i may continue doing), and back goes the rice wine (mmm...delicious). but then...the rice whiskey...leaving your glass in front of you is an invitation for more to be added to your glass. and (drunk) chief was particular fond of filling glasses with more whiskey (which of course you can't refuse)...and then he offered us cigarettes (which of course you can't refuse...ack!!!! kinda ironic since earlier i refused to buy cigarettes for the tribe as one of our gifts to them). we got to hang around the longhouse for a while and mix with the people. it was awesome. chief was definitely the coolest chief i've ever met... so, the night went on, merrymaking and putting on cool tribe hats, and taking pictures (chief really like taking pictures with yo
u), and presenting them gifts and drinking whiskey. then, after we left the longhouse (stayed in a guesthouse next door), we drank 75cent Stellas with the group (turned out to be pretty cool people) and tour guides...so, needless to say, woke up with a stellar hangover (still not as bad as the aussie fella, who was incapacitated) to the sounds of crowing...and we're not talking like, one cockaldoodledoo as you see in movies, but like, full-on crowing for HOURS..but, due to a great big breakfast, lots of amazing fresh air, and the happiness of being outside (and advil...) was still able to function. Saw a cockfight (they didn't tear each other to pieces, thank gosh...they are illegal now so they were just showing us a demonstration), got to try a blowpipe (so kickass, gotta get myself one of these for home...watch your back, squirrels..), tapped a tree for rubber, learnt about some useful trees (vines that have water, etc), and learnt how to set traps to catch ourselves ducks and pigs and humans and whatnot.
so, the longhouse trip was pretty amazing...off to Bako National Park!
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