‘You cannot stay here. Someone has died.’ The guy jumped on the motorbike. ‘But follow me, there is another long house down the road.’ We are staying with a beautiful family in the centre of a long house – a house on stilts housing over 200 people – the ultimate of communal living.
The Iban family
It is a custom that noone is invited into the home for a month after someone has died. Also people selling goods are turned away. Keen to help us, though, we were taken to the next long house a kilometre down the road.
Each family in the long house has a section which is several rooms deep, and ends on an outside area, also on stilts, out the back. From there, you can gaze at the stars, and listen to the jungle sounds. Religious pictures and crosses adorn the walls in this Christian house. The family are Iban people – native people of Borneo. We were invited to join them in a meal of rice, chicken and delicious fish. Such hospitality.
Today I passed 31000km – at the crest of a hill. At the bottom I saw a perfect place to stop to take a picture. I had arrived in Nirvana – Nirvana crematorium.
31000km
We are back on the main road. It’s not too busy, but less inspiring than the beautiful road of the past days that meandered through the low-lying lands near the coast. Still, the main road let us cover more kilometres as the crow flies.
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