MangoVine
Adventures in East Asia
Longhouse Visit Part 6 - Village Tour
20 September, 2009Sunday
On our second and last day at the Annah Rais Longhouse, Mr. Edwards took us on an hour long tour of his village. We had looked down the long bamboo verandah that runs along the length of the Longhouse and he took us beyond to other similar constructions.
As we were waiting - Mr. Edwards was already greeting the next party of visitors to arrive - we found Elena at the front of his house preparing the bamboo rice for the next group of trekkers.
We moved our stuff out of the rooms we stayed in and I took a peek out the back of Mr/ Edwards' house, as he was having an extension put in. Apparently, visitors have been asking for air-conditioned rooms, so he's having these built in.
There was a trio of women bringing sacks of building supplies from just outside the village down to the building site. They carried their sacks, I think around 50kg (!) each, via a strap across the top of their head. When I saw the women, one looked young enough to be a teenager.
Mr. Edwards began our tour by taking us along the verandah down towards one end of the Longhouse. We saw a few other inhabitants pottering outside their houses and he introduced us to a few of them.
Annah Rais had a designated museum house, which I think was bought off the previous owner by the village in order to display the facets of Longhouse life. We popped in here to have a look. Right next to the door was a fireplace for cooking with.
Whilst the rest of the ground floor was devoid of any furniture, the space would have been used for other living quarters. The roof area was used for storage of grain and we all scampered up the thin ladder to take a look.
Soizic mixes imaginary grain.
Mr. Edwards shows us a Longhouse umbrella, a mat that's slipped over the head and which stretches down the back, in order to keep carried goods dry.
Of course, we all cram in for a picture.
Outside one of the other houses, lies their own cooking area.
The bottom of one block opposite was being used to keep chickens.
We popped into the village shop.
Canes being dried out.
At this point, we crossed a river that the Annah Rais Longhouse was built on the back of to get to another part of the village.
Longhouses were built on either side of the long, spacious verandah and some grain was laid out to dry on a mat.
We reached the village car park where day trippers actually begin a little tour of the village. They're usually welcomed by this pair of traditionally dressed women, who are offering some rice wine.
There was a sugar cane crushing machine on display nearby.
The Headhouse still exists, which also used to be the community hall where villagers gathered for meetings or to settle disputes.
Skulls from the practise of headhunting were stored here and still were.
This craftsman was turning tree trunks into furniture.
Soizic and Ryan surrounded a local child.
And then Soizic also had a go at crushing flower. There was a little old lady doing this, and the stick was a hefty piece of wood.
We ended by taking a group photo before we met our taxi for the journey back to Kuching.
This entry posted in : Culture. Malaysian Borneo. Tourism.
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In February 2009, Mark and Linh moved from the UK to the Far East to spend 16 months living in Hong Kong and traveling around East Asia. This website documents their journey.
Find out more on the MangoVine About page.
There are 435 entries on MangoVine.
East-Asian places visited so far:
Hong Kong (Throughout 09)
Vietnam (March 09)
Tokyo (May 09)
Macau (June 09)
Taiwan (July 09)
South Korea (July 09)
Singapore (September 09)
Malaysia (September 09)
Thailand (December 09)
Cambodia (December 09)
China (April 10)