Good morning Kuching...it's Gawai Day and we were waiting to be transported to a remote place to witness the celebration. |
Our stop at Tapah for breakfast, this is Tapah in Sarawak and not in Perak. The rain has stopped just timely for us to get down. |
The rain came back as we waited for our food. The waiting was worth the while as the food was super good. |
I find that the porridge in Sarawak is more tastier than those in Peninsula, I love this minced meat porridge with century eggs. Truly yummy. |
Kolo Mee with minced meat instead of Char Siu. |
This Sarawak Laksa tasted better than the one I had in Kuching the day before. Wow, the food in this smaller town is pretty awesome! |
Happy faces in the bus for photograph but moment later most of us were snoring and catching up with their sleep. |
The bus has finally arrived at the destination, Kg. Bunan Gega which is approximately 95km away from Kuching and it is very close to the border of Indonesia. |
Our first visit was to Joyce's house, an old friend of Freda and she is such a sport. We shall remember her lovely tuak. |
Freda lead us into the kampong, our bicycles were kept at her friend's house. The weather was excellent. The walking was fun and joyful. Happy walking. |
Gawai Dayak is a harvest festival, which is celebrated by the indigenous people of Sarawak, particularly the Ibans and Bidayuhs. Kg. Bunan Gega is a Bidayuh village. |
Traditional dance performed by the local folks as part of the ritual they do annually. |
Home made rice wine is the traditional drink of choice called Tauk, but today many Dayak celebrate with beer or whiskey. |
We followed the procession and it went from one community to another, observing the ritual was something educational. It was surely an awesome experience for us. |
War dances are part of their celebration. |
Blowpiping is another activity seen in this celebration, some of us had the chance to blow the pipe. |
Finally the procession came to its final place at the Longhouse which they called it Balai Kebudayaan. |
The inside of the longhouse is decorated for the occasion with mats covering the bamboo strips floor. |
Gawai Dayak as a festival is considered as an auspicious occasion for weddings and family reunions beside an attraction of indigenous culture for tourists. |
Some of us were invited to wear colorful costumes for photos, participate in traditional dances, and sample delicious cakes and treats. |
Day 1 celebration at Kg. Bunan Gega was over, we walked back to Joyce's place for our bicycles and rode to another village where we will be putting up a night there. |
Though it was a short ride, weather was superb and the feeling of cycling in a remote village was so good. |
It was away from the mad city, road was so quiet, no wifi, no pollution and it's so peaceful indeed. |
At last we reached Kg. Mongkos, the village we will be staying for the night. |
With another 2.5 kilometres away we could have reached Indonesia but we did not pursue. |
A river where some of the folks take their bath, wash their clothing and the kids have great fun in it. |
Hi kids, I like to be in your shoe. |
Dinner time at a separate double storey building with a mini market on the ground floor. Good night, have a good rest and tomorrow there will be another adventure awaiting for us. |
Thanks for all the wonderful adventure - I really enjoy your blog. Maybe one of these day I will visit the places you blog about.
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