Mashor and driver Peetee took us outside of town to the Semenggok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center for (maybe) our last look at the ‘man of the forest’.  The aim of the center is to return injured or orphaned orangtuans back to their natural habitat.  There are up to 25 orangs who live in the huge protected forest area but they are not fenced or restricted in any way.  If they want to show up for the daily fruit offerings they will, but when the trees are in fruit (usually further into July), they will forage on their own and not appear for the tourists at all! 

At the first feeding platform we found Edwin, the 28-year old alpha male, happily munching on bananas.

Also present was a female with a fairly young baby and an older boy who was still content to hang out with mom.

At the second feeding platform were two adolescent males, 16 and 18 years, who were just starting to develop their cheek pads.

In the afternoon we drove about an hour south to visit the Annah Rais Longhouse in an isolated river valley guarded on all sides by four mountains.  This strategic position has helped the villagers ward off head hunting attacks in the past. 

We were welcomed with a drink of local tuak (a little sweeter than at the restaurant in town) and invited to taste some of their sun-dried tapioca chips. We purchased a few bags to bring back to Kuching with us.

Annah Rais is a large Longhouse that houses over 80 families of the Bidayuh Tribe. Though many of the townspeople have opted to build new homes out of concrete, the longhouse has existed for about 175 years and the majority of the people here still live in the traditional way.

The Panggah, or Head House, holds the skull bones of the enemies from the tribe’s history of headhunting. 

We were offered lunch with a local family and met Arthur, a musician and maker of an ancient instrument. The pratuokng is a type of zither made from bamboo with a little bit of ironwood and rattan. The instrument is likely over 3000 years old and has been passed down through the generations. It is played by striking and plucking the bamboo ‘strings’ and by drumming on the underside of the tube.

We were incredibly fortunate to have Arthur perform for us; he has represented Malaysia and the Bidayuh people at music festivals around the world.

As always, lunch was incredible and way too much for us! Karen prepared tilapia and anchovies, ginger chicken, green beans and midin as well as an amazing chicken soup cooked inside a section of bamboo placed over an open fire.

Back in town, we checked out the Big Mart a few blocks from our hotel to by some provisions for the next few days.  We are headed out to the remote Bako National Park where conditions are a little rustic.  All our meals are included, but we understand the food at the lodge is not very good!