Sarawak is the other half that makes up Malaysian Borneo, located on the western side of the island. Did you know that Borneo is the third biggest island in the world after Greenland and New Guinea? I just learned that interesting little fact today. And after traveling around just a fraction of it I can see why it makes it into this category. Unfortunately, I had to limit my navigation of Borneo to the Malaysian version as Indonesia does not grant visas at land border crossings into Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) and I just don't see the point of flying to Singapore to just fly right back, do you? In the end, I spent 2 very eventful weeks in Sarawak, basing myself in the extremely charming city of Kuching. "Kuching" means "cat" in Malay and so the city has monopolized on this fact and there are gaudy cat statues in every square and there is even a giant cat museum (claiming to be the first of its kind in the world) displaying everything from mummified cats to cat statuary to Hello Kitty mementos. Well worth a giggle if one is looking to kill some time.
I came to Kuching with 2 friends and a plan (shocking I know): to attend the 10th annual Borneo Rainforest World Music Festival held in the Sarawak Cultural Village. The location could not have been more perfect: traditional tribal houses and lush, heavy mountains surrounding us, and just 40 minutes from the city. This was my first world music fest and I was looking forward to listening to music from Italy, Borneo, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Madagascar, and Mongolia, among others. And I was not disappointed. Each afternoon the festival held several workshops in the tribal longhouses featuring various musical groups, dance moves, or instruments in which the audience and the musicians actively interacted. These workshops were the highlight of the festival for me as they were very intimate affairs in which we were able to learn so much about music from another culture's point of view. The evenings were filled with jamming of various degrees by at least 8 different musical groups a night from all over the world; I couldn't stop grooving the whole time. The best group of the entire event was hands-down "Huun Hur Tu", Mongolian throat singers. The range of their voices and their immense skill with both throat and traditional string instruments sent shivers down my spine! I bought the CD which I'll be sure to share with all of you when I get home, which , by the way will be shortly before Halloween. I know, I know, I keep changing my mind, but I'm pretty sure this is the final date. Back to my story: over all 3 days I had been lucky enough to randomly run into many of the performers and so on the last night we were invited to the musicians after-party at their hotel. We returned with the Zimbabweans and sat around the pool with well over 30 musicians from around the world listening to music, dancing, speaking Italian and Spanish until well past dawn. This is something that would not have been possible in the states and made this festival particularly special.
After 3 entire days of drinking, dancing, eating, and having a thoroughly fantastic time I decided it was time to attend to seeing some of this Borneo jungle I kept hearing about. With Johnny and Sophie (my concert companions) having already departed, I met 2 lovely Australians with whom I did some jungle trekking and monkey spotting. We went to Bako National Park, a mere 30 minutes outside of the city, for some day hiking and with the hope of spotting the elusive Proboscis Monkey. Bako National Park is bordered on all sides by beaches and mangrove forests and so the only approach is by boat. Having been told that the most opportune time to spot the Proboscis was the late afternoon we hadn't planned on seeing them so quickly, but we were just so lucky! As we hopped off the boat and made our way around the mangroves to begin our first hike of the day we spotted a female munching on young mangrove leaves just under our noses, while her baby ran around her being a show-off! In total, we probably spotted over 6 adults just carrying on their business while we sat and stared. This was the first time that I had ever seen monkeys in the wild and not in a zoo or wildlife reserve so it was pretty awesome. The rest of the day was spent trudging under the hot sun, dodging mischievous, wild long-tailed macaques, sweating through every piece of clothing, and generally enjoying our jungle experiences.
The following day, not having been monkeyed-out yet, we went to the Semenggoh Orangutan Sanctuary, also conveniently located just 30 minutes outside of the city. This is a sanctuary devoted to the prosperity of wild or rescued orangutans. The orangutans live wild in the jungle and occasionally come into the center for free fruit when they are feeling lazy. This is when, if one is lucky, they are able to spot these magnificent creatures. We were lucky. Immediately upon entering the sanctuary the dominant male, Richie (27 years old and 110 kg) was munching on bananas, coconuts, and yams, while a mom and baby (!) were round the corner rustling up their own bananas. Soon there were over 7 orangutans eating nearby. This peaceful scene was not to last, however, as it is Orangutan mating season. Suddenly, we heard orangutans calling from all corners of the jungle and Richie went charging off into the jungle. Apparently, these calls were the mating calls of inferior males and Richie was having none of it. After waiting around for a bit longer we decided to leave. We made it back to the car park where, in fact, all the action was happening. We saw a female with her baby climbing through the branches, practically running for her life, while Richie was alternately cornering her or his opponent. This went on for several nail-biting minutes (with me rooting for the female) when unexpectedly the female made a break for it, crashing through the trees, clutching onto her offspring, landing in the car park, and lumbering off into the opposite side of the jungle. Richie, torn between pursuit of the female or his enemy, hesitated a moment too long and the other male went crashing out the other side. Left alone, Richie decided to hunt down the female and was soon to be seen lumbering down the side street after her. Though definitely a bit violent and macho, this was a most exhilarating scene to witness as they were behaving like the wild orangutans they are!
Another fascinating event that happened during my time here in Sarawak was getting tattooed in the traditional style. Thanks go to Anthony Bourdain for giving me this idea. Several months before I departed for this trip I was obsessed with reading and watching anything to do with Southeast Asia and I was particularly fond of his series, "No Reservations", which mixes food, travel, culture, and his personal brand of pessimism. Anyway, he did a show on Malaysia featuring the culture of the Iban tribe of Borneo, Malaysia. After learning about the tribal tattoos I randomly came across other programs about them and became intrigued. Long having wanted a tattoo, I always hesitated as nothing seemed to be meaningful enough for me to want it forever tattooed on my body. When I came to Sarawak, I knew that these tattoos were for me as traditionally Iban tattoos signify one's life journeys and each tattoo communicates a specific journey in the life of that person. I found a wonderful Iban tattoo artist named Ernesto who makes tattoos in the traditional manner, that is without an electric tattoo gun. Instead, the tattoo is hammered into the skin with an ink-soaked needle in a very steady and slow way. The resulting tattoo tends to be a bit less defined and a bit lighter in color than a modern tattoo, but after all, it is done by hand. I decided on 4 different tattoos: 2 traditional tattoos and 2 of my own creation. On the side of each ankle I had 2 little men tattooed which are common figures found in the Ikat textile weavings woven by the women of the tribe. Since I am an avid textile collector I thought that these little guys would be perfect. On my lower back I had 2 eggplant flowers placed on either side of my spine. The flower symbolizes one's life journey with the central spiral being one's life line. Two flowers are necessary to display the balance in one's life. Traditionally, these would be placed on the front shoulders of a boy between the ages of 13 and 15 before his first solo journey into the jungle. However, since I live in 21st century America I thought that they would be better placed on my back. And, no, they did not hurt too terribly! Whatever pain I endured has now been forgotten and well worth the effort!
I have just arrived in the clean, cosmopolitan city of Singapore where I will be for the next four days. Please await the soon-to-be-published Singapore edition of this blog!
I came to Kuching with 2 friends and a plan (shocking I know): to attend the 10th annual Borneo Rainforest World Music Festival held in the Sarawak Cultural Village. The location could not have been more perfect: traditional tribal houses and lush, heavy mountains surrounding us, and just 40 minutes from the city. This was my first world music fest and I was looking forward to listening to music from Italy, Borneo, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Madagascar, and Mongolia, among others. And I was not disappointed. Each afternoon the festival held several workshops in the tribal longhouses featuring various musical groups, dance moves, or instruments in which the audience and the musicians actively interacted. These workshops were the highlight of the festival for me as they were very intimate affairs in which we were able to learn so much about music from another culture's point of view. The evenings were filled with jamming of various degrees by at least 8 different musical groups a night from all over the world; I couldn't stop grooving the whole time. The best group of the entire event was hands-down "Huun Hur Tu", Mongolian throat singers. The range of their voices and their immense skill with both throat and traditional string instruments sent shivers down my spine! I bought the CD which I'll be sure to share with all of you when I get home, which , by the way will be shortly before Halloween. I know, I know, I keep changing my mind, but I'm pretty sure this is the final date. Back to my story: over all 3 days I had been lucky enough to randomly run into many of the performers and so on the last night we were invited to the musicians after-party at their hotel. We returned with the Zimbabweans and sat around the pool with well over 30 musicians from around the world listening to music, dancing, speaking Italian and Spanish until well past dawn. This is something that would not have been possible in the states and made this festival particularly special.
After 3 entire days of drinking, dancing, eating, and having a thoroughly fantastic time I decided it was time to attend to seeing some of this Borneo jungle I kept hearing about. With Johnny and Sophie (my concert companions) having already departed, I met 2 lovely Australians with whom I did some jungle trekking and monkey spotting. We went to Bako National Park, a mere 30 minutes outside of the city, for some day hiking and with the hope of spotting the elusive Proboscis Monkey. Bako National Park is bordered on all sides by beaches and mangrove forests and so the only approach is by boat. Having been told that the most opportune time to spot the Proboscis was the late afternoon we hadn't planned on seeing them so quickly, but we were just so lucky! As we hopped off the boat and made our way around the mangroves to begin our first hike of the day we spotted a female munching on young mangrove leaves just under our noses, while her baby ran around her being a show-off! In total, we probably spotted over 6 adults just carrying on their business while we sat and stared. This was the first time that I had ever seen monkeys in the wild and not in a zoo or wildlife reserve so it was pretty awesome. The rest of the day was spent trudging under the hot sun, dodging mischievous, wild long-tailed macaques, sweating through every piece of clothing, and generally enjoying our jungle experiences.
The following day, not having been monkeyed-out yet, we went to the Semenggoh Orangutan Sanctuary, also conveniently located just 30 minutes outside of the city. This is a sanctuary devoted to the prosperity of wild or rescued orangutans. The orangutans live wild in the jungle and occasionally come into the center for free fruit when they are feeling lazy. This is when, if one is lucky, they are able to spot these magnificent creatures. We were lucky. Immediately upon entering the sanctuary the dominant male, Richie (27 years old and 110 kg) was munching on bananas, coconuts, and yams, while a mom and baby (!) were round the corner rustling up their own bananas. Soon there were over 7 orangutans eating nearby. This peaceful scene was not to last, however, as it is Orangutan mating season. Suddenly, we heard orangutans calling from all corners of the jungle and Richie went charging off into the jungle. Apparently, these calls were the mating calls of inferior males and Richie was having none of it. After waiting around for a bit longer we decided to leave. We made it back to the car park where, in fact, all the action was happening. We saw a female with her baby climbing through the branches, practically running for her life, while Richie was alternately cornering her or his opponent. This went on for several nail-biting minutes (with me rooting for the female) when unexpectedly the female made a break for it, crashing through the trees, clutching onto her offspring, landing in the car park, and lumbering off into the opposite side of the jungle. Richie, torn between pursuit of the female or his enemy, hesitated a moment too long and the other male went crashing out the other side. Left alone, Richie decided to hunt down the female and was soon to be seen lumbering down the side street after her. Though definitely a bit violent and macho, this was a most exhilarating scene to witness as they were behaving like the wild orangutans they are!
Another fascinating event that happened during my time here in Sarawak was getting tattooed in the traditional style. Thanks go to Anthony Bourdain for giving me this idea. Several months before I departed for this trip I was obsessed with reading and watching anything to do with Southeast Asia and I was particularly fond of his series, "No Reservations", which mixes food, travel, culture, and his personal brand of pessimism. Anyway, he did a show on Malaysia featuring the culture of the Iban tribe of Borneo, Malaysia. After learning about the tribal tattoos I randomly came across other programs about them and became intrigued. Long having wanted a tattoo, I always hesitated as nothing seemed to be meaningful enough for me to want it forever tattooed on my body. When I came to Sarawak, I knew that these tattoos were for me as traditionally Iban tattoos signify one's life journeys and each tattoo communicates a specific journey in the life of that person. I found a wonderful Iban tattoo artist named Ernesto who makes tattoos in the traditional manner, that is without an electric tattoo gun. Instead, the tattoo is hammered into the skin with an ink-soaked needle in a very steady and slow way. The resulting tattoo tends to be a bit less defined and a bit lighter in color than a modern tattoo, but after all, it is done by hand. I decided on 4 different tattoos: 2 traditional tattoos and 2 of my own creation. On the side of each ankle I had 2 little men tattooed which are common figures found in the Ikat textile weavings woven by the women of the tribe. Since I am an avid textile collector I thought that these little guys would be perfect. On my lower back I had 2 eggplant flowers placed on either side of my spine. The flower symbolizes one's life journey with the central spiral being one's life line. Two flowers are necessary to display the balance in one's life. Traditionally, these would be placed on the front shoulders of a boy between the ages of 13 and 15 before his first solo journey into the jungle. However, since I live in 21st century America I thought that they would be better placed on my back. And, no, they did not hurt too terribly! Whatever pain I endured has now been forgotten and well worth the effort!
I have just arrived in the clean, cosmopolitan city of Singapore where I will be for the next four days. Please await the soon-to-be-published Singapore edition of this blog!
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