It's Day 2 of our Showcaves and Pinnacles Tour through Borneo Adventure and Day 3 of our time in Mulu. I gave ourselves a day at either end of the tour because it was such an incredible destination.
Ocean met us at the hotel, his smile as broad as ever. Starting in the Deer Cave the day before, Anita had tummy upset, and began vomiting at regular thirty-minute intervals for five hours. Ocean accompanied us to the clinic, found a doctor and stayed with us while the rehydrating IV did its work. He then made sure we got back to the hotel safely.
We had checked out, since we were planning to spend two nights at Camp Six, so we needed to check back in. Again, the hotel took this in stride, and assigned us room 103 in Block 2 because it was less of a walk to the pool, reception (the only place you could get the spotty wifi) and the restaurant. Epau, our always smiling reception clerk, called later to make sure we were settled and to let us know that our room rate was reduced since we were returning guests.
Continuing with Day 2 of the tour. We loaded into our longboat and headed upriver. The sky was partly cloudy, and there was enough sun to warm us as the wind (from the powerful outboard motor pushing us fast) whipped our faces. The river twists through the broad valley, past houses on our left and park on our right. Some houses have semi prone ladders or steep steps down to the river. My favourite was a log notched with stairs. Of course NO ONE has railings. I tried to imagine clambering up with my hands full of groceries.
Our first stop was at a village. Anita had cycled there on Day One, after our Botanical Loop walk. The hotel had bikes in the lobby area, and a guided cycle was listed in the activity guide. She was the only one interested, so guide Phillipe was found and off they went. Here we returned. There was a village Christmas tree at the far end of the village, made from a cone of large poles. The top third (top 12 feet) was festooned with metallic garland. The middle third was also decorated and the bottom third was bare.
At the village, Ocean told us the residents belong to a hunter-gatherer tribe, accustomed to living in the jungle and acquiring all their necessities naturally. The government wished to change that living style and built long houses as incentive to settle down. The first set of houses were wood, and through accident, they burned down. Same story with the second set of houses. Before the third set was built of concrete, many people built their own wood houses on the riverbank, out of wood. The government continues its encouragement to get people to move into the concrete homes.
Many villagers were showing us their crafts, offering wares for sale. There were many stalls of beaded work -- bracelets, five by seven wall hangings with Christian blessings, etc -- and rattan weaving in sizes from placemats to table runners.
There was also a blowgun station, where Ocean practiced his skills while we looked at the stalls. He was really good, getting a bullseye early on, then consistently hitting the monkey outline in the head. We left our money in the boat, so declined the offer of one ringet a try. The Scottish Australian family’s dad gave it a go, and hit the target on his first try!
Did I forget to say we saw the family here too? Yes, we were living parallel lives.
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