I always wondered what makes an Iban longhouse authentic. How would a long house looked like generations ago? I have not a clue but this Ukom longhouse in Batang Ai certainly has some characteristics that makes it ‘authentic’ I reckon.

As I was awaken by the [...]]]>

This old and rustic Ukom longhouse certainly has its charm

I always wondered what makes an Iban longhouse authentic. How would a long house looked like generations ago? I have not a clue but this Ukom longhouse in Batang Ai certainly has some characteristics that makes it ‘authentic’ I reckon.

As I was awaken by the ruckus of pigs and chicken in the wee hours of the morning, I decide that perhaps it is time to snoop around and ‘absorb’ as much as possible of the place. Honestly, I wasn’t sure the night before if this Ukom longhouse is authentically Iban or it is just a poorly maintained old longhouse. However, it became apparent in the morning that this longhouse (still being occupied by over 25 families) is very much alive and real. As I went looking around, the villagers started off to their farms despite the light morning pour. Everyone seems to be in a hurry with woven baskets, supplies behind their backs and some with kids tailing along. I interrupted one of them and it turns out that everyone is rushing to plant their padi (hill rice) before the season ends. Hardworking they are.

An iban villager making his way to the farm

Sure, there are elements of modern influence here (the window panes for example) but the people of the longhouse still live a sustainable life here. In a way there are rather independent from the outside world. They plant, harvest and consume their own rice, hunt for game, set nets to catch fish, build and repair their existing longhouse to their best ability. Most of the materials used in the longhouse is locally sourced. The jungle around their village supplies bamboo, rattan and timber used to build the longhouse.

The Ukom longhouse at Batang Ai

Some parts of the wall in the longhouse still using tree barks

Note all the woven baskets and mats stacked above

From an angle, one can see the patterns on this (otherwise plain looking) hand woven mat

One of the things I look out most when I visit a native house is how much of the traditional stuff still goes into the house. This include skills and techniques. Ukom longhouse has plenty to offer. Personally, it is like finding treasure when I am able to see old tree bark still being used as walls. These aren’t walls put up for tourist to admire and ’see’ but actual pieces still being used. The picture below is one of the doors (pintu), a family room that still uses tree bark as its wall.

This family 'pintu' still uses tree bark as wall

Rattan vines still being used to bind bamboos to make rails

A view of the porch or tanju at the longhouse

An Iban man reparing his fish net

Villagers still source local materials to build their own longboats

A Kuching friend informed me that it is hard to find an authentic longhouse such as this one. Other authentic ones are  hard to access (transport), making it almost impossible to convince visitors/ tourist to visit. Ukom longhouse is under threat as the villagers are thinking of moving to another site and build a newer and more modern ‘longhouse’ so that they can attract tourists to supplement their income. This ‘move’ is probably unavoidable and is just a matter of time before it happens. But I am glad that I had the opportunity to visit this authentic Iban longhouse while it is still standing.

There is a sense of ruggedness & suspense when we arrive at Ukum Longhouse jetty that night at Batang Ai. I prepared myself for what is supposed to be a ‘real’ traditional longhouse. We were made to wait at [...]]]>

A strong Iban from the Ukom village carrying our full ice box up the the longhouse

There is a sense of ruggedness & suspense when we arrive at Ukum Longhouse jetty that night at Batang Ai. I prepared myself for what is supposed to be a ‘real’ traditional longhouse. We were made to wait at the jetty, made off floating logs held together with long wooden poles at the edge of the water. A sudden movement on the jetty sends a tilt on the entire floating ‘pontoon’. When we finally got the good to approach the longhouse, I began to wonder if any of us in the group (except for the guide) is as jittery as I am.

One of the boat man on his boat near the Ukom long house jetty

So…what’s the story behind this longhouse? Well, it is old. For years the village’s generator was broken and they went to the village nearby to borrow a set for us visitors. The wooden flooring we were walking on creaked as we made our way to the central gathering area where an old oil lamp shed its flickering lights, surrounded by curious eyes that followed us. It got brighter when the ‘generator on loan’ arrived.

One of the pics that (barely) turned out while the 'borrowed' generator was on its way

The people of Ukom longhouse wanted to abandon this long house. They felt that their longhouse no longer is an attraction to visitors (tourist) and that they needed to ‘upgrade’ their longhouse to make it more attractive. They felt that some proper (modern) TVs, factory milled floor boards and perhaps a fresh coat of paint on the wooden walls would make the difference. How remote is this Iban village? Well, as we were cruising on the long boats towards the village, my GPS was showing us traveling on dry land. It’s almost uncharted territory.

The single (borrowed from nearby village) florescent light that lid the walkway of the 29 odd 'doors' long house

Well, the first order of the day was or course food, booze and entertainment. And yes, we got a lot of that alright. The women and men got busy with the food that we brought. Rice boiling on the wood fire, pork meat grilling on the pit outside the longhouse and bottles of Langkau starts making its way around the crowd.

The pork meat grilling on the pit on one of the verandah outside the long house

An iban woman cooking rice over wood fire in the 'guest' room at the Ukom long house

Grilled pork and local whiskey...a match made in heavan

Dinner came and went quick. Everyone was obviously hungry and the atmosphere was filled with cheers and laughter. With dinner out of the way, we were ushered to the main gathering area, were a performance was about to begin. Though our group was small (only 4 of us outsiders), the villagers insisted on having a small ceremony to celebrate our visit to their village. And while the traditional music played and dancers in traditional costumes parades themselves, more local whiskey made its way around the crowd, fueling the atmosphere with chatter of guffaws and cheers of half drunken men and women alike.

The whiskey kept coming

I think one has to witness the dance personally to understand 'Ngajat'

I was in Kuching after a second visit to Semban village when a few of us decided perhaps to squeeze in a short visit to a authentic Iban Long house in Batang Ai, Sarawak. I have heard about long houses but this would be my first [...]]]>

A view from the jetty at Batang Ai, Sarawak

I was in Kuching after a second visit to Semban village when a few of us decided perhaps to squeeze in a short visit to a authentic Iban Long house in Batang Ai, Sarawak. I have heard about long houses but this would be my first time visiting one. Our guide guranteed us this is an authentic long house, as authentic as one will ever find. “Okay…wow me I told the guide”. Nothing like Anna Rais longhouse it seems.

It took us several hours drive from Kuching to the jetty at Batang Ai. Along the way, we stopped at a few places for lunch and toilet breaks. One of the stop overs that I really liked was a place called Lachau. A row of shop houses with local farmers trading local farm produce at the sidewalks. It had a sense of rusticity and romanticism to it. An atmosphere of a lonely, sleepy town.

One of the coffee shops at our stop at Lachau

Some of the traders along the walkway at Lachau

Ikan Puyu being sold in water bottles

There are several shops in Lachau stop area that sells parangs and other sorts of ‘uncommon’ things. Naturally, their parangs caught my eyes. For as cheap as RM40, one can buy a massive parang, complete with handle and sheath. These parangs were hung on the wall, together with other ‘touristy’ items like woven baskets, wooden walking poles, gongs and drums. I had a look at the parangs and I have to say that while they look absolutely nice from a distance, upon close inspection…they are really made of cheap, not trustworthy materials.

One of the shops with all sorts of parangs for sale...but most are cheap copies from Indonesia unfortunately

Checked with my guide and he  told me that the parangs, in fact, most of the items on sale in the area are mass produced in neighboring country. It is an industry there to produce such things and then being sold in Sarawak. Well, as far as parang goes, it would probably look nice on a tourist wall at home but I hope they don’t decide to hang it at the waist for a walk in the jungle. Oh boy…will they be disappointed.

We finally made it to the Batang Ai jetty. The Batang Ai reminded me of Kenyir but more ‘volatile’ version of it. I was told that it is ’seasonal’ but when we arrived, the waters were choppy and the wind was relentless. How bad can it be? Well, bad enough to capsize one of the local long boats there!

The capsized long boat after it has been recovered

It took the boatman a good hour to get his outboard engine working. After that, we loaded our stuff onto 2 boats and started our 45 minutes long boat ride to Kampung Ukom in Batang Ai.

It was a pleasant and overwhelmingly beautiful boat ride

One of the ‘attractions’ of the Semban walk has to be the hanging bamboo bridges. Suspended on steel wire ropes strung across the river, these bamboo bridges are the only means of crossing the rivers during flooding in rainy season, a time when the river [...]]]>

Two such bamboo bridges to cross…not for the faint hearted

One of the ‘attractions’ of the Semban walk has to be the hanging bamboo bridges. Suspended on steel wire ropes strung across the river, these bamboo bridges are the only means of crossing the rivers during flooding in rainy season, a time when the river water can rise to almost 10m above its normal level.

It is hard to describe the bamboo bridges. They look like the most fragile thing to cross on yet the locals have been using them every day for transporting goods. ‘Why you worry, they even carry things like TVs and furniture over these bridges!’ Danny told me. To make things more challenging, some bamboos have cracked and simple local hardware store ‘dawai’ (wire strings) have been fashioned to hold the bamboos together. As I walked across, I can hear the bamboo crackling and swaying.

The bridge side view- picture by Meun

I have to admit that I was worried crossing the bridge-pic by Meun

Our group crossed the hanging bamboo bridges safely. It was scary but doable. According to Danny, those who are really terrified and not able to cross the bridge would have to scramble down to the water edge and use the bamboo raft (which at times may not be there!).

One of the smaller, more studier bamboo bridge

So who builds and maintains the bridges? According to our guides, members of the villages using the bridges would come together and repair/ refurbish the bridge every year or whenever it is necessary. It is sort of a ‘gotong royong’ that will involve everyone and it has been their ‘way’ to work together to ensure that the bridge is useable for everyone. Each village will send some of their representatives to help out each time the bridge need work. The bridge is important because they provide access to the outside world, enabling the villagers to sell and purchase goods and services. It is also the safer way for their children to go to school and return on weekends to visit their parents.

This suspended bamboo bridge of the Bidayuh is a definite first for me and I fully recommend that you go and try it out yourself!

Other posts/ videos on Semban:

• Part I- A visit to Semban, the village above the clouds
• Part II- The hanging bamboo bridges of Semban
• Part III- The long walk up to Semban
• Part IV- The waterfalls at Semban
• Part V1- The Bidayuh’s traditional cutting tools
• Part V2- The kitchen and bamboo blades of the Bidayuhs in Semban
• Part VI- Traditional bamboo smoking pipe and great food
• Part VII- Sunrise and morning walk around Semban
• Part VIII- Old tools used by the Bidayuhs in Semban
• Part IX- Ladies of the rings in Semban
• Video- The bidayuh’s hill paddy
• Video- The home made wooden pack that carries EVERTHING up Semban!
• Video- Bidayuh’s traditional furnace
• Video- Bidayuh’s traditional blades

We have been planning for this trip to Semban village since 2009. It was a rather impromptu decision to join a local Kuching guide, Mr Danny Voon after his relentless invitation to visit this ‘magical’ place. Meun and I have always loved Sarawak and this was [...]]]>

The early part of the trail up to Semban

We have been planning for this trip to Semban village since 2009. It was a rather impromptu decision to join a local Kuching guide, Mr Danny Voon after his relentless invitation to visit this ‘magical’ place. Meun and I have always loved Sarawak and this was our perfect excuse to go there again. Having returned from the trip, we’d say this is a very memorable trip indeed.

Semban is a Bidayuh village located roughly about 42km from Kuching, the capital city of Sarawak. The hike to Semban is nostalgic in a way actually. Though Semban is spared, it’s road access will be submerged together with the 3 other Bidayuh villages (Kampung Bojong Pain, Kampung Rejoi and Kampung Sait) located at lower elevations once the Bengoh dam is completed.

There were four of us in the group, both of us and our good friends Jan and Aric. We departed from Kuching about 10pm towards the trail head. Our first stop was the small town called Batu Tujuh or Seven mile, Danny’s favorite stopover for supplies to be carried to the village. Some fresh food, packed lunch, cans of 100plus isotonic drinks and an entire carton of 500ml drinking water were among the supplies purchased.

Guess what we had?

The drive to Semban’s trail head was pleasant. As we drove along, I can’t help but feel like we are in Ipoh. The limestone hills remind us so much of beautiful Ipoh but without the scarring of quarries and buildings.

Beautiful sceneries along the way

From Kuching, the drive to the trail head is about an hour. Just before we enter the dam area (which is under construction), Danny picked up his trusted guides and porters…Nyun, Glen (both from Semban) and Desmond (from nearby village Danuk).

Danny meeting Glen, Desmond and Nyun

Danny did tell us about the dam being in construction. Sad to say, the works on the dam during our visit looks like it is nearing completion. What an awful sight and the idea that it will be swallowing large tracks of jungle is really hard to swallow.

The dam nearing completion?

The sheer size of the dam is sickening

It was getting late; the sun is almost directly above our heads, so we hurried on with our gears. As we (visitors) were loading on our gears, Nyun and Glen were busy putting on their ‘improvised’ packs. And they carried all, ALL including the entire carton of drinking water for the entire groups.

Glen’s ‘pack’ probably weighs twice or more my pack

Nyun’s and his pack

With all our packs on our back, we started or climb to Semban, the village above the clouds.


Other posts/ videos on Semban:

• Part I- A visit to Semban, the village above the clouds
• Part II- The hanging bamboo bridges of Semban
• Part III- The long walk up to Semban
• Part IV-  The waterfalls at Semban
• Part V1- The Bidayuh’s traditional cutting tools
• Part V2- The kitchen and bamboo blades of the Bidayuhs in Semban
• Part VI- Traditional bamboo smoking pipe and great food
• Part VII- Sunrise and morning walk around Semban
• Part VIII- Old tools used by the Bidayuhs in Semban
• Part IX- Ladies of the rings in Semban
• Video- The bidayuh’s hill paddy
• Video- The home made wooden pack that carries EVERTHING up Semban!
• Video- Bidayuh’s traditional furnace
• Video- Bidayuh’s traditional blades