Posts Tagged ‘Tamin’

Day 350. 113km. Tamin – Selitut

Posted: April 21, 2016 in Cycling, Malaysia
Tags: , , , ,
4

Will and I have similar bodies regarding calorie and water requirements. In comparison Clement needs almost none of both. A lack of communications and an hour food stop resulted in everyone worrying about the other, and everyone being stressed. We covered some distance today, but it was a push.

The road

The road

We had an early morning tour of the garden of our lovely Iban friends in Tamin before setting off.

The jungle garden

The jungle garden

Yet again we have been welcomed by a lovely family in an Iban long house. They have been busily making balls from rice-flour which, we believe, can be used to make a rice alcoholic drink. These people have such lovely smiles and such warm hearts. I like the Iban people!

Rice balls

Rice balls

Iban family

Iban family

Day 349. 102km. Sarikei – Tamin

Posted: April 20, 2016 in Cycling, Malaysia
Tags: , , , ,
0

‘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

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

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.