What a great trip to Asia. Before I start recalling the trip, one story about the plane ride back. We were in the air about 17 hours. That’s a long time in a toothpaste tube. We flew from Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia to Taipei, Taiwan. They had to get a new crew and clean the plane. We deplaned, walked through yet another security check right as we got off the plane, into a waiting room, and then back to the plane after a 15 minute wait. There was a young couple with a baby about 9 months old. We made funny faces at the baby, he laughed, mom laughed, dad laughed. Cute babies break all language barriers. Soon after our reboarding, the stewardess passed out our cards to reenter the US. The man indicated in hand signals he didn’t know how to fill it out. The stewardess returned about 45 minutes before we landed to help the family. She tried English and Chinese and he just shook his head no. I pulled out my passport—always the ESL teacher—and he smiled and shook his head no. He did open a white bag he was carrying and pulled out several pages and showed them to the stewardess. She took the paperwork and the card and left. We later learned that the family was refugees from Myanmar and the paperwork was from the Department of State with Hillary’s signature. Sidenote: Our Burmese Purser on the ship that the times are tough in Burma right now. They have an election and all passport offices and visa offices have shut down until after the ‘free’ election, so no foreigners can enter or leave. Many Burmese live off the tourist industry, and the government basically shut that down a few years ago. So the refugees did not speak Chinese or English, another stewardess tried Thai and finally Malay. The dad understood Beginning Malay, so all was well. Just after we landed the 2nd stewardess brought over several jars of baby food and Enfamil. At first dad declined, but she convinced him the baby would need it. I let her know that his was a very kind gesture, she smiled, and said we can always get more. It turned out there were 30 such refugees on the flight. LAX immigration has a special section for refugees to sit…and wait…and wait…and wait. The family was still waiting after we spent our two hours moving through the maze of documentation. Their only luggage was a small backpack the dad carried. I later saw two passengers on my plane from LAX to PHX that were carrying the same bags. This is the America I love.
Our trip started in Taipei. Our tour guide, Andy and the programmer, Angus, was with him. This was the first visit Angus had planned for Americans, so wanted our feedback. Andy has been guiding for years, but few Americans come to Taiwan for a holiday. We were treated very very well. They wanted us to see so many places. During our five days you could count on one hand the number of Anglos we saw. Taipei is a big city—6.75 million—and is always busy. Our first street market (Shilin) was very crowded at 11pm. The market was full of fresh food and inexpensive Dollar Store stuff. I’m sure the entire city population wasn’t at the market when we were there…there had to be a few grandmas that stayed home.
We also visited several Buddhist / Taoist Temples. Angus was willing to share much and as the group wandered the temples I spent time with him, learning a lot. Andy shared much too, but is a Catholic, and seemed to have more book knowledge, whereas Angus was raised Buddhist.
We ate lunch and dinner at local restaurants. The food was good, and not the typical Chinese food of America. All meals are family style, with a huge lazy susan (or as Andy called it—lazy suzy). I should point out that many of the dishes were difficult to translate into English, and most times we were happy to just know if it was beef, chicken, pork, fish, or ‘something else’. All fish dishes, from a variety of fish, were all just translated as ‘fish’. I really liked anything with noodles and was able to add hot chili to every dish. I also became quite adept with chop sticks.
I was surprised to learn about which country sends the most tourists to Taipei; it’s the Chinese, followed by Aussies, and then Brits. I am so happy I am one of the few. I am sure that some of the countryside locals had never seen an American. Taipei was hot and humid—average temp was about 31° (90°F) and humidity was around 78%. I continue to wonder why the US remains the only major country not to switch to Metric. Every country I have visited use Metric, and they did not fall apart. We tried to convert for our bicentennial, but neither Nixon nor Ford could pull it off. As globalization becomes a major force in everyone’s economy, American children are being left behind. They have to do way too many conversions, which leads to errors. I recall a US space flight that had a problem when someone did an incorrect conversion. The guide always announced the temperature for the next day and it was so embarrassing for someone always had to ask for the conversion. With several guides, they didn’t know, and someone with an iPhone had to get on the web for the conversion.
Taroko Gorge National Park, Taiwan: When Taroko National Park was established on November 28, l986, it was of special significance for the environmental protection movement in Taiwan: it showed that both the public and the government agencies had realized that against the background of the nation's four decades of extraordinary economic success, serious damage was being done to its natural resources.
According to the National Park Act of the Republic of China (passed in l972), parks are established to protect the natural scenery, historic relics and wildlife; to conserve natural resources; and to facilitate scientific research and promote environmental education.
The first indigenous people we visited live in the mountains outside Taipei. The Thao/Nagan live at Sun Moon Lake. This is the largest lake in Taiwan and the East side of the lake represents the sun, the West side the moon. There are only 281 Thao/Ngan left. They speak their own language and Chinese. They arrived at Sun Moon Lake after chasing a deer. An elder was visited by a fairy in a dream and was told that his people should remain at the lake. The Elders still follow the traditional way, but the young working in Taipei, about a 2 hour drive away. The Chinese Government has opened a lodge near the lake. It was built by the tribe and only tribal members can work there. The lodge and the individual cabins surround a huge grassy area that was filled with metallic blue butterflies. Elders use colorful tattoos on the face which are earned by doing something good for the tribe—usually weaving expertise for women and hunting for men. The tattoos are a single color band (usually red or blue) across the forehead and another around the chin. The wider the bands, the more important the person. In 1999 an earthquake destroyed about 80% of the indigenous homes.
We visited Marble Canyon. Unlike Marble Canyon in AZ, this area was white marble. The drive was on very windy roads but well worth the danger. We were able to walk along the road that before a recent earthquake had been the only way through the canyon, so we had to turn around. We had to wear hard hats and could only go into the area about 100m. A worker was cleaning up around a boulder that had fallen about an hour before we arrived. The VW Bug sized boulder would have made our hard hats useless. There were lots of Chinese families out there taking pictures standing near the damaged area. It is quite an attraction, with guards handing out hard hats. There is also a bridge that Chiang Kai-shek (traditional Chinese: 蔣中正 / 蔣介石; simplified Chinese: 蒋中正 / 蒋介石; pinyin: Jiǎng Jièshí) had built after praying there about his recently departed mother.
Our visit to the WuLai Aboriginal Tribe (Atayal—genuine people) included a “Laminite Generation” or ‘Up with People” type program. We joined in a traditional round dance up on the stage. This area is famous for its hot springs. The word WuLai means poisonous as the early hunters thought the hot water coming from the ground was dangerous and not fit for bathing. Andy told us he was returning there as soon as our tour was over. This is a much larger tribe (91,000). They have a nice and very expensive resort with hot springs that run into the river. We took a ‘train’ ride down from the village after the program and the mandatory walk through the gift shop.
We watched the changing of the guard at several monuments around Taipei. All were quite impressive. One was indoors while the other two were outside. It was hot and muggy there—33°C (92°F) with about 70+% humidity. The guards were in full dress dark uniforms and didn’t seem to be sweating, unlike this American who was dripping wet head to toe.
I’m slowing getting over my jet lag. Went to bed at 11:00 and was up at 4:00. Today I decided to take a nap to see if I can get back to my regular sleeping pattern. Since I was up so early, I caught up on all my email. Tomorrow I will catch up on my snail mail. I’m still having problems with the day of the week, as the paper arrived this morning about 5am I was expecting the Sunday paper. For the entire trip I seldom knew what day it was or what the date was. I blamed it on crossing the international date line but actually it was not important. It was nice to have no TV on the 9 day river cruise and no US news the entire trip. We did have about an hour each evening to watch BBC or CNN-International. I really didn’t miss the US news as highlights were enough. I did hear about a tornado in NYC. It turned out my brother’s flight from Paris was diverted to Philly so it took them 18 hours to get from Paris back to NYC, including a 2 hour cab ride from Philly at 2am. They should have been home about 11pm, instead of 4am. They both had meetings at 10am so the end of their trip was less than pleasant.
As a linguist, I am always fascinated by other languages. While in Taiwan I found myself asking a lot of questions of Angus regarding Chinese characters and translations. Angus had attended Oxford for his undergraduate work in Business and Tourism. I had grown up calling the island of Formosa. I don’t remember when the maps changed it to Taiwan. I remember when the island government claimed to be the government of mainland China. I remember learning of lots of tension over the two governments. The Chinese people of the island have known the island as the Chinese equivalent of Taiwan. It is also the name of a common tree on the island. Formosa is actually Portuguese for ‘beautiful island’. The Portuguese were the first of a long line of invaders. The list includes the Dutch (early 1600s), the Japanese (late 1500s), and the Chinese (before and after the others). While in Taipei, they had Red Coca Cola. It had the English logo and on the side of the can were Chinese Characters. The four Chinese Characters sounded like “Coke”. There meaning was “OK (good), mouth, OK, and refreshing”. The Coca Cola execs wanted the English sound of “Coke” and were not that concerned about what it meant. Pepsi, also available, didn’t have any Chinese Characters on the label.
While in Taiwan, I really had to listen hard the whole five days. Usually after a day our brains quickly begin to recognize speech differences and most pidgin English becomes much easier to understand. I seem to have been listening just as hard at the end as I was on the first encounter. Andy is a member of Toastmasters and he works very hard to speak English that is understandable. I’m sure that Brits and Aussies found his English much easier to hear. He tried really hard to speak to us and was successful. He taught us some Chinese—greetings, etc. I talked to him in a quiet moment and ask him to try an old ESL trick I learned. In order to get the correct inflections, start at the back of the word and pronounce the last syllable, class repeats then do the last two syllables, class repeats, and so on until the entire word or phrase is said completely. At one point in the tour he tried it, and everyone found it much easier to pronounce the phrase. He thanked me for that trick. At one of the dinners we were celebrating a birthday. He taught the group how to sing “Happy Birthday” in Chinese. The restaurant staff came over with the cake and chimed in with us. Very cool.
We left Taipei with great memories. We had to be at the airport at 5am for our flight. It was a 6+ hour flight, even though it didn’t look that far on the map. Flying on Malaysian Airlines for the entire trip, on this flight many of us noticed that the airlines had hired flight attendants from a cookie cutter mold. Most of the females still had their hair in a French roll and all met what appeared to be very strict height, weight, and age requirements. They all seemed to exude the same facial smiles, no glasses, only perfect skin. I found it kinda unsettling. They entire flight crew was always multi-lingual. Throughout all our flights, all passenger announcements were in Chinese, followed by Malay, and then English. I realized that the poor monolingual English speakers would be the last to know that we were crashing. The meals on all the flights were good, for airline food. We always had two entrée choices. There was always a good portion of fresh Malayan fruit—grapes, papaya, etc. The cabin crew seemed to enter the restrooms each time they were used, checking for cleanliness and using a fresh citrus spray. I mention this because the Egypt Air cabin crew didn’t even seem to know there were restrooms on the plane. On Malayan Airlines, the restrooms were as clean at the end of the flight as at the beginning.
We were greeted at the airport by our guide, Susan and our driver Mr. Wo. Susan was Malay, and Mr. Wo was Chinese. Susan was part of the 2% Catholic populous and made sure we knew that very early. Malaysia is a Muslim country and I am sure our tour would have been much different if we had a Muslim guide. Susan raised an interesting view regarding the future of Malaysia. The goal is to become achieve ‘developed country’ status. She was a little vague about what that means, but did say that Malaysia needs more children, good jobs, and more electricity. She mentioned that Kuala Lumpur, the capital, keeps its business building lit 24/7. As our adventure continued, I began to feel that Susan was looking at the surface appearance of the country; not the deep infrastructure changes needed to move from a developing nation to a developed nation. Susan talked about One Malaysia and that the country was celebrating a new holiday—Malaysia Day—during our visit. About 50 years ago, Malaysia and Borneo joined together to form Malaysia, Singapore was part of Malaysia until it pulled out of the alliance. Malaysia has the highest GDP in the region @ 6.5%. The South China Sea divides Malaysia into East and West Malaysia. Oddly, foreigners and some Malaysians must provide passports to travel from East to West within this one country. It seems West Malaysians need a passport to go to East Malaysia, but East Malaysians do not need a passport to travel to West Malaysia. There is no customs check, just passports.
After refreshing at the hotel, we went to KL Tower, the 5th tallest building in the world and had an amazing buffet dinner in the rotating restaurant that gave us 360° view of the city. The next day we went to Lake Gardens—a 20 hectares (50 acres) enclosed bird park aviary with 3000+ birds. The entire park is netted overheard and some of the more rare species are kept in fairly large cages. Visitors can enter most of the cages through a series of gates that prevent escape. Two hours was not enough time to study the birds, but certainly enough time to slowly walk and enjoy the area. Next to the aviary was an Orchid Park with 500 different species of orchids.
Our busy day ended at Kuala Selangor about 90 minutes from KL. This town is famous for its mangrove forest and its fireflies. After a great dinner, we walked down to the dock, climbed onto a sampan (boat) to quietly glide down the river to see the fireflies. This is only one of two places in the world where this many fireflies can be seen. We were all very quiet with only six passengers per boat + the ‘pilot’. As we floated by the mangrove trees, they lit up like a well decorated Christmas tree. We were doing this in a full moon. I can only image what it would have been like without a bright moon. At first as we crossed the river, we heard people on the shore talking away. Suddenly the trees began lighting up. It was almost as if there were workers deep in the forest turning on the lights as we got close. As we moved deeper into the bayou we knew for sure that the fireflies were real. The pilot caught one and we passed it from hand to hand as we traveled. If you ever did Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean ride you get an idea of the lights…now multiply that by about 50 times. The hour long floating was a great end to the day. Several in our group had grown up around fireflies in the South. They were as impressed as the rest of us who had never even seen a firefly.
Our original itinerary had a full day of leisure in KL. We had had very long busy days in Taiwan and Ellie convinced our guide that we would be better tourists if we had two half days of leisure. Susan and Mr. Wo accommodated our request so we were well rested to see some of the sites. I enjoyed walking around KL in the morning but didn’t venture by cab or bus. Those that did, had a great time but didn’t find any wonderful discoveries the rest of us missed. KL had a huge mall—five stories high. On four of the five floors was a huge food court with about 20 restaurants on each level—everything from fast food to elegant dining. The government goal of joining the developed world still leaves me wondering. This mall had many franchise stores from around the world. I easily recognized the American franchises—especially KFC, McDonalds, Pizza Hut and Carl’s Jr. I learned that many of the department type stores were Chinese, British, and Australian. It was hard to find a Malaysian based company. Several people in our group kept reminding me that this is what Globalization is all about—everything available to the world. I did notice that the franchise fast food places had a much different menu, though I still chose not to eat at one of them, they were all busy. KL has certainly embraced Globalization and seems to be a thriving city. Our guide had also embraced it, and it was not possible to find out what they had to give up for this new trend. Susan was happy with the electricity, nice homes, jobs, good transportation, and more modern lifestyle. She was certainly a ‘never look back’ type person. The destruction of forests, open space, shanty areas was seen as a good thing.
Malaysia got its name from Sanskrit (‘land of mountains’) when Indian traders arrived in the 1st century. It is divided into 13 states and 3 Federal territories. Nine of the states retain their royal family—headed by a Sultan. One of the nine Sultans is selected to represent all the Sultans in National Politics. Each Head Sultan serves for 5 years, then the nine meet again and select another Head. It appeared that rather than actually selecting, it was more on a rotating basis. No Sultan has yet served twice. This may occur in a couple of years, as the Sultan who will be selected was the youngest Sultan ever selected when his father had died just before his turn, and his 18 year old son became Head Sultan. Now 40 years later, he is only 56 now. The constitution allows religious freedom but also states that it is a country of Islam. The crescent moon and star of Islam are on the flag, along with 13 stripes (alternating red and white) to represent the 13 states. On Malaysia Day there were flags and banners on every building, and the flying was very reminiscent of Old Glory.
While KL was a nice modern metropolis that appears to be thriving, it was not a highlight on the trip for me. We stayed at a very nice hotel. You needed to use your room key to get the elevator to work. As we quickly learned, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Getting mad does no good. The same was true for getting into the room. It was a very nice hotel, but not a 6 star hotel. I am not used to hotels with elevator cards and it seemed a little pretentious to me. There were doormen 24/7 who would open the door for you. We were not in an area where outsiders could just wander around the halls of the room floors.
We took a short flight from KL to Kuching…yep pronounced just like the pop culture sound of a cash register. It is the Capital of East Malaysia, Sarawak with a population of just over ½ million. Charles Brooke was the White Rajah during British occupation. He believed in allowing the culture of Sarawak to thrive and is still seen as a hero. Kuching (Cat in Malay) has been watched over by white cats since its inception. September has the lowest rainfall average at 210mm (8”), while December is the wettest at 520mm (20.4”). The daily temps here in Sept average 23° at night to 32°C during the day—(75 & 89°F). It was a tad warmer while we were there. We are now in an area where one drips whenever outside. The flora is amazing. The Chinese Museum is awesome. We are now in an area where, up until 1941, the indigenous tribes used darts to kill their enemies and then hung their smoked heads at the entrance to the long house to ward off invaders. Tattoos are also a big deal with the indigenous tribes, as is ear piercing of women so they have a long earlobe with a big hole—ah, thanks to National Geographic in the 1950’s I did know a little about these practices. We visited a Mosque and adjoining cemetery where many of the headstones were covered with white or yellow cloth. Ramadan had just ended and families make a year trek to the cemetery to clean up the area. The white or yellow cloth lets everyone know this person is still missed. Zack is our guide and is very engaging. He is the kind of guide who really enjoys sharing his knowledge. His presentations are colorful and certainly not canned speeches. He is known to wander around the topic a little most of the time, and get completely off track sometimes. He is a certified guide for Bako and for our upcoming visit to the Orangutans. For me, this is exciting because he knows the staff at both places and they know him so we get some of the latest info not given to the general public. Zack does freelance guiding and so wants to provide a good experience so that our evaluations that go back to Pandow are good. For me, this makes the trip much more personalized. Susan did not appear to be a freelance guide and seemed to have her job no matter what we said.
We traveled on to Bako National Park where we will see Proboscis monkeys and take a nice river cruise in a small boat. The best way to beat the heat and the humidity is a boat ride. The park is very green and has lots of foliage. I am seeing many ‘houseplants’ we can buy in their full glory. I once had a huge Boston Fern in my house—it was about 18” in diameter. Turns out that is a sickly fledging of the ferns in the park. I am learning about the layers of the forest. There are the groundcover plants and animals, those that live within trees at 8 feet or more, and then there are the birds in the highest part of the forest. The monkeys are plentiful, but haven’t learned how to pose for pictures yet. You just see them running along the ground or swinging through the trees. It is great for viewing, not great for photographing. We have been told several times that to photograph, you have to find a spot, sit quietly for an hour or so get good shots. We are on a schedule, and I’m not sure I could just sit quietly in this heat and humidity for that long.
We were warned not to wear bright color clothing for our trip to the Semenggok Nature Reserve of Sarawak where we would be seeing Orangutans. Zack, our guide, was also a registered guide here, so we again got some extra information from the other guides. The word ‘orangutan’ translates to ‘man of the forest.’ I had seen orangutans at the CO. Springs Zoo, and at the Denver Zoo. Until I saw them in the wild, I never understood the translation. We got there just before feeding time. We had to rush up the paved trail to get there on time. While several in our group usually walked slowly and appeared a little unsteady sometimes, at this park, all that was forgotten. Everyone was at the feeding spot very quickly. Watching them come in from the forest, I understood their name. As they stretched out and swung from tree to tree, in the shadows of the thick foliage, they put on an amazing Cirque de Soleil performance. We were told by one of the guides how lucky we were that day. The Alpha Male hadn’t been in for a couple of weeks, but he showed up. So did one of his wives with a two week old baby—her first outing since the birth. It turned out there were several feeding places, all timed to that tourists could view all of them. Like the Lion Walk in South Africa, much of the ‘danger’ hype seemed unnecessary, however, this venue did have very large pictures of arm and leg injuries of visitors who didn’t follow the rules. All the feeding areas had lots of trees, a high platform for the food and also added ropes to assist the Orangutans movement around the feeding area. While they stayed in the trees, and not on the ground, many times we were less than 15 feet from them with no fences or barriers. They were much more interested in the food and the trees than our cameras. Several moms had their babies holding on around mom’s waist as she swung though the trees. The tiny ones had a look of horror while this was going on. This is a rehab center for orangutans. There are several young males who may try to be the Alpha Male. When this happens, the younger male is ‘sent off’ to another area…the guide wasn’t real clear as to exactly what that meant—did it mean to another center, back into the wild, to a zoo? I guess for them, limited English makes it easier to deal with the difficult questions.
After our visit we are off for a short plane ride to Sibu, where we will begin a 9 day river cruise. Since our arrival in Malaysia, the scheduled has been changed three times. We are now back to the original time of the flight. It is a small airport and our 2 hour wait changed into a four hour wait. Ellie was getting concerned that we would miss our ship. In the end, all we lost was some shopping time in Sibu and upon arrival were rushed from the airport to the ship. Sibu was attempting to reclaim the Malaysian record for the most number of Chinese lanterns on their streets during this festival. There were 31,000 lamps throughout the city. A beautiful view. The city center was alive with food markets, food booths, and many carnival games going on, late into the night. We had been greeted at the airport with a camera crew and interviewer. At first we thought the cruise line was making a promo video to sell to us at the end of the cruise. After boarding the ship, and refreshing ourselves a little, it was off to dinner. There was the cameraman (who had a very expensive machine), a light man, a sound man, a producer, and a director awaiting our arrival in the dining room. They started video graphing us serving, eating, chewing, and conversing. It was apparent they were making a professional video. Most in our group seemed uncomfortable, so when they came to our table with the bright light and camera rolling, I told them it was rude to photograph Americans while eating. They stopped and went back to their table to eat. After dinner I went to the table and introduced myself and asked what they were doing on the ship. Turns out they were working for the Malaysian government Tourism Office and would be with us for the cruise. I explained that they should tell the group what was going on. The director, a powerful woman, told me that they had the government’s permission to do this. I told her she didn’t have MY permission. She looked shocked and said she was sorry. As the days of our trip continued, the crew turned out to be very friendly, very nice, and quickly realized that the Brits, Aussies, Canadians, and Americans on the ship were on Holiday, and that they were working. We never really got used to their constant presence at every turn, but realized they were working to help Malaysia and therefore dealt with it. The CEO of the cruise line showed up and he stayed for a couple of days for interviews and filming. This filming was a really big deal for the cruise line and because the CEO was on board, we did get some great opportunities that other cruises probably don’t get. I definitely want to travel on Pandow Cruises again, but in the future will check to see if a film crew is on board. More on the great film crew later.
The nine day cruise down the Kanowit and Rajong Rivers had many exciting and interesting stops. The ship was amazing, with great food, adequate accommodations, and really nice sun deck. Those who don’t believe that the internet and wi-fi have changed the world need only to head for Borneo. We had wi-fi access throughout the cruise. On the river, we had to wait for a small town, but seldom were out of contact more than a couple of hours. As we travel into some fairly isolated areas, I am still amazed to see fishermen using cell phones, satellite dishes on long houses, and kids greeting our ship and taking cell phone pics of us. One the cruise we had Brits, Aussies, and Canadians. Lord and Lady Geddes were quite the couple. When I learned that he was from Scotland—Glasgow—[McDonald Clan] we had a nice discussion of the town and the beauty of the islands. When I learned he was the main speaker in the House of Lords I understood his rather boisterous personality. Celts are everywhere! The Canadian couple had been active in the Vancouver Olympics. One of the guys worked at the Alumni Center of the University and his partner was a free lance trainer. Both were bike riders and skaters. Wolfgang and his wife and her sister were now living in California and had some great stories. The crew was amazing. It turns out that English is their third or fourth language, yet many times, they have difficulty communicating with each other. Our guides on this ship were Louie and Henry. Louie has been doing this for years, while Henry is just getting started. Both of them offered great insights.
Pandaw River Cruises began in 1995 when it revived the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company to run a river cruise in Burma. The Irrawaddy Flotilla Company is a Scottish Merchant Ship line that was founded in 1865. At its height in the 1920’s it was running 650+ ships in Burma. Thanks to the Celts, we could see Borneo in luxury. All their ships were built in Scotland. In 1942 the Japanese invaded Burma and the Flotilla Company was closed. Then in 1995 a Burmese historian revived the flotilla and decided to craft. He restored the Pandaw and in an unusual move had 4 identical Pandaw ships built. They are filled with Teak and Brass and show the luxury of that bygone era. This is only the second year that a Pandaw ship has cruised in Borneo. They had to stop running the Burma cruise, due to the Myanmar government. They also run a cruise in Vietnam. We were on the Orient Pandaw. The crew of 28 kept everything running smoothly. While most of the crew only knew beginning English, communication was possible and all were happy to practice their English skills. Since most of their communication in English was with either Brits or Aussies, they certainly had interesting accents. This was a very happy family crew. Everyone pitched in to help everyone else. Wherever help was needed one of the crew would step right in. Docking was always an experience. The constant rise and fall of the river meant that sometimes we left the ship on the main deck, and sometimes on the upper deck. We had at least 4 different gang planks that were used at various times. Several times the docking procedure was exciting, with four or five guys jumping ship to be on shore and several still on the ship. When the first lowering of the gang plank didn’t work as well as expected, there were many chiefs and not a lot of Indians suggesting ways to improve the deboarding process. Since they all spoke different languages, chaos was present, and hand language and laughter always ensued. Never, and I mean never, was a harsh word spoken or did any of the sailors get upset. For them, it was fun, even if no one was listening to them. Steve, one of the sailors and a trekker on our excursions wants to be on some Alaskan Cruise Line. James, another sailor and trekker, wants to become a Pilot on a river ship. Nigel, the Burmese Purser, somehow keeps the crew happy and keeps the ship running smoothly. On our final departure all the 28 crew members left the ship, lined up and waved good bye, much like a family waves good bye to a family member leaving on a trip. That gesture was so much more than simply wishing us well. Nigel’s job can’t be easy with so many nationalities, the cruise lines mission of a luxury experience, and the many changes in the itinerary due to river conditions. Every change had a Plan B in place and the crew was able to make a seamless transition—including moving a beach cookout to a school park area because the river was too high. I think that Louie and Nigel were very good at keeping the passengers informed and always introduced any change in a positive way that showed the crew wanted us to have a great holiday.
We visited two traditional longhouses of the Iban. As many as forty relatives live in one very long house. Each house has a veranda that joins the rooms together. Private quarters are small and used for cooking, sleeping, and in some cases, watching satellite TV. Our first longhouse also had an outside veranda for hanging clothes. It was so humid I never did figure out how the clothes ever dried. We were greeted with male tribal members doing a sort of Welcoming ceremony. There were lots of colorful costumes, great music and dancing, and a prayer. After entering, we had another ceremony that asked the Gods for Health, Wealth, and Happiness. This home had a bag of skulls hanging at the entrance. At least three generations were there to greet us. The men were farmers, the women were weavers, and the kids were just kids. Farming means going into the forest and finding plants and animals to eat, use for medicine, or to sell down the river at a town. This is certainly not an easy life. The Iban use blow darts to stun and kill their prey and their enemies. The heads of enemies are smoked and then hung outside the main entrance to warn off others. The story is that this practice ended by law in 1941, just before the Japanese invasion. The government permitted it during the war on the Japanese, then banned it again after the war. I couldn’t help but wonder if there were still some traditional people out there who don’t know or follow the law. Pandaw pays the longhouse chief for our visits and programs. They also pay the locals to keep the trails clear or semi-clear for visitors. (Some plants grow as much as ½” per hour.) They also pay a rental fee for the use of the trails to the longhouse. Each season they go to different longhouses so that many can share in the bounty. This reminded me of the various tour groups who come to the rez and visit a hogan.
Usually a woman moves into the longhouse of her husband. They live in the father’s private quarters until they can add on another private room. In one of the private rooms that was open to the public, a 2 week old baby was sleeping under a mosquito netting. So hard to imagine all these extended family members living in harmony in this tiny community.
At one of the dances, the girls wear a metal ball or two hanging from their waist. In the ‘olden days’—only 60 years ago—the metal balls were the skulls of enemies. We learned about the longhouse governmental system—after all how can a bunch of relatives live in one house and not have issues. Saving face seems to be the most important thing. Losing face is a very bad thing. Most issues are settled by the Longhouse Chief—a hereditary role. If he can’t settle the dispute, it goes to the River Chief—elected by the Chiefs of the longhouses in that section of the river. If the River Chief can’t settle the dispute, the parties go to the District Chief. Eventually the dispute can be settled by the national government courts. The National government recognizes traditional law and customs for all the tribes in Borneo. They only become involved when asked. The National government also gives out subsidies to each longhouse twice a year. Sometimes this is plants, sometimes food stuffs needed that aren’t in the forest. If a longhouse suffers a disaster—such as flooding, the National government will provide emergency assistance.
A politician is a politician. At the visit to our second longhouse, the River Chief was there for a visit. If his white uniform shirt was not enough to identify him, he was busy introducing himself to all the visitors. He mentioned, more than once, that he should be at his office in the city, but was staying because “so many important people have come to this longhouse”. During our visit, some businessmen pulled up in a black car. The River Chief was out there in a flash, shaking hands, talking, and joking with these locals. It was very reminiscent of Dine’ politicians at a family gathering.
Louie, our seasoned guide, shared much information during our days. At one time on the bus, I was asking him more about his term ‘witch doctor’. He explained that he did psychological healing, his fee is minimal, and his ‘work’ lasts about 45 minutes. I asked him if this medicine person sang or chanted during his healing. He said no, but he did pray. I asked him how this healing took place. He told me he takes things out of your body. I asked him if they were sucked out. His eyes got very wide and asked how I knew. I explained the little knowledge I have of Navajo Medicine Men. He was very intrigued, and wanted to know more than my little knowledge understood. He also told me that the Iban Witch Doctor sucks out objects—small bones, small stones, etc. to heal the patient. The Iban healer can also be on the black side. Any healer can do white—good healing, or black—bad stuff. The same healer who uses black medicine on a patient cannot be then the white healer for that patient. As expected he didn’t want to talk about the black side. He did say that I was the first tourist he had talked to that didn’t look at this healing as just silly superstition. There are also Iban healers, men or women, who know how to use plants to heal. They are trained differently than the Witch Doctor. I wish I had more knowledge, and that this conversation could have continued much longer.
As I mentioned before, we took two walks in the rainforest. The river we were traveling on was very, very brown. Louie told us that it had been clear when he was a boy. Then the loggers came in. We didn’t see much logging near the river, but we saw barge after barge after barge loaded with hundreds of trees. Many of the logs seemed to have the center bored out; it turns out this is termite damage. None of the people in Borneo wanted to talk about the damage of logging. It just seems to be part of the life in Borneo today.
Our first rainforest walk had us all prepared for the worst. We all had on hiking shoes, long socks that were pulled over our long pants, and everyone was wearing some kind of leech stop socks. Our heads all had hats, so that falling living things would not get into our hair. We were warned not to grab the ropes without looking, as there were lots of hairy caterpillars, which it touched would cause us to itch a lot. Also many of the trees have sharp spikes that may not be seen before you have a handful of the tiny spikes in your hand. We were reminded to grab the ropes when climbing as the ground and or roots could be very slippery. The climbing could be at about 45° or more, and that some hand climbing might be necessary. A few people opted not to take the hike. Those who did would go to the first rest area and then those who wanted to go on would with Louie and Henry would take the rest back. We were also reminded to stay on the trail, as it is very easy to get lost in the rainforest. We were warned that cameras should be kept in a plastic bag as the forest plays havoc on electronics. I opted to leave the cameras behind and just to remember this jungle walk in my mind. When we got to the first rest area, everyone wanted to go on. Louie and Henry later said they really expected about half the group to stay behind. As I had kinda expected, their warnings were a little overstated but it was quite a climb. I could have brought my cameras, but will do that on the ‘easier’ walk. We saw lots of ferns, plants, and trees that are now used by modern medicine for everything from ED to HIV to cancer treatments. There were also plants for indigestion, diarrhea, congestion, and almost every conceivable ailment. The walking was not nearly as tough as the standing, as we learned about each and every plant. We did see huge Army ants, termites, hairy caterpillars, but very little other wildlife. We could hear birds, but never saw them. We were told we would have to stop, sit down, and wait very quietly about an hour or so to see any larger wildlife. We were told that there were deer, snakes, wart hogs and other wildlife in the area. The rainforest does have meadows, but we didn’t see any until we got to the end of the walk. After seeing the open space, it was easy to understand that many animals lived there.
Later in the trip we took the ‘easy’ rainforest walk, with not as much climbing and a waterfall at the end. Now that Henry and Louie knew more about our group, they divided us into three groups. The first group would go to the 2nd rest area about ten minutes from the waterfall. This group would not stop and learn about the foliage. I joined this group. The second group would go along and learn about the foliage, and the third group would stay at the long house and eat and buy crafts. Our group, with my camera in hand, moved quickly. We passed the first rest area without stopping and got to the second rest area. We waited about 30 minutes for the second group. Our trekker, a local girl about 18, told our guide, Steve—from the boat, that we needed to go on as rain was coming. We got to the beautiful waterfall and it was worth the hike. On the way back, we didn’t stop at any of the rest stops, we met up with the other group about 200 yards from the second rest area. They went on to the waterfall; we went back to the longhouse. We didn’t see much wildlife, but did see a wart hog, some roosters, and a caged pig. On this climb we didn’t get quite as prepared, and didn’t need to. Socks over your pants, a hat, and a poncho in your pocket are all we needed. Oh, and the ever needed bottle of water. At the end of both treks, my clothes were soaking wet and I’m sure I could have taken off my shirt and wrung it out and filled a small bucket. I’m not a big water drinker but on each hike I consumed two bottles of water and wanted more. While I’m not sure I want to ever trek into a rainforest again, I am sure happy that I had the experience.
I certainly learned to appreciate the rainforest. The destruction of the Borneo rainforest is extremely sad. The loss of language, culture, people, wildlife to make a coffee table for a home in the UK or US or anywhere, doesn’t make much sense, except for making money. At both longhouses they did not have a lot of crafts. Some in our group were disappointed. I saw it as that idea that they had not totally sold out to commerce. Tourists will come and go, but they will stay in their longhouse for their lifetime. Even at the markets throughout Borneo, we didn’t find touristy stuff. These markets are the backbone of the town’s economy, so foodstuffs, clothing, and Dollar store toys were everywhere. Our trips to morning markets were much easier on the nose than going at night. One early morning market was filled with fresh, very fresh, fish and other creatures from the sea. Fresh fruits and veggies were also abundant. The market was an amazing walk, about the size of a WalMart Superstore. Each vendor had a table or series of tables, a scale to weigh everything, a cash register or cash box and plastic bags for the purchases. The afternoon and evening walks through the market were not easy on the nose. Fish that have been sitting on open air tables tend to stink. Yes, there was some ice around, but after a day of heat, even ice can’t keep the fish smell from permeating the area. The night markets also had food vendors offering lots of choices of favorite foods. All of the night markets had a carnival/flea market atmosphere. They were exciting, but sure wouldn’t want to have to buy my groceries in that atmosphere every time I shopped.
As I look back over my latest trip, it is hard to talk about THE highlight. Every destination brought its own excitement, its own wonder, its own highlight. The Pawdaw Cruise was certainly in a class of its own. Each evening we met on the sun deck for free drinks and Louie informing us of the next day’s activities. He was brilliant in the way he prepared us. He would only talk about ‘the next day’ and never about upcoming days. This was good as each day was filled with so many things, it would have been easy for anyone to get confused. The one difficult activity on the ship was dinner. As an American, and as a single guy, I am not used to eating at 7pm. Nor am I used to having a two hour plus dinner each night with three or four courses. Also, it was hard not to eat all of the food presented, for fear the chef would think the dish wasn’t enjoyed. Of course, if I would have gained way too much weight if I had eaten everything. Tough choice when the food was sooooooo good. Some evenings there was a program after dinner, other times we could relax on the sun deck or just head for bed. I always tried to at least walk the sun deck several times after dinner, as I know that going to bed on a full stomach is not a good idea. My roommate, Steve, was always teasing me that I was asleep before my head hit the pillow. Thankfully we were both quiet sleepers, or at least that’s what Steve told me. I wouldn’t know, as besides going to sleep rapidly, I go into a very deep sleep and I probably wouldn’t have awakened during an emergency.
Our day excursions from the ship included the two rainforest walks I already discussed. When I was growing up and learning geography a rainforest was called a jungle. I guess the term rainforest shows that it is more alive and vibrant. We also visited the Tau ek Kong Pagoda in Sibu and Fort Emma and Fort Slyvia—a museum from the days of the Brits. We also ‘ran the rapids’. At first we were going to take the Baby Pandaw on its inaugural ride. It was decided that it was too small for the rapids. While we are on a larger boat, the Pandaw crew really needs to come to the Western US to see real rapids. If you blinked you would have missed the biggest ones. The ride down that part of the river was beautiful, but ‘rapids’ it was not. We also visited a school and a clinic deep in the rainforest. Due to the high river, we got to the boarding school after the students had left for the weekend. These kids come in every Sunday, usually on the family boat, spend the week, and leave Friday afternoon. Teachers and administrators live on the campus in private quarters. No matter where I go, I boarding school is so much like the reservation boarding schools of the 1970’s. At the dorm, each child had a mattress and a small locker. Cleaning and upkeep was of course done by the students. All the mattresses were neatly stacked for the weekend. Tiny fans were near the windows to keep the air moving, but those large open areas must get very hot, even at night. The main dining room was like any other school cafeteria on the Rez. All the buildings are on stilts, as flooding is an issue. Each classroom also had many bright orange life jackets near the door. The assistant principal said they haven’t been used, and there due to safety regulations. The short walk from the school to the clinic was like any outpost clinic on the Rez. Everyone can be treated for one ringet—about 30 cents. Most of their work is on injuries that happen in the forest. They have a radio system where they can get transportation for a patient needing more care. They also have a birthing room and a midwife there to assist. I learned that traditionally the placenta is buried at the longhouse or kept in a jar inside the longhouse. Again, not that different than the traditional Rez. All the workers wore a uniform jacket, color-coded by their job. I am still amazed how much it operated like an IHS clinic. Many in our group were surprised about that, and some didn’t believe that such a primitive operation still happened on US soil. Our lunch that day was all food that was steamed in bamboo poles in a pit. We had chicken, beef, and rice. Each pole was stuffed with one of the ingredients and then steamed in a pit. Upon completion, the bamboo pole was split and the cooked food taken out. Amazing. The high river had hidden our beach so the food had to be prepared on the school campus, where the kitchen staff dug the pit, cooked the food, and returned the grounds to its original way.
One morning we cast off in long boats—four to six to a boat—at 5:30am. The boat had a small 15hp motor that was used to take us up a tributary as the sun rose. We then silently floated back down the tributary as the river slowly became alive with activity. Before I could take any video or still shots, the camera lens had to be dried off from the mist that formed. Turned out I had to dry the lens before just about every picture that morning. The camera could never capture the awesome view from the middle of the river, in total silence, hearing only the roosters, other birds, and the children running around in the morning light. As we floated down the river, more and more residents were out, loading their boats, and heading out onto the river. Throughout of entire river trip, the people on the shore and on the river always waved and smiled. We returned the gesture.
On the ship we had demonstrations of how men and women wear a sarong, how to use a blowpipe, how to make several exotic mixed drinks, how to make ‘pulled tea’—very hot tea with Eagle-brand condensed milk, and two lengthy and informative lectures about the longhouse and the Native Customary Rights Laws. About a dozen high school students came on board at Song Town came on board to entertain us with song and dance. They were very good, but the most amazing thing was that after the show each cast member shook hands with each passenger. After shaking a hand, they would take both their hands and pull them toward their body. It was very impressive and obviously part of their culture. Henry later told us that it was a way of saying that each person was being drawn into their heart. Very cool. One night the crew entertained us with traditional songs and activities. Another night was disco night, with crew and passengers remembering the great songs of that era. Two of the songs must have been British Disco, as none of the Americans had ever heard them, but the Brits were up there dancing and singing along. Due to a heavy rainstorm a lion dance was moved from a huge dock to our sun deck. This was only the second time the rain had moved the dancers to the deck. The entire crew and many of the male passengers assisted in getting the rain off the tarp covering the sun deck and putting up tarps on both sides of the ship to keep the rain off the deck. I remembered how the snow had crushed several business roofs in Flagstaff last winter, and was more than happy to use a broom handle to lift the sagging tarp to get the building pools to run off into the already high river. The Chinese lion dance is a story about life. Two lions want to eat a papaya, but it is protected by a snake. The lions dance around and lure the snake away from the fruit, then one lion gets to the fruit and break it open while the other lion eventually kills the snake. The lesson is that the good things in life will always have barriers and that by working together; the good things in life can be obtained. The dance was very entertaining, and I can only image how great it would have been in a larger and more open space.
Check out these pictures of the trip:
Taiwan
Rivers
Monkeys and Orangutan
Panoramas
Foliage of the area
Pandaw Crew Entertainment
Local Entertainment
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