Bees, seas and a long house

You'd think that after doing something as gruelling as climbing a 4000m-plus mountain​, we'd disappear for some well deserved  R & R. And in hindsight that's exactly what we should have done. But no. We had something else on the itinerary; a night's stay in a traditional longhouse.

We'd come off the mountain absolutely exhausted, and were met by Reynold, who by this time we'd found to be a real joker, and driver, Hans. Lunch over (we'd already had two breakfasts!) we were back in the minivan for a drive north to the tip of Borneo. Although we'd have loved to nap, the bumpy road, coupled with Nissan suspension, made it impossible, so we stayed entertained by Reynold's jokes and local tidbits.

Rungus Longhouse

We reached the Rungus longhouse mid-afternoon. Entirely constructed of bamboo on supporting wooden stilts and beams, it was about 30 meters  long, with 10 (bed)rooms occupying a third of one side and a communal open space taking up the remainder. Traditionally longhouses housed entire extended families, each family unit having one room for both parents and children. When a son or daughter married, their spouse would join the house (sometimes with their parents)  and they'd get their own room. Thus longhouses would ultimately be extended, becoming ever longer! Nowadays the government often provides brick longhouses, but the family community concept persists in these tribes.

The furnishings were pretty simple: 2 mattresses, 2 mosquito nets and a bamboo table. But given our state of exhaustion, we were happy with anything. (A warm shower would have been a bonus - we were pretty hot, sticky and smelly by this point.)
Dinner was early and while very simple, one of the best meals we've had in Borneo. Freshly caught grilled fish, grated bamboo shoots in coconut, green papaya, stir fried fern and a local veg we couldn't get the name of which looked and tasted like spinach, but with citrus tang.

Dancing queens!

We were well past ready for bed by now, but it was only 8pm and there was entertainment in store. The local families gave us a demonstration of a wicked jumping game played with some massive, fast moving bamboo poles, followed by some traditional dances in local costume. Interestingly, the women's dress adorned with up to 20kg of beading, metalwork and bells was worn by unmarried girls from the age of 7. Once married they wore much simpler, unadorned garments. I guess the finery would get in the way of married life!  Of course we were roped into joining the dance. It had looked pretty easy but the footwork was surprisingly tricky. There is video evidence but it's not coming anywhere near this blog!

One glass of local rice wine and we crawled into our mosquito nets and slept like babies.

Honeybees, combs and silly hats

Next morning we were off again. Destination: the northern tip of Borneo, where the South China Sea meets the Sulu Sea. We stopped on the way to visit a gong making village, gongs being a traditional instrument of Borneo and an integral part of any important ceremony, including weddings and funerals. Originally made in brass, new ones are often hammered out of zinc - they don't sound quite as rich, but you don't need to be as rich to buy them!

Next was a short but fascinating visit to a honey factory. Forget battery farming, these bees (lots of different species) have acres of land and lots of hives. We were able to get really close to the stingless bees (their name gives away why) examining the lava pods and honey sacs, and even tasting a little straight from the hive. Sweet, but with a delicious sharpness. We bought two jars.  Two stinging hives were gently smoked out so we could see the honeycombs up close. Really interesting. And noone got stung. 

Standing on the tip...

Thirty minutes after the bee farm, we finally reached the tip of Borneo. Weird sandstone rock formations, we clambered down to the water, looked our across to the Philippines and had fun  watching crabs and other life in the rock pools. Chilling out for a couple of hours on the local deserted surf beach, we almost got caught in the strong waves. It's so unspoiled here that you can't help but wonder how much longer it will stay like this. I hope for a very long time...

We leave Borneo in a few days' time, back to KL for a night and then onto Auckland. But right now, we are going for that R & R I opened the blog post with. And I'm going offline til we reach NZ. 😊 See you on the other side.

KK Harbour - Gaya Island in our sights