Have you ever heard of Sarawak? Saba? How about the island of Borneo? We knew nothing about this area of the world when we booked a post-conference trip to the Malaysian state of Sarawak. Looking at a map, we discovered that Malaysia shares Borneo with two other countries: the Kingdom of Brunei and Indonesia. About two thirds of this island is Indonesian Borneo, known as Kalintang. The Malaysian states of Saba and Sarawak lie along the northern coast and in between them is Brunei. Sarawak is the largest state in Malaysia - has the largest cave chamber in the world, dense rainforests, and rivers.
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| Arriving in Mulu |
We flew 2.5 hours from Kuala Lumpur on the Malaysian Peninsula to Miri, the northernmost town in Sarawak. Since we had a long layover, we went into town, cleaned out a handicraft store, then went back to the airport to catch a flight to Mulu. Mulu is in the interior of rainforest Borneo. You can ONLY go there by boat or small plane- NO ROADS. About as far from our regular world as can be.
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| flying over Mulu, Sarawak |
We were met by Paul, a Sarawakan man who expedited our luggage and return ticket business, then hopped into a covered truck and were driven off to the lovely Royal Mulu Resort. The only road in Mulu connects the airport with the national park and the resort.
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| Royal Mulu Lodge |
This rainforest resort has many buildings of air conditioned rooms (MUCH appreciated) - designed in the style of ethnic longhouses built on stilts (3 meters above the ground). Linked by a series of walkways, the resort stands on the banks of a river in the middle of the rainforest. Long boats ply the river- using outboard motors. The native people- Penang, Berwan and other tribes, live on the river banks in either single homes on stilts, or "longhouses" -communal dwellings. While these indiginous people were once head hunters, they are now mostly evangelical Christians. Our guide explained that Islam didn't work well for the native ways in the rainforest- where people regularly dine on wild boar!
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| Penang villagers longhouses on stilts |
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| long boats alongside lodge |
The Royal Mulu had a lovely swimming pool and an open air dining area with nice buffet. Each evening at the waiters and waitresses became dancers and put on a cultural show. Quite wonderful in costumes, etc. One part of the show was the blowpipe demonstration! Sorry-no shrunken heads. But they did have a dining area called the Shrunken Head Terrace ! Cultural shows featured a variety of dances from areas of Malaysian Borneo.
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| Iban head hunter |
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| Mulu Dancers |
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| Fin & Mulu maiden |
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| dancing with rice trays |
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| dancing with "pua kumbo" cloths |
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| blow dart demonstration |
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| playing the "sape" traditional Sarawakan instrument |
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| Mulu Performers |
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