Mulu Day 2 – Batu Bungan, Penan Market

Thursday, 13th Jan 2011

Open everyday except on Sunday

Our first activity on the second day. Still we need a boat ride to be here. We gathered at Park HQ around 8.30a.m and started the journey around 9a.m. Actually, we could start earlier but since not only our group, so, we have to take turns to get into boat. But, this time beban sedikit bertambah cos not only us but plus with our baggage for the Camp 5 trip to Pinnacle. Since, hiking to Pinnacle will be on the next day, so, we have to stay one night at Camp 5 for preparation.

On the way to ke Kuala Litut, our boat driver stopped us at Batu Bungan, Penan Longhouse. Then, proceed to Clearwater Cave & Windcave. Only after that, we continued our trip to Kuala Litut to proceed to Camp 5 through Kuala Berar rainforest.

We're told by our Guide...this Penan Longhouse just burnt about few weeks ago
No one knows what actually the cause of it???

What so special about this Penan market… to me, nothing so special about this market just like the handicraft market you may find at Miri but the best part you will learn something about their cultural & living, only then, you will find it interesting. Most of the Penans here lived in a very moderate way and some of them look very poor. But still I could see Astro Dish in one of the Long House. Kira dah advance juga lah dia orang nie, at least takde lah ketinggalan sangat dengan dunia luar kan. Always connected. Cuma aku tak nampak dia orang pakai handphone jer. Anyway coverage kat sini pun tak OK sangat...CELCOM jer aku rase yang paling OK kt sini :-)

Astro dish at one of the Penan House

The market not so big only a few stalls and selling almost the same thing.

Batu Bungan, Penan Market

Beautiful handicraft you could choose

Nenek ni tiup seruling guna hidung dia

Nenek ni sempat main kan satu lagu untuk aku….boleh tahan juga dia main…apa yang menarik nyer, dia tiup through Her nose. Nak dengar dia tiup lagi….you have to pay for that. Since aku takde duit kecik nak bagi aku pun pass lah kat Fad suruh layan dia. Aku sempat juga test tiup seruling ajaib dia nie tapi sudah nyer…lagu lain yang keluar….angin Hidung. Susah juga nak main benda nie…looks like you need more practice yea.

Penan Market ni pun jadi tempat kami Shopping

Sempat juga aku try nasib kat satu gerai ni…main sumpit. Dulu mase kat Niah Cave pun ade try nasib juga tapi lagi besar dan panjang lah…so, sasaran lebih jauh. But, kat sini kecik and kontot skit, so, kalu tiup pun kat area situ jelah sasaran nyer. Anyway, it was really fun, learning one of the Penan way of life. The price for this cost about RM40…quite expensive tapi aku rase price nie actually for the foreigners. Takpe lah, nak beli pun tak tahu nak guna bila kan…buat anak2 buah aku yang hyperactive datang rumah…lain plak jadi nyer nanti.

Try my Luck

Aku sempat grab one bangle from one of the Nenek….sebenar nyer banyak benda lagi aku nak beli tapi memandang kan we’re running out of time & Si Eugene plak asyik suruh cepat jer….emmmhh, capai je lah apa yang patut. To me, 10 minutes shopping at the market is not enough…at least they shud give us more time…half an hour maybe. So that, we had enough time to try every musical instrument there, main sumpit ke, shopping traditional hand woven baskets ke and apa-apa yang patut lah.

Nenek ni so sporting

Kenangan di Penan Market

Next destination….Clearwater cave & Wind Cave

The real journey started today.

To be continued...