In some of the diaries of Western explorers, the introduction to Borneo is one-sided, but if combined, it is probably a strange world of hunter-headed tribes, large hornbills, piranhas, and toucans. However, what is valuable is that the descriptions of explorers can still be found in Kuching's national forest park!
At breakfast, the guide explained the latest itinerary: take a longboat up the river to visit the tribal longhouses in the jungle, chat with the Iban on the spacious balcony, learn about their indigenous culture and taste their own rice wine, and buy some hand-woven blankets or other crafts from the longhouses.
The longhouse mentioned by the tour guide is actually one of the most distinctive unique style houses in the sarawak rainforest of Malaysia, and only indigenous people are still living there. "Longhouse" length varies, short tens of meters, long foot hundred meters, long house is often built along the river, due to different terrain, some are in the shape of "one", the appearance is neat; some are undulating, integrated with the surrounding natural environment, is the most special cultural landscape in Sarawak. Today, the owners of the longhouses are mainly local Ibans.
The longhouse is supported by elevated wooden stakes, generally 3 to 5 meters high from the ground, mostly bamboo structure, the main body of the longhouse is divided into three functional parts: one is the drying shed, mainly used to dry grain and clothing; the second is the living room, the owner of the house is generally sleeping on the ground; the third role is the promenade, there is a roof shade shelter, but also the most widely used area of the "longhouse", which can be used as a family meeting place, living room, can also be a reception area, and important ceremonies and celebrations are also held in the promenade area. People who live in the same longhouse are usually related, and whoever has a child and marries a daughter-in-law will build another "longhouse" next to the original "longhouse". Therefore, the longer the longhouse, the more prosperous the family is. When multiple longhouses are connected together, they become natural villages. Longhouses are a unique form of residence for the indigenous people of Sarawak, but nowadays more and more young people have moved to the city to live, and there are fewer and fewer primitive longhouses like this.
Sarawak's population today is predominantly made up of Malays, Chinese and indigenous Dayaks, who are much smaller than they were decades ago and live only in the rainforest, and they don't want to leave the rainforest. Among the indigenous tribes, the Dayaks are predominantly divided into two ethnic groups according to their different living areas and living habits: the Iban (i.e. dayaks on the sea) and the Bidayou (i.e., the land-based Dayaks). Historically, these two tribes have been hostile for a long time, and they have taken pride in hunting the heads of enemies of the other tribe, and I really don't know how much hatred this must be! Therefore, the Dayaks are also called "headhunters".
As we explored some of the old longhouses in the depths of the rainforest, we once saw a hanging skull on the beam of a house owner, and the black and gray was too dark to face. In fact, that is the legendary "Hunter's Head". As early as a century and a half ago, the Iban and Bidayou had the custom of hunting human heads and showing off their force. According to the old custom, when young Iban men reach the age of 18, they must try to hunt the head of an enemy and hang it outside the door as a sign of adulthood. It is said that the more longhouse families have hanging heads, the more girls will come to court. After hunting human heads, the samurai would hang in bunches on the beams of their houses, one to demonstrate to the enemy and the other to show off his bravery. According to Iban tradition, these skulls cannot be touched by hand. The Iban believe that these skulls all have souls, and the soul of the owner of the skull hovers around the longhouse, and if anyone disrespects their skull, something ominous will happen. So we are curious, but we are still limited to the eyes. Today, the bad habit of hunters' heads has long disappeared, but the skulls left over from the early years are still there, although hundreds of years have passed, but at first glance they still look creepy and I really don't know how the locals get along with these skulls day and night!
The tribal area along the kanowit and song rivers is mainly a traditional territory inhabited by the Iban. We also entered by canoe like the locals. The canoe was long and flat, and one person sat down, lowered his hands, and put his hands on the side of the boat. The waterway is wide and narrow, and the channel is lined with tall, dense trees of vegetation, and the sunlight shines through the gaps in the canopy and sprinkles spots on the surface of the river.
This huge tropical jungle still maintains a rather primitive appearance, and the mysterious primitive tribes still live in the deep dense forest, maintaining the customs and traditions that their tribe has always followed. If you're interested, you can enjoy the wonderful scenery of the rainforest in the humid and warm air. On the way, we saw the endangered Bornean orangutan, the shy and fearful long-tailed monkey, and the leisurely wild boar that loved to chase people. It is said that only the luckiest people can see strange-looking proboscis monkeys.
After about half an hour of sailing, rows of longhouses of the Iban appeared in front. When the residents of the "longhouse" saw visitors, they all warmly went downstairs to greet us, and then invited us upstairs - we climbed the ladder made of trees with our hands and feet to reach the longhouse. Entering the long house, we first took a sip of the Iban's self-brewed rice wine, first the Iban performed a traditional dance for us, and even the old lady in her sixties and seventies came up in a colorful breast wrap to help - playing an unknown homemade instrument and making a bar-la-la sound.
The Ibans have a tradition since ancient times of blowing barrels and shooting poisonous arrows against their enemies to gain territory and loot, and this ancient skill is now our entertainment today. After trying it, I found that it is not difficult to blow the arrow out of the bamboo tube, the difficult thing is to point out which to blow, which is the place to see kung fu! There are still many tribal children living in longhouses today, and it is said that they can also receive formal education, and some even speak fluent Chinese.
Stepping out of the longhouse, it was exactly dusk, and the sunlight was obliquely shining on the colorful house, and the brakes were tempting. Sarawak has many specialties such as oil, gas, palm trees, pepper and so on, and another must not be mentioned is bird's nest. The Nia Caves are still a traditional place for collecting wild bird's nests, and many people will go to the caves to feel how hard they have been made, so as to understand why they can be sold for high prices.
Nya Cave National Park is located on the Nia River in northeastern Sarawak, near the Miri neighborhood. Beginning in 1950, archaeological teams have successively found the remains and activity remains of ancient humans and animals in the cave and adjacent sites, indicating that humans have lived and operated here as early as 40,000 years ago. In 1958, the oldest "modern man" skull in Southeast Asia, about 40,000 years ago, was excavated in the Nya Stone Cave, which proves that as early as 45,000 BC, humans lived in this land now known as Sarawak. Close to the Nia Caves are painted caves with frescoes left by prehistoric humans. The murals show that these ancient tribes had their unique cultures and beliefs. They placed the deceased on a burial ship and let them drift down the water.
Tips: If you want to visit the cave, you can walk up to a hanging bracket around the railing, the whole journey is about 4 kilometers long, and it can be reached in 1 hour when the weather is clear.