Ba Kelanan and Mulu

We went to Mulu afterward and stayed at the park. It was nice. They had good food and a museum inside. Our room had for single beds and a built in bathroom. We went on many hikes there. My favorite was the canopy walk. Which my dad’s last favorite. My dad isn’t very fond of heights. He get’s dizzy and nauseous. I liked it though. We also went to many caves. My favorite was Clearwater cave because we could put our feet in the water there.

We flew back to Miri and got tickets on a plane to Ba Kelanan. The plane was really small and it went really low. I loved it. We are staying at a home stay which is you live with a family in their home. We are staying with Baru, Flora, and their son Gabriel. Flora and Baru are nice. Gabriel… Well he’s a little hyper. He has WAY to much energy. He’ll squirt things at you and when you take it away from him… He’ll slap you really hard. LAnd he’s only four years old! I took a nap and slept really well. It was really comfortable. Tomorrow we should be going fishing.

Tonight for dinner we ate soooooooooo much! They had chicken, 2 vegetables, 2 kinds of rice, and all different types of fruit. It was good though.

We didn’t end up fishing today. But we have planned for tomorrow. I hope we catch lots of fish.JI ate so much for breakfast. They all kept stuffing food in my plate. But once again it was really good food. Some of the point for the trip was that we supposed to eat simpler. I think I am eating lots more here.J\L

Today we went fishing and we caught many fish. We made our rods out of bamboo. And since we only made four rods we would trade off every once in awhile. Which would give me time to whittle. I made 3 spears while I was there. They look really cool. We cooked the fish and ate them for dinner.

We left Ba Kelanan today. Which I didn’t like but at least we are back home in Miri.J

The Penans

Yesterday we drove for 4-5 hours to Long san Longhouse, and took a boat to the Penan tribe. The tribe was bumpy and long. When we finally got out we went to the dock to take a longboat to the Penan tribe houses. We drove to Long san then we took a boat from there to the Penan. The boat trip was about 30 minutes long. At first I was okay with the ride until our driver, Phillip, announced there was crocs in the water. Then I was a little scared.

As we pulled up to the hill we saw 3 naked kids and the chief in his underwear standing on the hill. What a wonderful way to start our journey with the Penan.

We were getting out of the boat when we looked down and saw mud everywhere. We had to step in it to get up to the houses. It’s like what we use to do our faces with. A mud mask. It was really slippery but it was probably good for our skin.

Our room was basically hard wood floor covered with wallpaper. Except our bathroom was nice. You could see everyone playing, nice view of the river, rainforest trees around you, and to top it of nice mud floors and the cool breeze. Except for the fact it was outside in the open. We set up our skeeter nets and sleepers for the night. Boy did I want to get back to Telang Usan.

They showed us to their swimming holes which were really nice and cool. It was good to go out when it was humid. We ate dinner and lunch with the chief both days. We only stayed one night. Which I didn’t mind. We went back to Long san the next day and decided “why don’t we go home today?” So drove 5 hours back to Telang Usan. Where everyone was surprised to see us back so early.

Bintang Plaza

Today we woke up at 6:00 am for breakfast. We had noodles this time. We usually get a western breakfast which I don’t like but today we got fried noodle which tasted much better.

After breakfast we took the public bus to Miri city again. It was insane hot today, and crazy bright too. We were sweating even on the bus. When we got off at Miri city we went to see Amanda again so my dad could pay the rest of the money for our trip to Mulu. We weren’t at Amanda’s long so afterward we went bowling at Bintang Plaza’s, Mega Lanes. It was really fun I lost the first round then got so close to winning the second round but I ended up in third place again. Mom didn’t bowl. Dad kept trying to explain how to bowl well, but I always got nothing. Then, mom came up showed me how and I started to catch up to everyone else.

After bowling we went to Pizza Hut for lunch. During Ramadan children under twelve only have to do half day. So Mom, Hana, and I ate while dad suffered. Mom didn’t go the whole way. Dad is still going pretty strong. We didn’t eat all our food so we saved ours for later.

Outside the Mall the air temp. is really different. We all said wow when we got outside. We walked to the liquor store on our walk back so Hana and I can make mom and dad Gin and Tonics at the hotel. We took the public bus back to he hotel and made mom a Gin and Tonic while dad went downstairs to talk to Assame and Raymond about the trip to the longhouse.

Lambir

Today we drove to Lambeer and walked in the Jungle to the Water Fall. The Jungle had leaves everywhere and I saw the hugest ants ever. We also saw giant Mushrooms, and many other bugs. The Water Fall was huge! The water was cold too. Hana and Mom didn’t go in the water. Neither did Lilia, Cynthia, and Karen. They all work at the hotel. Raymond, the man taking us to the longhouse who also works at the hotel cooked the BEST chicken wings for the BBQ. We had to start a fire for the BBQ which didn’t take long. I had an idea that if you tie a bandana on your head, pull the top part over your face- you can see through and work with the fire without getting smoke in your eyes. But we still all ended up with watery eyes. It started to rain and it was very cold so we dove in the water. On the walk back we decided to walk to another fall. The walk was very long. When we got there the fall was REALLY small! So we walked all that way for nothing We complained about the walk back. My dad also had a small leech on him from the hike. So we also walked cautiously back. When we got back to the hotel we were all sweaty. I had a lot of fun!

This Morning

This morning we woke up late and went downstairs for breakfast. When we were done we left for the bus to take us into the city. We went to the movie theaters there and watched UP again. Today I tried not to eat at all for Ramadan. I’m doing well so far. Tomorrow Assame’s staff will take us to Lambeer. Which is a town an hour away from Miri. We will have a BBQ there. The day after tomorrow I am going to try no eating and no drinking for an entire day. I’ll try.