Pangkalan Batu

I wake early this morning as I'm going on a little trip to Benogh dam with Cynthia's mum Margaret. I'm so blessed how these lovely people that I've met along my journey keep popping back up and enable me to experience wonderful adventures that I otherwise wouldn't experience. It's also crazy that most of the people that are creating these local experiences are due to my passion as an LFC supporter, but as we say YNWA. Margaret picks me up in the morning and drives me to her village and takes me to her home. I get to meet her son and his beautiful family and as I'm talking with her granddaughter I kneel down and to the left of me is a scorpion and when I point it out Donni's wife casually picks up the umbrella and kills it. Donni has kindly offered to drive us to the dam and from the village is only a 35 minutes drive. When we arrive at the dam all the boats have departed so we change our plans and drive to the longhouse village. It's really special when we get here. On arrival we are greeted with a complimentary tuak before making our way up to the longhouse. The places surrounding kuching are very geared towards tourism and the longhouse is deprecated into multiple homestays equipped with television although if you venture further into the jungle there are still traditional longhouses but COVID has had a huge impact on this because they rely on traditional medicine they are more reluctant to let foreigners in. The entire architecture is designed and built as a standing tree with branches to the right and left with the front part facing the sunrise while the back faces the sunset. The longhouse building acts as the normal accommodation and a house of worship for religious activities. The entry could double as a canoe dock. Cooling air could circulate underneath the raised floor of the dwelling, and the elevated living areas were more likely to catch above-ground breezes. Livestock could shelter underneath the longhouses for greater protection from predators and the elements. In fact, chickens coops were hung from the main room structure for easy feeding. This particular longhouse is set up for the tourism with the dwellers selling their handmade goods and homemade Tuak (in whisky bottles) to the people who pass through. There is even a bank here. An added bonus is one of the ladies that runs a shop here went to school with Margaret so we get lots of information about the place and the things being sold. A little later she spots a lady who she thinks was her teacher but it's actually her sister Peggy who is a wonderful soul and served as a midwife for over 40 years. We speak with her for over an hour as she explains the history of Sarawak and Mr Brooke. Further along the road we eat at Margarets cousins cafe before making our final stop at the crocodile farm. I'm quite saddened to see these amazing creatures kept in such a small habitat, but they've generally been caught due to being a danger to the locals. I'm so thankful to Mags and Donny for taking me around and showing me the attractions but the weather is really bad so I tell them I'm happy to get a grab back. They won't hear of it and on the way back we witness a tree that's been uprooted and is impeding the traffic. In the evening I take myself for some essentials shopping , new underwear etc and manage to bag myself a few bargains before heading back homeLes mer