Stuif's Adventures

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A trip to Raman's orchard in Gombak, 9-9-2012
An email from my friend Keong. Was I interested to join a trip to Gombak? An orang asli friend of him, Raman, had an orchard there and would give demonstrations of several traditional skills. And also we would learn the knots needed to properly handle flysheets and hammocks.

Yes, I was, so early Sunday morning I drove to Gombak, where I met Keong and his group. We crossed the Gombak river, passed under the Karak highway, and reached the orchard in about twenty minutes.

What an idyllic place, a real garden of Eden! Raman's dream is to make this orchard a kind of cultural museum where traditional skills are preserved. He showed us how to build a temporary shelter, how to cut bamboo in the correct way, and explained the working of traps. He also gave a demonstration how to "weave" palm fronds.

In the second part of the program Paul showed us various knots, suitable for setting up a hammock and a flysheet. And he used a fire bow to make fire, quite impressive.

In the meantime Raman's wife had been busy in the kitchen, preparing BBQ chicken and rice in bamboo.

After enjoying a tasty lunch, we walked back to "civilisation"

Are you interested? You can contact Keong through his informative website Outdoor Gear in Malaysia

Gombak, briefing by Keong
 

Crossing Sg Gombak
 

Orang Asli village
 

Crossing the Karak highway
 

Through a tunnel
 

An easy walk
 

A fish pond
 

Raman's orchard
 

Keong and Raman
 

The kitchen
 

An idyllic place
 

A nice hut
 

Fungus
 

Raman's family
 

Even a small waterfall
 

Raman explaining
 

Further inside the jungle
 

A trip for small rodents
 

The trap
 

Another kind of trap
 

A temporary shelter
 

Busy preparing lunch
 

How to cut bamboo
 

More explanation
 

Palm fronds for weaving
 

Do it yourself
 

The result
 

Tobacco plant
 

Chili
 

Nice flower
2 comments

The knife collection
 

Looks delicious
 

Knotting demonstration
 

Using a fire bow to make fire
 

And he managed to do it!
 

Weird insect
 

Playing the nose flute
1 comment

Lunch is ready
 

Yummie!
 

On our way back
 

wrote on Sep 9, 2012:
Yucks!

wrote on Sep 10, 2012:
Misai Kucing?

Kwai Loh wrote on Sep 10, 2012:
Thanks for the id!

Dan wrote on Sep 18, 2012:
The perfect weekend getaway .... educational and refreshing.

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