Sarawak Culture Village

Trip Start Nov 22, 2008

Trip End Nov 25, 2008

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Flag of Malaysia Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
Sunday, November 23, 2008

After having breakfast in the hotel, we managed to move out for Serikin which is 10 km from Bau Town, around 1 hour drive from the hotel. It was a rather bumpy ride tho. The scorching hot sun didn't stop us from walking to the end. It is something similar to the pasar malam we went yesterday, but its a much longer stretch to the end. Most of the stalls sold similar items like handcrafted items, keychains, sunglasses, cloths, bags and ofcourse slippers. If you were to take a walk there, you'd observe alot of the people wearing big hats and sunglasses. Unfortunately the amount of stalls selling water and food was very limited, so we had to deal with what we brought.

We managed to re-energise ourselves in the 12-seater van as we were driven to the Sarawak Cultural Village, another 2 hour bumpy drive. We were given sticker and also a 'passport' to tour around the village. In total there were about 4 villages, so our 'passport' will be stamped after visiting each village. What attracted me was their outstanding costumes and also how they decorated the houses of each village. They were also a few people from each village for visitors to question and learn more about the way they live and what they usually do. Most of them weaved baskets, design mats and make beautiful cloths which take up to 2 months to finish.

Lucky for me, I managed to do a one-to-one interview with them. Another interesting fact was during the olden times, specifically when Brooke ruled Sarawak, the people of Sarawak would bring back the heads of their enemies and tie only the skeletons at the top of the house and smoked it, believed to keep the village at peace and not get disturbance by the dead enemies. Imagine having skeletons up your ceilings, how terrifying.

Since we were already running out of time, we rushed to catch the cultural performance which commenced at 4.00pm. It was simply worth it. They performed for the audience every dance from each village. From a dance performed on a particular festival to death ceremonies. I noticed most of these villagers are Christians, with their tattoos and observing how they behaved. Later then that I was told of the religion that most of them weren't malay due to thier practices.

And to wrap up our day, our Sarawak relatives came down to the hotel to meet us. Yes, I finally met my Great Great Grandparents, double-great. They're living the modern way tho. Before heading back to our rooms, we booked ourselves 2 canoes for Kayaking tomorrow morning. Imagine the excitement we're facing. Its going to be a long day out under the sun but its worth the experience I guess. 2 more nights, and I'm back in Johor. Better make the best out of this trip while I can.

I will update more tomorrow. For now, goodnight!