Thaipusam and Bawang Assan Longhouse

We do get a lot of holidays at MKIS.  Our weekend was book marked with Thaipusam on Friday and Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory Day on Monday.

We went out to the Batu Caves, the site of Thaipusam, on Thursday evening with a couple of other teachers from school.  The festivities are in full swing on Friday and into Saturday but there were enough pilgrims on Thursday night to get the flavour of the event.  I called it Thaipusam Lite.  Batu Caves have been a Hindu shrine for over 200 years.  The caves are enclosed in a massive limestone outcrop.  The entrance to the cave is up a flight of 272 steps.  Sitting at the foot of the stairs is a massive golden statue of Muruga.

During Thaipusam the steps and the area at the base of the stairs to the caves is overtaken by over 1 million pilgrims.  Pilgrims take part in Thaipusam for two reasons, either to give thanks for some special blessing they have received during the year or to make penance for some sin they have committed.  On Thursday night there were no more than a couple thousand pilgrims taking part in the pilgrimage up the mountain.  There are a couple of sights along a near by river where the pilgrims gather to prepare for their ascent up the stairs.  The first first step cleanse themselves either in the river or at the temporary outside shower stalls put up at the river site.  Most of the men and some of the women will then get their heads shaved.  They then dress themselves in a golden or yellow robe for the pilgrimage.

Most of the folks we saw were families and after cleansing themselves they would pick up their pitchers of milk and line up to be blessed by one of the priests before heading up on their pilgrimage.  There were a few hardcore devotees who prepared themselves in a special way for their walk up the stairs.

One fellow had what looked like a BBQ skewer shoved through one cheek and out the other.  He also had small hooks on his back.  His task was to walk up the stairs holding a burning offering in each hand.  The flames were rather big.  We walked beside him as he stumbled up the stairs. It was quite a struggle for him to make it.  Another fellow had large hooks placed into his back with numerous bunches of fruit attached, apples, oranges.

We spent at least an hour watching another fellow have what seemed like a 100 hooks embedded into his back.  All of these had bells and flowers attached.  Once these were attached he smoked up something strange, chugged a few beer, and then proceeded to bless his followers before they all headed up the hill with him in the lead.  All these extreme devotees were accompanied by a group of drummers pounding out some iritatingly loud rythmn on their drums.

 

  

 

Bawang Assan Longhouse

We spent most of Friday lazing around our condo and packing up for our trip to Sibu.  Sibu is on the island of Borneo, in the East Malaysian sultanate of Sarawak.  Air Asia had a ticket sale on at some point last year and I picked a 5RM ($1.50) destination to explore.  That should have been the first clue that it might not be a popular destination point.  The second clue should have been when I could not glean any information from anyone on our well-traveled staff about the area.  The third definately should have been when I couldn't find any information in any of the guide books or online about Sibu.  I suppose I was holding out hope that this was the last great unexplored parcel of land in Borneo.  I was somewhat wrong.

Sibu is the third largest city in Sarawak and lies on the Rawang River.  The Rawang flows deep into Borneo and is the thoroughfare for transport and commerce into the region.  It is an enormous river and at Sibu, 60 kilometers from the coast, it is still a mile wide.  The area around Sibu is completely flat.  So flat that the tidal surges up the river at this point are still 10 to 12 ft high.  This leaves a long neglected section of sludge between the river and the shore for half of the day.  This area was filled mainly with logs and similar debris, but similar to most of South-East Asia it also has a lot of garbage.

The city is composed mostly of people of Chinese descent.  The British brought the Chinese over by the thousands during the colonial periods to work on the rubber and palm plantations.  When the British pulled out the Chinese took over pretty well all commercial interests in the area and began to rapidly expand the forestry industry deep into the interior of Borneo.  The Rawang brings thousands of logs to Sibu each day for the saw and plywood mills.  Much of the rainforests of Borneo end up here before being shipped out to be assembled into furniture for an Ikea (or whatever) near you.  Sibu apparently has more millionaires per capita than any other city in South-East Asia.  The affluence is well apparent by the palatial homes we could see on the drive from the airport into the city.  It was interesting to note that the husband in the homestay family we stayed with worked in one of the sawmills as a security guard.  He indicated that out of the 1500 employees at the mill about 1200 were Indonesian workers.  Their compensation for a 12 hour shift at the mill was 15RM, the equivalent of about $5.  A little less, I think, than the IWA wages back in BC.  Deregulation and non-union labour has benefits for some I suppose.  The sad part is that the Indonesian workers are there because it is better than opportunities in their home country.

 

This is outside of the longhouse we stayed in.  All made of wood and everyone cooks with a wood stove. Hmm.

  

The walkway in front of the longhouse.

  

The communal veranda.  During most of the day it was filled with children playing and older folks visiting.  During the evening the adults gathered to share stories and tuak.

After a long search I did find that it was possible to take part in a longhouse stay outside of Sibu so after spending the first night in Sibu we headed 50 km out of town to a Iban longhouse village called Bawang Assan.  The Iban's are an indigenous people of the region.  They were know in the past to be headhunters and although we did see evidence that this, I believe the practice was abandoned long ago.  The longhouses are the traditional dwellings of the Iban.  They stretch all along the river systems of Borneo.  The entire structures are on stilts to keep above the tidal surge that seems to be prevalent along the rivers. Here large numbers of families live under one roof with separate quarters to each off a large communal veranda.  The longhouse we stayed in had quarters for 34 families and there were 6 longhouses in the village.

 

This gruesome site was hanging from the rafters in one of the other longhouses we visited.  Our hostess didn't really want to talk about them.  There were about a dozen bundled up together.

  

The village was situated on a tributary of the Rawang, the Bawang.  This is the little jetty where everything docks.  During the day a supply boat (Walmart) visits.  I'm sure it has one of everything.

 

Back side view of the longhouse.  It was surrounded by rice fields.

We had some very gracious hosts who taught us a lot about longhouse life and Iban customs.  We got to try on some of their traditional costumes, make some of their food, and drink tuak, their home brewed rice wine.  We were actually scheduled for two nights at the longhouse but quickly realized one would be enough, so at the end of the second day we arranged for a ride to the airport and caught a flight back to KL.

 

Maureen making some cookies with our hostess.  All deep fried in palm oil of course.  The most difficult part of the process was getting down and up from the little stool.

  

Some of the cookies.  They were actually pretty yummy.

 

Dressed as Iban.  I wouldn't wear the loin cloth and Moe wouldn't go topless. Sorry.

Christmas 09 (finally)

One thing Kuala Lumpur has over the Kootenays is thunder storms. I sat on the deck for over half and hour this evening watching one pass by.  The sky would flare up and thunder would crash about every 20 seconds or so.  I was literally in the middle of it all.  This is a fairly regular occurance, a bit unnerving but quite spectacular.  And then the rain.  The sky literally opens up and it comes down in sheets.

Cole and Alana have been gone for three weeks.  So much anticipation, a blur of activity, and now it is a memory.  It was great to have them here. We had a wonderful Christmas together. Cole arrived on the 14th of December, about a week before Alana.  He hung around with us for 4 days and then took off to Yogyakarta, Indonesia's cultural/spiritual centre.  From all accounts he enjoyed his trip throughly.  He spent a couple of days visiting the temples of Prambanan and Borobudur. 
Alana arrived in December 21st.  Unfortunately her plane was late and she had traveled for over 31 hours so our plans to show her the town didn't materialize.  We left early the following day for Bali where Cole met us.  This is our third trip there and we sort have things figured out for us.  We drive past Kuta, the Aussie party beach, as fast as we can and head for Ubud, which is the art/cultural center of Bali.  We stay at the same hotel and do some of the same outing.  The bike ride down from the volcano is wonderful.  Another of the Canadian teachers working at the school joined us and she commented that this was the highlight of her trip to Bali.  Cole and Alana went on a rafting.  We figured out which dance performance we like best, the Kecak.  Our favourite activity though is just to walk in the countryside through the rice fields.  It is so beautiful.

We traveled to Lovina Beach in the north for a few days around Christmas.  We stayed at a very nice boutique hotel.  It really is unbelievable what something the price of a Quality Inn will get you in Bali.  The hotel had 8 rooms and only one other was occupied while we were there.  It was fully staffed with reception, chef, service staff, bartender, garden and pool staff, and security. Interestingly enough the other room was occupied by Grace and Ken Wilson's ex-son-in-law.
Lovina was wonderful but the ecomonic crunch and lack of tourists has really hit there.  It was a little sad on Christmas Day evening walking to a restaurant we had chosen and to pass many others that were fully staffed, bands playing, and not a soul in them.  The owners would be waiting expectantly with Santa hats on at the entrance for potenial clients.
Far too soon after we returned to Ubud Cole had to leave to head back to Canada.  We stuck around another day and left with Alana to return to KL.  We spent New Year's Eve with some friends in an area near our school.  We went to dinner at the biggest buffet thing I have ever seen.  It was all Japanese and although it was buffet style everything was prepared fresh.  You just went up and told them what you wanted and they cooked up and delivered to you.  Incredible.  Alana did have a 4 am start to head back to Canada so we did have an early night.  Fireworks are really big here so it was impossible to sleep when midnight hit so Maureen and I watched them ignite the sky from half a dozen different venues from our condo.
After Alana left was spent a few quiet days in Kuala Lumpur before heading for Langkawi, an island in the north of Malaysia not far from the Thai border.  We spent our time reading, lounging on the beach, and exploring the island a bit.
We did manage to spend some time with Pat Dooley who was here attending a conference.  She took a couple days after the conference and we headed to our favourite town in Malaysia, Malacca, to show her around.  It was nice to touch base with her and get caught up on Nelson and the school district.
School is always busy but rewarding.  The students here are really nice.  Last weekend was the night of the brewery tour.  One of the dads from the school is the brew master at the Heineken brewery and he invites the teachers to the brewery once a year.  He gives a tour of the facilities and access to the brewery pub.  Heineken brews Heineken (of course), Guiness, Tiger, Ankor and a number of others.  Opening the taps for teachers is kind of a dangerous thing to do but everyone behaved him/herself.  He also puts on a buffet supper and at the end gives a goodie bag.  This year there was a shirt, some coasters and other stuff I didn't really take note of.  Quite nice.


I've a number of pictures that follow.  They are a bit out of order but I will try and caption most so you have an idea of what they are.
Sorry for this line thing but I couldn't figure out how to turn off.  It is actually driving me crazy (not that it takes much)







Langkawi





The top photo is from lookout at the top of the cable car ride in Langkawi.  The views are incredible and the karst outcroppings are spectacular.


Sun set on the beach we stayed at in Langkawi.


The old man a the top of cable car ride in Langkawi.

 Maureen on the beach at Langkawi.  It is nice.  The water is ok for swimming.  You just have to watch out for the jelly fish.
The next two photos are from the cable car itself.  It is quite the ride up.  The vertical seems about twice that of Grouse Mountain.  If you look really carefully at the mountain behind Maureen on the beach you can see the cable car platforms.




Sunset on the beach at Langkawi.  This is right out in front of our hotel.


Bali
The following pictures were all taken on our trip in Bali.


Maureen came running back from the washroom for the camera.  Everything in Bali is presented so nicely.  This was the view from the toilet seat in a restaurant.


 We watched these girls play a game with their shoes.  They were so happy playing with nothing.


The following shots were all take on the bike ride down from the volcano.



This shows some of the hazards you have to watch out for on your ride.  The Balinese, as well as everyone else in South East Asia, pack every thing on their scooters.
Below is a picture of the gang.  We were all Canadians, us, another teacher from MKIS with her daughter and friend, as well as couple of nurses from Ontario who were working in Australia.


After the bike ride the spa was in order.  Alana is here in a flower bath taken after a full body massage.


Cole in the market.  Maureen has bought a few baskets from this guy.  The photo of the baskets that come later were taken at his stall, which is the market in Ubud.

Cole in the monkey forest in Ubud.  He had a banana in his pocket (really Mae West) and the monkey would take it from him

 Walking in the rice fields, while taking a break from the bike ride.

Cole with a rice field worker.  He really wanted his photo taken with Cole for some reason.  Probably because of the 'stach'.

One of the stops on bike tour is a family compound.  We found the children having fun playing in the yard.

This a view of the walkway at our hotel in Ubud in the early evening.  It is very beautiful.

Cole and Alana in the market above.  The aforesaid baskets at Ubud market.

At the Lake Batur temple on the way to Lovina Beach.

We stopped at the top of the climb up the mountain on the way to Lovina. For $2 Cole got to have his picture taken with a giant bat, a big snake, and a lizard, much to his mother's disgust.

At the hotel in Lovina Beach, the north part of Bali.

The hotel pool.  All to ourselves.

We resisted going out to see the dolphins until the last day.  Every second male asks to take you out to see the dolphins in the morning.  They come to feed in the shallow waters off Lovina Beach.  It is a bit of a gong show.  They take you out in these little narrow boats with out riggers.  The four of us plus the captain filled the little boat.  You are about 700 meters off shore with about 60 others filled with tourists waiting for the dolphins to appear.  When they do all of the boats chase them down to get a closer look.  Our captain seemed to have a better knack thank goodness.  He would predict where they would surface next and then take us out to wait for them quietly.  In many cases he was right and we did get some nice close up views of them surfacing.
The top photo is of some fishermen heading in from their early morning fishing trip.  The bottom is one of the dolphins surfacing.

Sri Lanka

The Blue Lotus is the national flower of Sri Lanka. It's beauty and uniqueness reflect the qualities of the country it represents. Sri Lanka is a country of stunning beauty. It is lush with enchanting beaches, mountains, and people. We spent 2 short days there, recognizing that we will be back for a longer and closer look.
The flight from KL to Columbo is 3 hours. We arrived in Sri Lanka at 7:15am on Friday. Hikkaduwa, our destination, was about 120km south of the airport. In my travel plans that distance would take about 2 hours and I estimated we'd arrive at our hotel by 10:00am. I forgot to take into account we were travelling in a third world country. We arrived dusty and weary about noon. We spent our first day at the beach soaking up the sun, the r and r, and the beauty.

The next day we hired a tuk-tuk driver, Anura, to show us around a bit. We went to Galle to see the largest European fort established in Asia. It is a world heritage site and sits right on the southern tip of Sri Lanka. It was established long before the Europeans came though and was a major trading center for the Chinese, Arabs, Malays, and Indians. The Portugese, Dutch, and English all realized the importance of the fort as center for the spice trade and took turns ruling until the British were finally kicked out in 1947. It was then that the island replaced its colonial name, Ceylon, with Sri Lanka.
After a good look around the old fort and parts of the city we checked out some gem shops. Sri Lanka is renown for gems and so we looked through piles of sapphires, agates, and other precious and semi-precious stones. Weary from this we headed to another beach a little south of Galle for a swim and lunch. The beach at Unawatuna is a little smaller than Hikkaduwa but better for swimming. We spent a couple hours hanging out both on the beach and in the water.
After the beach we tootled on a little bit farther to visit a tea plantation. It was a small operation but specialized in white tea, which is a delicacy. We were the only visitors and we were treated like royalty tasting tea in an old colonial home on the hill overlooking the plantation. We got to see the whole operation. It was a mixed farming affair with a few mango and papaya, as well as rubber trees mixed in among the tea bushes. The machinery they used to dry and crush the leaves was ancient, dating back to the mid 1800's.

It was nice to get to know our driver, Anura. Like most of the folks along the coast he had a sad story to tell about the tsunami. He lost his home and meager possessions when it hit in 2004. Pretty well all the local fishermen and villagers who lost their homes were forced to relocate in land after the tsunami hit. They were told it was too dangerous to go back and it was a condition for aid. It didn't take long however after the locals left for the multinational hotel chains to scoop up the best beaches, after they were cleaned up with aid $$, for development at bargain prices.



This ox and cart was on the streets of Galle. I think this fellow must have delivered those sacks of cement you see in the background. He was rather ripped.


Picking tea at the White Tea Plantation. Apparently the first time a human actually touches white tea has is with the lips when drank. The Chinese emperors had their pickers use gold scissors to harvest. I don't think they had those here. We sampled some and it tasted delicious, smooth but we didn't want to sell our house to buy some. Apparently they get regular orders from Middle Eastern royal families.


The fishermen here are tidying up their nets after a day on the sea. When we watched the sunset and sat on the beach in the evening we could see hundreds of fishing boats out on the ocean. It is called the highway to India as they stretch from the south of Sri Lanka to the Indian coast. Many of these fellows went out in wooden catamarans with one pontoon.

A women selling her mangos on the side of road.

The streets of Galle were full of market scenes like this. Lots of produce and fresh produce for sale.

This snake had Maureen excited. It was scurrying through the newly planted rice field. It was about 4 ft. long. According to Anura it was a harmless one.