Stuif's Adventures

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Sarawak, (14-17)-12-2007
A Dutch friend of mine was going to marry a Bidayu lady and invited us to attend the ceremony, which would take place in Kg Taee, near Serian.
A good excuse to visit Sarawak again and also add a few more waterfalls to my list!

We arrived in Kuching in the afternoon and had a pleasant walk along the waterfront.
There are many food stalls along this promenade and we decided to have some simple food in one of them. Mistake!
Those stalls are tourist traps, we paid RM 12 for two bland-tasting watermelon juice, the kolo mee had no taste and the satay had seen better days.
To be avoided at all cost!

We walked back to our hotel through Chinatown and had a meeting later with some friends in a nice cafe, where they served tuak :-). Of course the discussion was about waterfalls. The two girls had information how to go to the Julan fall, the tallest, most impressive waterfall of Sarawak. See the picture!
Hopefully it will be possible to organise a trip to this remote fall, next year.

The next morning we drove to Serian, 60 km south of Kuching, for the church ceremony. Next we went to Kampung Taee where the newlywed couple was welcomed by traditional dancers.

In the afternoon we first visited the nearby Ranchan Recreational Forest, with a nice series of waterfalls and cascades. Next stop was the Semenggoh Orang Utan Rehabilitation Center, where we were fascinated by the huge and gracious "Forest People".
There was even time to relax at the Panchor Hot Spring Resort! Hm... resort?

Back to the kampung, where we had dinner together with ~ 1000 other guests! It was a modern party with more beer than tuak. But there were traditional elements, as the pictures show.

The next day we visited the Gunung Gading National Park. It is the Home of the Rafflesia, but we were not lucky, a few days earlier there had been a flower, but it was already gone.
However, there are beautiful waterfalls and the park is very well maintained.

After a short visit to the Pandan beach, we felt hungry and went looking for a seafood restaurant. And we found one, in the middle of nowhere, near Lundu!
Good food, fish, butter prawns, soup, paku (young fern shoots), beer and that all for RM 38. Unbelievable..:-)

It was already night, when we drove back to Kuching, using a secondary road, where we had to use a ferry to cross the Rambungan River. An interesting experience.

Kuching Waterfront
 

The old Raja Brooke palace
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Fishing boat going home
 

Sunset on the Sarawak river
 

Tang longs in Carpenter Street
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Meeting waterfall friends
 

Discussing this fall
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St Theresa's Chapel, Serian
 

Bride & Groom & Witnesses
 

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Arriving at the bride's house
 

Welcome ceremony
 

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The dancers
 

Preparation for the dinner
 

Traditional Bidayu way of cooking
 

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Ranchan Fall
 

Several falls
 

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Colorful bridge..!
 

Large flow of water
 

Lake near Serian
 

Visitors of the Semenggoh Center
 

The boss
 

So gracious
 

Relaxed...
 

Another big male
 

Playful mother and child
 

Ain't it cute..?
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The ticket office..:-)
 

The resort itself..:-)
 

Some of the guests
 

Official picture
 

And the photographers
 

Cutting the cake
 

Be nice to your mother-in-law!
 

Preparing the tuak
 

Bride and Groom in disguise
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Traditional dancers
 

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Traditional music
 

Tasting the tuak
 

Dutch giants
 

Rice fields
 

Buying Pisang Mas
 

Gunung Gading N.P.
 

Fake Rafflesia
 

Huge centipede
 

The waterfall trail
 

Cute frog
 

Waterfall nr 1
 

Waterfall nr 3
 

Waterfall nr 7
 

Detail nr 7
 

Pandan beach
 

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Sand art
 

Could be an aerial picture!
 

Seafood restaurant near Lundu
 

Nice food
 

Rambungan ferry
 

wrote on Dec 19, 2007:
Jan, Sarawakian adventure huh!

wrote on Dec 19, 2007:
I can see more waterfalls flowing out of your ears. Congrats and also for the seasons to get good waterfalls.

Liz wrote on Dec 19, 2007:
Is that new gov't building they are constructing by the river ready yet? It's a pity its so close to the historical buildings.

Liz wrote on Dec 19, 2007:
Great photo.

lightlingmk2 wrote on Dec 20, 2007:
"A Dutch friend of me was going to marry a Bidayu lady" This must be the one ! The CM of Sarawak is a Bidayu, right ? In the 60+ a Bidayu, maybe Kedazan, or Dayak,(don't know which was which) who worked as a nurse in that Kuching hospital (Elizabeth hospital or something) proposed marriage. She took me to see her parents .. crossed jungle and river .. came to a hut with flimsy stair case .. by the side of a river. After my mission finished I dared not see her again. I was too young and naive to carry such heavy burden. What more she promised to give me plenty of children, smiling, and with pride on her face. And that was my last straw, man. Hahahaha .. thinking back I could laugh at myself.

wrote on Dec 20, 2007:
Congratulation

wrote on Dec 20, 2007:
Nice shot! Jan.

Kwai Loh wrote on Dec 21, 2007:
Not yet, but nearing completion. Nice architecture, but in this location a clear example of horizon pollution.

wrote on Dec 11, 2008:
where is this place? in Sarawak?

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