Flawed-Democratic Federation of Malaysia
Malaysian Borneo
Sarawak aka Land of the Hornbills
Song
Katibas Inn +6084777323
Adequate twin room with air-con and river view for MYR 40.- or US$ 11.30 per night.
Laundry: MYR 1.- per item.
Click below for an interactive road map of the Katibas Inn in Song and for directions:
N 02° 00.63' E 112° 32.99'
N 02° 00.63' E 112° 32.99'
Exploring the two distinctive parts of perfectly walkable Song, the new town (with a rather tame Malay night market) and the harbour area (with a bustling Iban riverside market), and depleting the latter one, together with the help of a few hard-drinking locals, of its stock of (i) refreshing airjuk (a milky palm wine which is sold in 3-litre jugs for MYR 10.-), (ii) delicious tuak (a clear, sweet rice wine which is sold by the glass for MYR 1.- per 150-ml tumbler) and (iii) heavy langkau (a brown, fortified rice-raisin liqueur which is sold by the 50-ml shot glass for MYR 1.- each); may the roof above us never fall in, and may the friends gathered below it never fall out, cheers!
Jumping on a public minibus (MYR 1.- per person), starting a journey into the unknown and meeting on the edge of town in the longhouse Rumah Ikau a friendly Iban family who was busy cooking over an open fire a wild pig which the men had just shot in the jungle and being invited by their women to another intense party with home-brewed, slightly smoky tuak.
”Here’s to the maiden of bashful fifteen;
Here’s to the widow of fifty;
Here’s to the flaunting, extravagant queen,
And here ‘s to the housewife that’s thrifty!
Let the toast pass;
Drink to the lass;
I’ll warrant she’ll prove an excuse for the glass.”
Here’s to the widow of fifty;
Here’s to the flaunting, extravagant queen,
And here ‘s to the housewife that’s thrifty!
Let the toast pass;
Drink to the lass;
I’ll warrant she’ll prove an excuse for the glass.”
Leaving our backpacks in the reliable Katibas Inn +6084777323, securing two seats (return fare MYR 30.- or US$ 8.50 per person) on the bottom planks of Captain Ahai’s daily longboat to Nanga Bangkit, a small trading post and longhouse settlement at the confluence of Katibas River and Bangkit River, and watching all day how he and his young bowmen were skillfully negotiating, with the help of outboarder, paddles and punt poles, innumerable rapids, eddies and shallows against the current and over a distance of c. 50 km through a jungle-clad, impenetrable wilderness on each side of the Katibas River.
Click below for more blog posts about nice river trips
01 Dec - 07 Dec 2012 Xingping (Li River)
28 Jan - 05 Feb 2012 Inle Lake (Nyaungshwe Canal)
10 Jul - 12 Jul 2010 Muang Khoua (Nam Ou River)
16 Jun - 22 Jun 2010 Hoi An (Thu Bon River)
24 Feb - 25 Feb 2010 Tha Ton (Mae Nam Kok River)
Click below for a summary of this year's travels
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