Visit to Annah Rais Bidayuh Long House

After our KFC lunch at the long house, we were introduced to the lifestyle of the bidayuh people.

Our first activity was weaving of the head gear. It was made from a special species of pandan leaves. It is much harder and longer.

At first we find it quite difficult and quite confusing. But Sis Catherine patiently helped us complete our head gear. Denzel was having difficulty completing his head gear but Firah helped him out. In the end we felt proud because we managed to do it well.

Next activity was blow pipe. The blowpipe was made from ironwood. This can be found only in the primary forest. However the blow pipe was quite heavy. After several tries, we managed to hit the target.

We were presented with a dance item by the beautiful bidayuh dancers.

There was a bamboo rice and chicken cooking demonstration.

Next we brave ourselves to cross over a real bidayuh bamboo bridge. The view was spectacular as a stream of clear river water was right below the crossing.

Bareerah faced her biggest fear of height and crossing over the bridge. Well done, Bareerah.

We saw a head hunting house. The view was rather gruesome. We took some photos and left the house.

Interestingly, we saw cocoa plant. The seeds can be harvested to make chocolate and Milo. We also saw pepper plant and corn plant.

At the village, we saw many cats, dogs, roosters and even a goose. However, we were not allowed to venture into the jungle because one of the tribal people had passed away. We learnt that in the tribal tradition, even the villagers were not allowed to go into the jungle to hunt for their food. This trip was really an eye opener for all of us.